Womans day Article January 8th 2012

Catching serial killers and solving murder mysteries is all in the days work for psychic detective Wendy Berkahn.

From her home in Thames, the Kiwi grandmother cracks cases and helps families find missing loved ones, as part of a US-based group of crime solving mediums.

Wendy, 50, says she comes from a long line of psychics and her special abilities are an inherited gift.

“Growing up, psychic things just happened in my life. If I was at school I knew when the fire alarm would go off before it happened or would have dreams that would come through the next day,” she says.

Throughout the years Wendy perfected her clairvoyant skills, and eventually quit her job as a nurse, to focus on becoming a medium. Jobs included writing horoscopes for the local paper and radio and doing tarot readings for a 0900 psychic hotline.

The devoted mum discovered that she could use her skills to help find people when she was forced to rely on them seven year ago when her daughter Jess, now 22, ran away from home.

“I was very angry. She came from a good home and she knew she was loved,” Wendy explains.

Having no luck with the police, Wendy was desperate to see her daughter home safe and sound.

“I realised there was only one way that I could find her. I had this gift and I had to use it. I breathed, calmed myself to a meditative state, and saw an image of Jess driving around in a car. So I knew that she was okay.”

“I concentrated on who knew information about her. I saw bits of a number plate and some of the car. I was able to find that person. I told them I knew they were involved and got them to set up a meeting with Jess.”
That was Wendy’s first successful case of finding a missing person using her skills.

“That’s when I realised I wanted to use this gift to help people,” she says.

Wendy knew she needed to strengthen her skills in order to continue with this type of work.

“Having psychic abilities is like a muscle. The more you train and use it, the better it becomes.”

Two years ago Wendy joined the Find Me organisations, a group based in Arizona of more than 100 psychics from around the world, that work with law enforcement to help solve cases, mostly from the US.

She admits there are many “crackpot” physics out here, but those in her group are professionals and are carefully vetted before they join

Wendy explains the gruelling test case she had to solve to qualify.

“The gentleman has been shot on his driveway. I wasn’t told that he had been shot, the information was that he died.”

“It was awful, because I felt the impact go through my back. I was also able to identify the vehicle used in the shooting.”

Members also have to complete an ongoing test using a stuffed parrot named Mimi.

”Every three days Meme is shift to a different location in the States. The task is to find Mimi before they move her. The States is an awfully big place to find a stuffed parrot,” she laughs.

When the mediums are assigned a case they are emailed a photo of the victim, their full name, date of birth, where they were last scene, and any other information that might help.

Other physics have used their gifts to give police specific GPS co-ordinates for where to find bodies, but that’s a skill Wendy has yet to perfect.

This year alone Wendy has helped solve two cases, both US related, one of an abducted teen that was about to become a victim of sex trafficking. She has worked on another case involving a serial killer, who murdered 20 people. The group claims to have solved 36 percent of the cold cases that they are assigned.

Although the imagery she sees through this work can be horrific, Wendy says that 22 years working as a nurse has helped her with the trauma.

“I have seen a lot of death. I’ve seen lots of blood and guts.  I’ve had to tell parents that their children have died. So I don’t think there’s anything worse than that,” she explains.

Wendy lives and breathes anything to do with the medium world. On top of her duties as a psychic investigator, she read palms, tarot, crystal balls, does Reiki and numerology. She also owns the shop called The Crystal Ball in Thames, a store selling all things related to the spiritual world and a base for Wendy to give people readings. Wendy’s daughter Jess and her three young grandchildren are also gifted mediums, she says.

But it’s her job as a psychic investigator that she enjoys the most, because it makes a big difference in people’s lives.

Wendy now hopes that law enforcement agencies in New Zealand will one day take advantage of what her group has to offer..

“If it spares pain and suffering and brings healing and resolution to people, then why don’t they use it?”

“We’re a bunch of professionals that are prepared to do the hard work. We’re here to help.”