Montel: Renquin/Nelson/DesVergnes Reading
Sylvia Browne tells the families of three missing men what happened to their loved ones. Was she right?
Background
On September 8 1998, friends Scott Renquin (35), Dan Nelson (32) and Roger DesVergnes (31) vanished while vacationing together in Orlando, Florida.
In March of 1999, members of their families appeared on the Montel Williams show to ask Sylvia Browne's help in locating their loved ones.
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The Reading
I do not have a transcript or video of the reading, but an AP wire article from a month after the reading gives some details. Here are some excerpts from that article (emphasis mine):
AP Wire Story: April 10 1999
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
April 10, 1999, Saturday, AM cycle
LENGTH: 657 words
HEADLINE: Six months later, still no trace of missing Attleboro men
BYLINE: ALISON FITZGERALD, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: BOSTON
...
Scott Renquin, 35, and his friends Roger DesVergnes, 31, and Dan Nelson, 32, haven't been seen since Sept. 28. The Attleboro men vanished while in Orlando, Florida, on what was supposed to be a one-week vacation.
...
Police don't suspect foul play. They believe the men likely got into trouble while off-road driving in their rented 1999 brown GMC Jimmy. They may have driven into a lake or a roadside canal. Unfortunately, central Florida is peppered with some 400 lakes and canals that crisscross the state like roads.
...
Members of the Renquin, DesVergnes and Nelson families appeared last month on "The Montel Williams Show," where they consulted a clairvoyant to find new leads.
The psychic, Sylvia Browne, told the families their loved ones had died in a boating accident near the Everglades in a hovercraft. She gave them the name of a man who allegedly owned the boat.
Florida authorities checked out some of the leads and found nothing, according to an Attleboro detective who has been a liaison to the families.
...
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Orlando Sentinel Article: November 23 1998
An article titled "Psychics join search for men" in the November 23 1998 edition of the Orlando Sentinel said the following about Browne's participation in the case (emphasis mine):
Most recently, Sylvia Browne, who runs a nationwide psychic consulting business, offered a scenario.
During a recent taping of The Montel Williams Show, Browne told the families she thinks the men died in the northwest part of the Everglades when their pontoon hit something in the water.
A fourth man, known as Joey Leon also perished, and finding him will lead investigators to the missing men, the psychic said. She said the rented sport-utility vehicle that disappeared with the men also will be found but that the bodies might never be.
Goltz said detectives will act on psychics' advice "if the leads are good."
"We haven't been able to find anyone with a name of Joey Leon," Bergin said. "There is no missing Joey Leon or a registered boat owner under that name."
Although no searches of the Everglades have taken place, sheriff's offices around Collier County have been notified of Browne's scenario, Bergin said.
Browne also told relatives that the dead men found the "light" quickly and that they are "very happy."
Attempts to reach Browne at her Campbell, Calif., headquarters were unsuccessful. According to her Web site (www.sylvia.org), she charges $450 for a telephone reading but "donates many hours to help find missing children and also working with police to solve crimes."
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"MISSING" Web Site
A web site which was set up to help with the search has an "update" from November of 1998 which provides more insight as to what was in the reading (emphasis mine):
Family members went on the Montel Williams Show for help from Psychic, Medium, and Clairvoyant, Channeller Sylvia Browne regarding the missing men who have been missing for a month and a half.
Before the show family members met with Montel who explained to them that before he met Sylvia he never believed in Psychics. He told them that she is on his show 9 times a year and that she is right 85-90% of the time. He also told them some really incredible stories about how Sylvia has helped people.
Most of what Sylvia said to the families took place after the show, but Sylvia did not have good news for them. She told us that the three men were dead, and that there was a 4th man. She says the fourth man is Joey Leon, and he owned a hovercraft (a kind of boat). She says the four men tipped over and were sucked under water into sand. She says that the missing vehicle is near where they went boating near this mans house.
She is not confident about the location, but believes it may be near the everglades. Roger had told his fiancée that he was bored when last they spoke. Roger has a hovercraft in Mass., and he and Scott went boating together several times.
After the show all the guests were given an opportunity to talk with Sylvia. The families also got to listen to her talk to the other families who were searching for answers, and we were all amazed at the things she knew.
She told them that she believed they may be in the north west part of the Everglades, but this is the only thing she told them that she was not real confident about. She was confident that this Joey Leon would lead us to the location. She says that the vehicle will be found, but that the bodies will not be found.
They may find a metal pontoon sticking out of the water. She assured the families that the men went to the "light" quickly, and that they are very happy. She says that this fourth man is a "wayside person", and she sees "TIC TOC" on his truck. Perhaps this "TIC TOC" a bumper sticker or a licence plate. She says that this is a dangerous area, and that they hit something. Perhaps a log. They were sucked down very quickly. This Joey Leon was the first to fall in, and she sees Scott trying to help the others.
According to family members the Orlando Police Department have said they are going to check into her leads.
Was she right?
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Remains Found
Three months after their families appeared on the Montel Williams show, the bodies of all three men were found inside their rented SUV, at the bottom of a drainage pond near Celebration, a suburb of Orlando:
Providence Journal-Bulletin (Rhode Island)
June 23, 1999, Wednesday, ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 1091 words
HEADLINE: A missed turn led to tragedy in Fla.
BYLINE: PAUL EDWARD PARKER; Journal Staff Writers
BY PAUL EDWARD PARKER AND ELISA CROUCH
Standing on the exit ramp that leads from Interstate 4 into the Disney-created town of Celebration, it is not difficult to imagine the moments before Scott D. Renquin, Dan Nelson and Roger J. DesVergnes disappeared last September.
The ramp slopes down sharply from where it leaves the highway near a high overpass, then flattens out and ends at an abrupt left turn onto Celebration Boulevard.
If one were to continue straight, as authorities speculate Renquin, Nelson and DesVergnes did, the land drops into a drainage retention pond that's almost 20 feet deep.
If the Attleboro trio drove down the ramp at night (no one knows for sure what time of day they disappeared) they probably never saw the water at the unlighted corner. Based on the front-end damage to the tan 1999 GMC Jimmy that was recovered Monday night, investigators believe the sport utility vehicle went in nose-first, then may have flipped onto its roof.
Then the car, 125 feet from shore, slipped below the surface, spawning the nine-month mystery of three Bay State men who came to Florida for a week of fun in the sun and never returned.
...
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Analysis
Here is a breakdown of Browne's predictions in the reading, comparing them with reality.
| Browne Statement | Reality | Right/Wrong |
| The men were dead | They were dead | Right |
| There was a 4th man, Joey Leon | No such man was found | Wrong |
| They died in Leon's hovercraft | They died in their rental SUV | Wrong |
| They died in the Everglades | They died in a drainage pond in Celebration, Florida (more than 150 miles north of the Everglades) | Wrong |
| The vehicle will be found | The vehicle was found | Right |
| The vehicle will be found near Joey Leon's house | The vehicle was found at the bottom of a pond | Wrong |
| The bodies will not be found | The bodies were found | Wrong |
| Leon is a "wayside person" | No such person involved | Wrong |
| Leon has "TIC TOC" on his truck | No such person involved | Wrong |
| They struck a log | Unknown | Unknown |
| Leon was the first to fall in | No such person involved | Wrong |
| Scott tried to help the others | Unknown | Unknown |
Two right out of twelve predictions, making for 16.6% correct (and note that the two she got right were simple yes/no questions which anyone would have a 50% chance of getting right). Far short of the 87% accuracy rate she claims for herself.
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Conclusion
Once again, Browne's reading for these families was wrong on nearly every point, and resulted in wasted time for law enforcement and any others who tried to follow up on her "clues."
So far, I have documented these missing person cases which Browne dealt with on the Montel Williams show, every one of which she got very, very wrong:
- Opal Jo Jennings
- Ryan Katcher
- Shawn Hornbeck and Shawn Hornbeck (follow-up)
- Lynda McClelland
- Holly Krewson
- Eve Brown
... and now, this one, with Scott Renquin, Dan Nelson and Roger DesVergnes.
Seven cases, nine missing persons. Browne wrong on every single one of them.
And I still have yet to find a single missing person or homicide case she got right on the Montel show. Not one, in spite of having asked numerous Browne fans for help in locating one.
I make this request again:
If you know of any missing person or homicide case which Browne did a reading for on the Montel Williams show, which was later solved, proving that Browne's reading was substantially correct, PLEASE let me know. I will research it, document it, and place it on this web site.
In spite of making this request several times, and in many places, I have yet to receive any such case, or even a case which someone to be such a case.
My thanks once again to QG for the research which turned this case up.
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Related Links
Clicking on any of these links will load a separate browser window for viewing the linked page.
StopSylviaBrowne.com is not responsible for the content of any of these linked pages.
- MISSING - Site set up to help find Renquin, Nelson and DesVergnes.
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