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(Scroll down for video) A couple won a lawsuit against a psychic, who gave them false information.
Psychic Presley Rhonda Gridley was ordered to pay $6.8 million to a Texas couple after she told police that there were dismembered bodies in the couple’s backyard.
Gridley claimed that there was a mass grave at the home of Joe Bankston and Gena Charlton. The psychic called the Liberty County Texas Sheriff's Office in June of 2011, claiming that there was a mass grave containing dismembered bodies of children at the plaintiffs' home, according to court documents.
The sheriff's offices started an investigation and told the media about these accusations, before long, the story made international headlines. Many news media outlets were at the couple’s home, while officers looked for the bodies.
The lawsuit claimed that Bankston and Charlton were on vacation when the story first broke. They returned home to find "a house full of broken dishes, overturned furniture, animal urine and feces," according to the lawsuit. The suit also said the couple has lost friends because of the debacle.
“The investigation set off a wave of ‘bad will’ toward the victims because of the false claims,” the couple’s lawyer said.After an extensive search, no bodies were found at the property. However, the couple’s reputation was ruined and the damage was done. The couple got a bad name in the community and amongst their friends.
According to Benjamin Radford: “Psychic information often wastes police time and resources following up on false leads. Despite popular belief and claims to the contrary, there is not a single documented case of a missing person being found or recovered due to psychic information. Psychics have consistently failed to find missing persons, including high-profile disappearances like Natalee Holloway and Holly Bobo, the Tennessee woman abducted in April 2011, whose remains remain missing despite efforts by dozens of psychics.”