Lou’s View – April 16, 2015
Physics
by Lou Bernard
So, after twenty-four years, an arrest has finally been made in the Kathy Heckel case. Kathy disappeared in 1991, and very recently, the police have made an arrest.
This article is not about the case.
I’m not going to comment on the case, other than to offer my deepest sympathies to Kathy’s loved ones and say that I hope they get the closure they deserve. Otherwise, I’m not writing about this painful event.
But I am writing about what happened two years after.
An article in 1993 that I found in the library’s archives is headlined “Heckel Case Includes Psychic Contacts.” Evidently, during the first couple of years after Kathy disappeared, the psychics began to come out of the woodwork, offering their help.
Anyone who knows me will understand that I’m not necessarily a big fan of psychics. Yes, I am a paranormal investigator, and I enjoy looking into ghosts, Bigfoot, water creatures, UFOs, and other unexplained phenomena, such as why anyone likes Kanye West.
Now, when I’m investigating these things, I’m looking for proof. If I tell you I have evidence of, say, the Mothman, I’ll be able to show you a photograph of the Mothman. Or a footprint. Or something—But I will have something to back up my claims.
When it comes to psychics, I’m dubious. I wouldn’t mind them if they offered proof—But they so rarely do. My experience with a psychic generally amounts to “I’m going to tell you something that can’t be historically documented. There’s no proof, but it really really happened for sure, so I want you to believe me and blindly take this on faith.”
Which is not the way it works. Just because someone says something, doesn’t prove it’s true. I can say I dated Sandra Bullock; that doesn’t prove it’s true.
Which brings me back to the Heckel case.
Around the anniversary, in 1993, an article detailed how several people came forward to offer information to the police. Not valid, provable information that could be used in court, you understand. Visions and dreams.
They came from Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Massachusetts to weigh in on the incident. Several of them claimed very fuzzy-sounding facts that were pretty likely to prove correct no matter what. A few said that Kathy would be found near water and trees, which is not the wildest guess, considering we live in the Susquehanna River Valley. They also claimed that they saw a body wrapped up and being transported in a car, which is also not that unlikely, considering the other option is physically carrying an unwrapped dead body around.
Some of the other predictions were a bit more specific: One woman said that the number 52 figured into the case somehow. Another claimed she saw an old house, and head and neck trauma. One woman claimed that she could see a red ribbon or scarf, a gray car, a missing shoe, and heavy machinery.
Some people will ask me why I’m so skeptical over this, and tell me that these people are either helpful or, at worst, harmless. I don’t see them that way—Let me quote one line from the beginning of the article.
“Her family has gone on with life.”
What with all the drama and excitement, the loved ones are always forgotten in these situations. When the psychics show up to make their “helpful” predictions, they dredge the pain back up again. They give false hope to families who are in pain, and desperate enough to believe anything.
Some psychics charge money for this, making them a terrible kind of predator. If you’re taking money from a grieving family to make vague, fuzzy statements, I have no respect for you.
As the trial unfolds and the facts come out, I plan to keep an eye on what is learned. And I’m going to hang on to this article, and see how close the psychics came. That will be interesting.
I hope the facts come out, and I hope Kathy’s loved ones find peace. And I hope frauds and fakes quit using situations like this to their advantage.
But my prediction is, they won’t.
