Researching the accuracy of Sylvia Browne's "readings" can be difficult. For example, it is impossible to determine whether most of the "readings" Sylvia Browne gives to members of the studio audience on the Montel Williams show are correct or incorrect.

Many answers she gives to audience questions are either totally unverifiable (such as "Your spirit guide's name is Joe", "You have five guardian angels", "Your mother made it to the other side", "In a past life you were a Confederate soldier", etc.). Others are impossible to verify without following up with audience members years later ("You will marry a woman named Sally", "You will have three children," "You will meet your future spouse in a year", etc.). Since the audience members are generally anonymous, it is impossible to test these readings for accuracy.

However, one type of reading she gives on the show which we are sometimes able to test are her readings regarding missing person cases and homicide cases. The details given by the person being "read" (such as the name of the missing/murdered person) can make it possible to research the case. And, if the case was later solved, we can see whether or not Browne's statements during the reading were found to be true.

I (and those helping me do research) have looked into more than fifty of these readings for missing person and homicide cases, and most are apparently still unsolved. Statistically, this makes sense.

Once a person has been missing long enough for their loved ones to appear on the Montel Williams show to talk about it, the sad truth is that chances are, the missing person will never be found.

Similarly, most homicides are solved within days of the commission of the crime. And the longer a homicide goes unsolved, the less likely that it will ever be solved. When people come on the Montel Williams Show to ask Browne about a homicide case, it is usually months (and sometimes years) after the crime. So, the chance of these crimes being solved by that point is low.

So, this is typical of these types of cases. Yet, if Browne is truly psychic, why haven't more of these cases been solved after she was consulted about them?

Below are the readings for which we have been able to locate information:

I have yet to find a single, documented case where Browne was substantially correct - or of any use to law enforcement - in any of her readings regarding missing persons or homicide cases.

If you are aware of any such cases, please let me know. I will research it, document it, and add it to this web site.

WRONG:

On January 12 2007, fifteen-year-old Shawn Hornbeck was found alive after having been missing for four years.

Three years before Shawn was found, his parents - Pam and Craig Akers - appeared on the Montel Williams show to ask Sylvia Browne's help in locating their missing son. She told them Shawn was dead. She also described the killer in detail and how there son was mudered.