Psychic drawn to missing teen case

The real-life psychic portrayed in the NBC show “Medium” has taken an interest in the search for a missing Gilbert teen.

Three weeks have passed since volunteers and police first combed the desert northeast of Fountain Hills in search of Jackie Hartman, a 19-yearold student at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

Hartman’s family and friends continued the search Saturday, paying little attention to the insights from psychic Allison DuBois, a Phoenix native.

Dubois appeared Thursday on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and offered her opinion on how Hartman might have died.

In an excerpt from the show’s Web site, DuBois said she believes Hartman was choked and lost consciousness, so she might not have felt what was happening to her. Dubois also said she thinks the struggle started in a vehicle and ended on the ground, and that in her mind, she saw an embankment where Hartman would have rolled down.

“I was shown a funeral and Jackie being laid to rest,” DuBois said. “So she will be found and her parents will have that.”

Hartman was on a date with 25-year-old Mesa resident Jonathan Ian Burns the night she disappeared Jan. 28. A grand jury indicted Burns on Feb. 9 on charges of first-degree murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and misconduct involving weapons after police found Hartman’s bloody shirt, her ripped bra and other items in a trash bin near Burns’ home.

DuBois contacted Phoenix police earlier this month, but no new leads have surfaced from that information, Sgt. Joel Tranter said Saturday.

Hartman’s father, David, saw the show but doesn’t see it as a break in the case.

“I have no problem if it gives people motivation to help out,” Hartman said. “But I would rather focus on facts.”

Hartman said he will keep searching for his daughter’s body.

Hartman said 120 volunteers looked Saturday throughout the Four Peaks area and the Gila River Indian Community and that all of the effort helps with closure.

“It’s neat to see everyone out here bending over backward for us,” he said. “But we gotta keep going. You can’t let anyone down. We’ve got to bring her home.”

The Hartman family has set up a Web site at http://findingjackiehartman.blogspot.com with updates on where volunteers can meet for searches.

How to help

An account has been opened to provide financial relief for the Hartman family during their ongoing search for their daughter. Donations can be made at any Bank of America branch to the Jackie Hartman Fund, account No. 457002996435.