By 3 News online staff
Claims about the Jane Furlong case made by psychics on the television show Sensing Murder have been called into question by the New Zealand Skeptics.
The group says that last month’s discovery at Port Waikato of the remains of Jane Furlong is evidence that the information provided by “self-proclaimed psychics” on the show was incorrect.
The two psychics featured on the 2007 broadcast – Deb Webber and Kelvin Cruickshank – had already made differing claims about Ms Furlong’s alleged killer.
Mr Cruickshank described a balding man with tattoos, motorbikes and a pay-back motive, however Ms Webber believed the killer was a BMW-driving, 50-year old finance company associate.
Mr Cruickshank also stated that Ms Furlong’s body would likely be found under concrete at a demolition site inside Auckland, and both psychics indicated that this was likely to be in the Auckland Doman. However police this month confirmed that Ms Furlong’s remains had been found 86km away at Port Waikato’s Sunset Beach.
NZ Skeptics spokeswoman Vicki Hide says there was no resemblance between the information provided by the psychics and the discoveries later made by police.
“How many times do they have to be wrong before it becomes blindingly obvious that these psychic performances are just exploitative guessing games? The only people who benefit from this are the psychics who have made great business off the back of the marketing push for their shoddy exploitainment programme,” she says.
“There are thousands of cases where psychics have wasted police time, misdirected investigations and, worst of all, exploited vulnerable families and friends for their own ego or economic gain.”
Ms Furlong was 17 years old when she went missing in 1993, having last been seen on Auckland’s Karangahape Rd.
Police have re-opened their investigations into her death following the discovery of her remains, and along with her family have asked for anyone with information to come forward.
3 News