IS PSYCHIC'S TIP A LEAD?
AS STEBIC CASE STALLS, HOW SHOULD POLICE OFFICIALS DEAL WITH ADVICE FROM BEYOND?
PLAINFIELD -- Police are reluctant to dismiss any information in an investigation, but they're also reluctant to base investigations around information from beyond.
A medium from Colorado contacted Plainfield police and community leaders last week after he reportedly channeled the spirit of resident Lisa Stebic. Stebic was last seen April 30 and is believed to be the victim of foul play.
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Deputy Chief Mark Eiting said police "take and document all reports that come in," and said detectives would review the medium's claims before determining whether to make them a focus of the investigation.
"We always welcome any information someone believes will help with an investigation," Eiting said. "You really don't know what's accurate (information) until you examine it."
Harold "Hob" Danforth, of Crestone, Colo., said he sought out Stebic's spirit after learning about her disappearance.
"It's been on all the TV stations and when a woman disappears leaving two children behind like that, you want to know what happened," Danforth said.
According to Danforth, Stebic's spirit told him she can be found "in a lake not too far from my home."
Danforth said he has never been to Plainfield and does not know if there are lakes in the area.
The missing woman has been the subject of several large-scale searches. On July 7, several hundred people and police scoured Silver Springs State Park near Yorkville.
Danforth says the information Stebic's spirit gave him is "100 percent true." He said he has been "deeply involved" in the psychic and spiritual community for more than 60 years "channeling and recording the insights relayed to him by spirits including JFK, RFK, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, James Hoffa, Timothy McVeigh, Marilyn Monroe, Laci Peterson, Princess Diana and numerous (deceased) members of his extended clan."
Despite Danforth's belief in the accuracy of his information, local law enforcement remains reluctant to use metaphysical evidence in an investigation.
"Law enforcement always has an open ear (to any source)," said Joliet Police Chief Fred Hayes.
"But the credibility of evidence without a lot of scientific validity (means it's usually) not given high priority during investigations," he said. "In cases with a lot of media scrutiny there is a danger the investigation can be slowed down when detectives have to filter through all the information that comes in."
Hayes said psychic sources have sometimes helped investigators develop theories about a case that might not have occurred to them otherwise.
"There was a case where a psychic volunteered to meet with detectives at the scene of a crime and provided an interpretation of what happened. While going over that scenario, a fingerprint that had previously been overlooked was recovered at the scene," he said.
However, in that case the fingerprint did not lead police to the suspect and Hayes mentioned another investigation in which a psychic told police the exact spot where the murder weapon could be found, but no weapon was recovered, despite an extensive search.
"Ultimately it comes down to the scientific evidence to progress on a case for both law enforcement and the court system," Hayes said.
Will County Sheriff's spokesman Pat Barry said he is "not a fan of psychic involvement in police matters."
"I spent 20 years in investigations and I've yet to hear of a psychic getting a conviction; I've yet to hear of a psychic leading to anybody in jail," he said. "The problem (when a psychic claims to know what happened) is the focus of an investigation will turn to what a psychic said. It gives the victim's relatives false hope. They'll go to the media with the claims and complicate the investigation."
Barry cites a personal example for dismissing psychic phenomena from investigations. He remembered a time in the early 1970s when he was investigating a burglary at the home of a well-known local psychic.
"I called her up to ask, 'Who did it?' I figured she would know," he said. "She got mad and hung up on me."
Danforth concedes police are generally skeptical of the information he provides.
"But it's a healthy skepticism on their part. They're not sure how to handle my kind of help," he said.
Reporter Brian Stanley can be reached at (815) 729-6079 or bstanley@scn1.com