A psychic correctly predicted where the remains of a missing Utah college student — who disappeared more than 50 years ago — would be finally found, according to an investigator who closed the cold case earlier this month.
The case of Douglas Brick — a 23-year-old University of Utah senior active in several academic organizations when he disappeared from his dorm on Oct. 12, 1973 — had stumped police for five decades.
Police and rescue workers conducted a frantic search for Brick that October, but the case went cold for years.
A breakthrough occurred last fall when a hunter discovered skull fragments in the foothills above the university and alerted authorities.
A DNA lab finally confirmed in early May that the remains were indeed those of Brick, by getting a 99.9% genetic match with a living relative, according to a press release from the University of Utah.
“We never stopped hoping for answers about Doug’s disappearance,” Brick’s family said in a statement. “We are relieved to finally have some answers. After 52 years, this result, while sad, is nothing short of a miracle.”
When Major Heather Sturzenegger and Det. John Dial took over the case in 2022 all they had was a pile of contradictory leads that went nowhere, the release said.
Some people theorized that Brick had dropped out and hitchhiked to another town to start his life over. Others thought maybe he had fled the country.
When the weathered fragments of his skull were found at the top of Black Mountain, it broke the case open.
Although cutting-edge science closed the case, a psychic featured prominently in the investigation – predicting Brick’s fate 35 years before his remains were found, according to the release.
Brick’s mother, Donna, who died in 2010, kept a journal tracking her thoughts and developments in her son’s case. An entry she wrote in 1990 describes an uncanny encounter that left a lasting impression on one of the detectives.
The heartbroken mom wrote that while shopping at a department store in Salt Lake City, she happened to meet a store clerk who said she was a psychic.
“Maybe you can tell me what happened to my son,” Donna had asked.
“He really wants you to find him,” the psychic told her, according to the entry.
The psychic revealed details no one would have known at the time about Brick’s disappearance. She told Donna that her son had gone to the foothills above campus, where he contemplated ending his life. But he became afraid, and because it was dark, he slipped and fell, she said, according to the release.
“These details stuck out to me,” Dial said in a statement. “Where the skull was located, the terrain I was traversing as part of the search, it is extremely steep and loose on both sides, and I was having a hard time in the daylight keeping my footing under me and figuring out where I was going.”
Investigators said they still don’t know how Brick died.
Dial, who flew out to California to tell the family the news, said he developed a personal connection with Brick during the investigation.
“In a way, it’s hard to explain. There was a push and a connection that I felt was from Douglas,” Dial said in a statement. “I have felt very strongly that I will always have Douglas in the back of my mind.”
“For me, I just wanted to try to bring closure to the family and solve the case so they can have some peace,” Sturzenegger said.
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