Noreen Renier is one of history’s most notable female psychic-detectives. I would like to invite you to join me on a fascinating journey, as we recount some of her most exciting cases, as well as her life as a psychic detective.
By Gina Wedlake
If we go back to the 1960’s, anything dubbed ‘paranormal, psychic, or medium,’ was considered to be that of an occult nature. The TV programs that are seen today which are a household name, for example, Ghost Hunters, Psychic Children, and all the others, promise us a ghostly encounter or two each week! For Noreen Renier, this was her reality every day.
Q: Tell us, where you grew up?
A: I grew up in North Massachusetts. We lived by the Connecticut River. I was very much a tomboy, and I would explore the woods whenever I could get a chance. I wasn’t afraid of anything. I had no fear of the woods or anything that might be lurking! (She laughs) I had a sister that was thirteen months older than I, and a brother that was 4 years younger.
Q: Tell me when you first experienced your psychic abilities. Did you know what was happening to you?
A: I never had any abilities that I was aware of. When I was young, I was a skeptic. I worked at a hotel. I was an executive there at the hotel. I remember there was a psychic that would come in and do readings. She would rent one of our rooms and, to be honest, I didn’t want a psychic at my hotel. I mean after all, it was the Hyatt Hotel and Resort!
At this point in my life, I thought that all psychics were phony and would tell everyone and any one that he/she would meet a tall handsome wonderful man. I also remember thinking that they, all psychics, sold chickens! (We all laugh) Well, I finally met her! I envisioned her having a large nose. She was dressed in a light blue suit, she wasn’t dressed in a long blue gown, such as what one might think. Do you remember Merlin the Magician? He wore that light blue robe! (We all laugh)
I sort of got the feeling that she might think I was a skeptic. She told me some stuff about myself. She also knew I had just bought a new chair for my office. I was intrigued with this woman. I wanted to know how she did it. “Is it real? How did it work?” I wanted answers, so I started reading books about psychics and how it worked. Since she knew so much about me, I was convinced there was something to psychic abilities.
I believed in what I couldn’t see or even understand for once in my life! I began reading all I could. I started to do readings for the hotel staff, I did psychometry with them. (Psychometry is reading energy by holding an object). I remember the psychic from the hotel giving me tons of books about psychic phenomenon. Things began to happen to me as I practiced. I had a friend who was an ex-nun who had been out of the convent for about 10 years and she was eager to practice. So she and I would try the techniques that I read about. Well, after all that, I discovered that I really had these abilities! I also realized that I could do some trance work.
Q: Oh, you did trance work?
A: I did most of my trance work in the beginning with my friend, the nun. I was a medium and it was very easy for me to go deep into trance. She would then question me. Anyhow, the first time I went into a trance, my stomach and my solar plexus started hurting, I was really hurting. I don’t know how it really works. I don’t know how I got into the trance. I try not to go very far. I don’t want to be in a situation where I can’t get myself out.
When I worked for the police, I would do trance channel work. I would not go very deep. I would go into a partial trance. I could become the various people such as the victim. I still can do it. I do know that I can’t go very deep into trance with the police because what happens is “Singh” my guide, a little Asian Lady, comes in! It would also scare the police (She laughs). I had to be very careful. I find it hard to meditate in large group with 5 or more people. I will go into a trace automatically and Sena can come in.
Q: Your little Asian Lady?
A: Oh forgive me! Her name is “Singh,” a little Japanese woman. She would do hand signals. I would make signs like a lotus blossom to get my message. I really had no interest in the Asian culture at that time. Many years later, I went to Japan to do TV for them. I was finding missing people. It would be a 2 hour show special. Once or twice a year I would go there or they would come here.
Q: Tell us more about your Japanese TV show!
A: I went to Japan and did TV for 7 years. It was a 2 hour special. I had them talk to me in Japanese. I would answer in English. They had translators for me. We did have translators for us at all times. They like watching the show, and we did pretty well. The show was highly rated.
I remember the Nippon TV special. One time sticks out in my mind. The DEA’s wife was missing and they wanted to know where she was and who did it. What they did was they put me in a glass box! They were in the box with me and there were 3 agents on the other side. They gathered around me. One was a local sheriff, one was an FBI, and they took turns questioning me. I finally opened my eyes at one point. I was under a long time. It started to get hot in there. I remember they all had their jackets off, some of them ripped their ties off, and unbuttoned the collar. I felt totally comfortable; I was under so long doing that work that Singh came out! I couldn’t help it!
I remember when Singh came out they began to think I was channeling an Asian man! (We all laugh) They didn’t know about her. I finally brought myself out of trance. I explained to them that she was my Asian guide. I didn’t want to confuse them. To this day, I don’t know why they put me in that glass box! It must have been for better TV, I don’t know, but anyway they found the bad guy. They never tell me anything about my cases.
When I’m working on a case, whether it is a homicide or a missing person, it doesn’t matter, each one is different. I use a different technique for each one. All I ask is the first name of the person. The reason I only ask for the first name is that I do not want to know any information about the person. I never want to be accused of cheating in any way.
Q: You mentioned teaching an ESP Class?
A: I wanted to move to Charlottesville, Virginia which had a university in the town. I ended up teaching there. I love the trees at the college, it just felt right, you know how that feeling is, just right? Things would happen in the right order. When I first got there, I thought I could work in a hotel giving readings. The hotels were not like the ones where we lived before. They had no hotels in VA beach, so I thought, what the heck was I going to do?
There was a gentleman that had asked me to teach in his writing class. He told the person in charge about me. They offered me a class in ESP. At that time, when I met with the man in charge and he asked me what I was going to call my new class. I told him ESP Development, he said we could not do that. People were frightened of this stuff back then. They were afraid they couldn’t control it.
We could not tell others that we were going to develop his/her psychic abilities. We had to call it an “Awareness Class” and that is what we called it! It is what happens when one develops his/her awareness like an artist. Our society was so frightened of these phenomena, we had to be careful. I started working with the police shortly after this.
Q: How did the police find out about you?
A: I think I was teaching then. I remember seeing one crime where a rapist had been terrorizing the town. After my lecture, one of the people in the audience stood up and asked if I could tune into it. The girl was in the workshop with her family. They invited me to their home and they were wonderful. The girl from the class called the police and was telling them about me. I was telling them stuff they didn’t’ know about. The family told the police to work with me. So they contacted me. They recreated it for a psychic Detective show. They all supported me. One case turned out to be major. They were all real Southern gentlemen and we solved the crime.
Q: So, did they contact you again for other cases?
A: They asked me how much I charged for help. I said $35.00. It was funny to watch them! They would race to take it out of their pockets!
Q: Wow that is impressive!
A: I remember being on the Joan Rivers show several times. Then finally the people from the show, Psychic Detective, were looking for talent for the show. They wanted to find certified psychics to solve crimes. They came to VA that time. They went through all MY files and they also went through my cabinets! They wanted to see how many crimes I had solved. They found over a dozen that I had solved, which was more than any other psychic had at that time. They were really pleased with my work. It’s really strange, most of them don’t want the public to know they are using psychics!
Q: Are you kidding? (We laugh!)
A: I’m being serious! They didn’t want to be on TV, or let anyone know who they were, very secretive. I started in the late 1970’s. The police talk, they really do! I figured out I could do some of this work over the phone! The FBI invited me to lecture. I had official police people there in the audience. When the officials went home, or while they were even still here, they would say, “can you help me on this case?” In those days, I would travel. I would fly to Arizona, or anywhere they needed me. But I finally realized I could do it over the phone. It opened up a whole new world. If you look under my files and search for the word, ‘Michigan,’ you will find that I have worked 6 or 7 other cases there. I am going to tell you now that detectives talk! If they used me once, they used me several times.
Q: Where was your very first out of country case?
A: It was Mexico for a lecture. I ended up working up on a case down there. (Hmm… let me think) Oh I remember now, it was Canada. Now remember, 90 percent of my work is over the phone. I did most of the traveling with the TV companies. They didn’t want to film me on the phone. First it was the US, Mexico, Canada, and all these other countries. I didn’t know their names!
Q: Tell me, what case were you intrigued by the most?
A: In the beginning, I only did homicides. I remember thinking that I would never find anything. I didn’t know my left from my right. Anyway, it was like getting lost in K-mart! I didn’t believe I could find anything if it was a missing person’s case. I remember when they first called me. I said, “No, because I only do homicides, not missing persons.” They begged me to please help them.
An FBI agent recommended me. His brother was missing; I finally said I would because they were begging me. I told them there was no guarantee that he was missing. There was nothing tangible that I could touch from his body. I could not touch anything of his and that scared me. I asked her if she had anything personal that belonged to the missing man. She then brought me a tin cup and an old wallet. I closed my eyes and went into a trance.
I started off by describing an airplane and I began to describe other people in the plane. She didn’t know who else was in the airplane. I tried to be the airplane. I then went into my trace and I became the airplane. I was above the trees and all of a sudden bright lights hit me. I would feel the air pulling me down and close to the trees. My wings almost hit the tree branches and I crashed. The tree’s closed up again and from the air you couldn’t see the crashed airplane. So I gave some numbers. I didn’t know what they were or where they belonged.
Well, as it turned out, I said these were really important and I gave them the numbers, which turned out to be longitude and latitude, and I gave 3 initials. That is where they found the plane. The plane had crashed in a county. There were 3 counties that came together and those were the initials I was given. She then asked if I knew if her brother was still alive. I looked inside of the plane and I saw two gentlemen, their necks were broken.
I saw another gentleman reaching under the plane and carrying debris and I could feel the rocks around me. I saw this person and I assumed that was her brother. I watched her brother as he started walking away. Then I started screaming at her and I jumped up! “He placed the debris under a tree.” I became frustrated and said to her, “You’re making me see him alive! There is no way he could have lived through that plane wreck! You’re not going to do this anymore to me!”
When they found the plane, the FBI were off duty. The civil patrol were there and they found a headless woman sitting under a tree. It was like someone had placed her there and walked several feet away from the plane. You could see stickers in the pants, and you could see the two men in the plane and their necks were broken. I soon became more open about doing other cases that were not homicide. I began taking missing person cases. I thought of myself as a scent dog.
Noreen has been a psychic detective for over forty years. She is a published author of two books: A Mind for Murder and The Practical Psychic. Her autobiographical book, A Mind for Murder traces her career from the discovery of her psychic abilities to her most fascinating and unconventional cases. A Mind for Murderis now being considered as a movie about her life.
Noreen has paved the way for many of us in the metaphysical world in so many different avenues. From working with the police and clients, to being showcased on TV in our living room each week for a number of years on the Psychic Detective Show. We thank her for all she has done to better our own journey. This interview with such an outstanding woman was an honor for us. What may be in store for Noreen in the future is something we can all look forward to!
About The Author:
Psychic Medium and Channel, Gina Wedlake, is a third generation Psychic Medium. She limits her practice to spiritual mediumship, where she has passionately immersed herself in the art of spirit communication. She also offers spiritual counseling sessions and past life regression therapy, along with custom made meditation journeys for those desiring a more personal meditation experience. Gina is accompanied by Nuva, her Hopi spirit guide. Gina spent her childhood years on the Hopi Indian reservation.
To learn more about Gina Washington Lee you can visit her Facebook Fan Page at facebook.com/gcryingwoman. If you would like to schedule a reading with Gina, you can email her at ginaleemedium@gmail.com
