Thank you CTaylor for the links to the old articles about all the psychic visions on the Diane Funchess (and Baby Beth) murder/abduction. These articles helped shake loose some old memories. First, I remember the reporter Ron Laytner very well. I remember he said he was going to chronicle Diane's dissapearance in a book he was going to call "The Psychic Search." I guess that never came to be, but in checking on his status...he is quite a decorated photojournalist/journalist. I remember him as very high energy, and quite glib.
I do remember all the psychic leads that were being tracked, but I remember the one psychic's prediction proved accurate. I thought that was Clarisa Bernhardt? She did predict how, and where Diane's remains would be found. (In a shallow grave after the rains). I remember seeing a clip on the news (maybe ten years later) of her Dad standing next to where they found her body in the Santa Cruz mountains, near the Locatelli Ranch, where her husband worked at one time.
I remember there were many theories on her dissapearance at the time. Her husband Ken was initially the prime suspect, as husbands always are. He mentioned to me that he and Diane had gone through some rough times, but that once they purchased a water bed, things picked up, and then the baby was born. I thought this was a very strange thing to be telling me (I was a stranger to him, a volunteer (I had a friend that knew the family), who was helping post flyers on the dissapearance of Diane and Beth.)
I remember that Ken was under great scrutiny for two specific reasons, other than just being the husband, and therefore the usual prime suspect. First, a bloody hunting bag was found in the garage but did prove to be deers blood from a hunt he had conducted the day before (or of) the dissapearance. Strange coincidence....Second, there was a good friend of theirs, "J", who was a glitzy, buxom blonde. I remember lots of speculation on the nature of "J's" and Ken's friendship. None the less, I was told that Ken did pass his polygraph.
One thing is consistent in my memory. All the psychics and police experts believed that Baby Beth was alive. The common theory was a black market baby abduction. The child was blonde/blue eyed and beautiful. I would also say that the article where the one psychic suggests that Diane left on her own accord does not seem probable considering she could not see without her thick glasses, which were left behind with her purse, diaper bag, etc.
Thank you again CTaylor for the news articles. It really shook loose some old memories. SOMEONE OUT THERE KNOWS WHO KILLED DIANE FUNCHESS and took BABY BETH. It's been over thirty years, but I can never forget her. All of you on this thread, please don't give up. Diane deserves justice. God Bless.
