Police credit psychic with finding body

[FFed]

NELSON, B.C. – Police in Nelson have found the body of a young woman who went missing last March – and they're crediting a local psychic for pointing them in the right direction.

Kimberley Anne Sarjeant was last seen walking alone in a popular hiking spot near Nelson. Her car was discovered parked nearby and police say they used every tool at their disposal to try to find her.

Sgt. Steve Bank says that included search dogs, helicopters, and infared heat detectors. But none of the standard search techniques seemed to work.

So, Bank called on a local psychic for help.

Police had already searched along an abandoned railway line where the 23-year-old woman was last seen.

But local psychic Norm Pratt steered police away from that trail. About a kilometre into nearby woods, he found Sarjeant's clothes. Her remains were discovered in the same area.

"Without the use of the psychic I think I'd still be looking for this person," says Sgt. Bank.

Police aren't releasing the cause of death, but Bank says it's important the public know that foul play is not suspected.

Sarjeant's disappearance had led to some fear about the dangers of young women hiking alone in the area. Now, police say people don't need to worry about the area.

"I use that recreation area all the time with my kids," says Sgt. Bank. "There is absolutely no cause for concern."

Bank says people should just use normal caution in the wilderness area.


http://vancouver.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/bc_psychic20050126.html

 

[Chocolate Chip]

This article is really, really short on detail about this case. What method did this "phsychic" use to locate the body? How long after the police search did they call in this phsychic? Does the phsychic live in the area? Did he know the girl previously?

Here's something else that sounds pretty odd. One of the few details in this article mentions:

But local psychic Norm Pratt steered police away from that trail. About a kilometre into nearby woods, he found Sarjeant's clothes. Her remains were discovered in the same area.

Her remains were discovered apart from her clothes. Yet the police don't suspect foul play? Huh?

She parks her car, walks off into the woods, strips naked, then dies?

 

[FFed]

I googled for some more info but haven't been able find more.


TMTV/BCTV Kootenays JAN 26, 2005

Nelson BC- Nelson City Police have released the indentity of human remains found in a heavily wooded area east of Nelson. The remains have been identified as 23 year old Kimberly Ann Sargent who disappeared March 22, 2004.

Her vehicle was found in the Mount Station Road parking area back in March of last year. An extensive search was launched during that time by the Nelson City Police, Nelson RCMP, & Nelson Search and Rescue. All searches were negative.

Police wish to make it clear that foul play has been ruled out in this incident. The Coroners office is now conducting their investigation, and accordingly, the cause of death or circumstances surrounding the death will not be disclosed at this time.

http://www.angelfire.com/film/tmtv/newsroom.html


Since it is a new story there might be further details in the next few days.

 

[Chocolate Chip]

Police wish to make it clear that foul play has been ruled out in this incident. The Coroners office is now conducting their investigation, and accordingly, the cause of death or circumstances surrounding the death will not be disclosed at this time.

This sounds just as odd also. The coroner has not finished his investigation, but the police have already ruled out murder publicly?
What if during the coroner's investigation he/she finds evidence of foul play? What do the police do then?

Too bad there is not more about this.

 

[Luke T.]

Some local history of Nelson, B.C.,

In a Nov. 21 Times article titled "Greetings from Resisterville," reporter Fred Bernstein explored the controversy that erupted with the announcement that a monument would be erected in the area honouring U.S. war resisters who made their homes in the West Kootenay.

Bernstein stated that the area has a long history of war resistance thanks to the Doukhobours and Vietnam draft resisters, who "dotted the countryside with yurts and geodesic domes."

And Sgt. Steve Banks:

And that's something that just doesn't happen, said Nelson City Police Sgt. Steve Bank.

"Interestingly enough we don't get any complaints about Holy Smoke from anybody," Bank told the NDN after he read the Times article.

Police in Nelson certainly do not turn a "blind eye to" the store, as trafficking cannabis is an illegal activity.

"It's still a criminal activity and it's considered as such by us," Bank said. "It's not something that we condone or tolerate in any way."

Bank said he was "curious" about the statement that said selling marijuana is illegal but tolerated by local authorities.

"Maybe they were misquoted," said the sergeant. "I don't know where they'd get that from."

http://www.humanhemphealth.ca/Nelson_Daily_News_112604.html

 

[Luke T.]

It's a lesson a local 13-year-old, his parents and police will likely never forget. But it's one with a silver lining of sorts, at least when it comes to accepting blame for a mistake.

Flanked by his folks, a remorseful Nelson youngster explained himself to city police Friday afternoon, admitting he used his home computer to email last Wednes-day's bomb scare to Trafalgar Junior Secondary. The threat forced the day-long evacuation of Trafalgar's students and staff.

NCP Sgt. Steve Bank says police were able to determine where the threat came from using identification information common to most Internet users.

"Every computer that's on the Internet has a unique number assigned to it, very much like a fingerprint," Bank explained Sunday.

"It's just a matter of finding out who the Internet service provider is and through them using search warrants to ascertain who has the account."

http://www.digitaldefence.ca/html/printer_385.shtml

What a team this policeman and psychic make. We should put them on a hunt for Genghis Pwn...

 

[Chocolate Chip]

"Interestingly enough we don't get any complaints about Holy Smoke from anybody," Bank told the NDN after he read the Times article.

Hmmm.... Sounds like Inspector Clouseau is on the case.
Damn, I wish I could get a pic in on this message!!

What a team this policeman and psychic make. We should put them on a hunt for Genghis Pwn...

Francois: Inspecteur!! What kind of bomb was that?
Clouseau: The exploding kind.

 

[AK-Dave]

I can think of two reasons the clothing may have been found seperate from the remains. It could have been a suicide and she could have taken her clothes off first for some reason. I don't think this is likely. The other reason could have been hypothermia. People who are hypothermic sometimes feel really hot and take off their clothes while freezing to death. I have personally experienced this sensation.

 

[Chocolate Chip]

People who are hypothermic sometimes feel really hot and take off their clothes while freezing to death. I have personally experienced this sensation.

Granted, I have heard this as well, problem with this is she would have been near enough to her car to get back and warm up inside. She starts to get cold, and decides, well, I better get back to the car before I freeze.

Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not insisting that it's murder, but from the amount of data we get from the article, something seems pretty fishy to me.

 

[CurtC]

If I were the police, I know which suspect would go to the top of my list: Mr. Norm Pratt.

 

[SRW]

Well if they found a suicide note, a gun in the hand and the head blown off. Also a history of drug/alcohol abuse could explain the clothing. They had to have something to Id her with because after being in the woods for so long I would expect that the body would not be in great shape.
Dental records?

 

[Hellbound]

It's been quite some time (almost a full year) from the disappearance to the finding of remains. Those remains remained in an apparantly untrafficked, wooded area through at least one spring and summer.

It's not unreasonable to assume the remains were targetted by scavengers, and seperation from the clothing is pretty much expected at that point. Not only that, but clothing left out to the elements 24 hours a day for 300+ days? Probably would not hold up well, either.

I don't think the clothing being seperated is that fishy, myself. I do wonder how they can summarily rule out murder on a year-old body before the Coroner's report...

 

[CFLarsen]

Police had already searched along an abandoned railway line where the 23-year-old woman was last seen.

But local psychic Norm Pratt steered police away from that trail. About a kilometre into nearby woods, he found Sarjeant's clothes. Her remains were discovered in the same area.

OK, if she isn't near the railway line, expand the radius. Which is what the Pratt did. I wonder if he led the police straight to the clothes, or if he had to crisscross to do it...

After finding the clothes, who found the body? Pratt or the police? Think it is possible that, after finding the clothes, the police started searching the nearby area?

Not convincing at all.

The hypothermia explanation might be true, except I cannot imagine that a woman would strip completely.

 

[kedo1981]

Srgt Banks Name pops up in a lot of articles, “glory hound?”
Wild animals could have dragged the body and torn of clothes

 

[steenkh]

The hypothermia explanation might be true, except I cannot imagine that a woman would strip completely.

The scanty report we have seen does not mention that she was stripped completely. Only that her clothes were found elsewhere. We do not know if it were all her clothes that were found, or just some of them. We also do not know if she was wearing other clothes when found!

 

[CFLarsen]

The scanty report we have seen does not mention that she was stripped completely. Only that her clothes were found elsewhere. We do not know if it were all her clothes that were found, or just some of them. We also do not know if she was wearing other clothes when found!

True. It could just be her jacket or a shoe they found.

 

[Blondin]

The article implies that the police contacted Pratt. It would be interesting to find out more about why they did so.

One scenario that comes to mind is that Pratt (or a friend) may have already stumbled across the remains before the police contacted him.

What prompted the police to call a psychic - Pratt in particular? Is it possible that Pratt (or a go-between) dropped some hints about maybe being able to help shine some light on the case?

I have absolutely no evidence to support this hypothesis, by the way. I'm just suggesting a possibility.

 

[Moose]

Srgt Banks Name pops up in a lot of articles, “glory hound?”

Canadian RCMP detachments invariably have an officer (sgt or staff sgt) in charge of public/media relations.

All official statements to the press for that jurisdiction would be delivered by Sgt Banks. Ordinary constables aren't supposed to talk to the press.