Sylvia Celeste Brown amassed a fortune as a medium, claiming to have “psychic powers.” She charged $750 per half hour for consultations, with a four-year waiting list and raked in $3 million a year from her “church” and other schemes.
Browne ruthlessly exploited worried family members, publically scamming parents of missing children and pretending to be a psychic detective. None of which were true, though her wild stories led one mother to an early grave believing her daughter was dead.