Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClane Smith, where for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make it into the previous show. In last week's episode, called to the Forest, we heard about the tragic tale of four men with intellectual disabilities who were mysteriously found dead high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, many miles from
where they should have been. The men were a group of five the night they originally disappeared, the fifth member being twenty five year old Gary Matthias, whose whereabouts since then have remained unknown. Some have speculated that Matthias, who had previously suffered about paranoid schizophrenia, made somehow have been
responsible for the deaths. Many, however, remain convinced that Matthias also died that night up on that mountain, just as tragically and innocently as the others, the remains of his body just waiting to be found. The case, commonly referred to as the Yuba County five, is among one of the more unique and bizarre mysteries of its kind in recent times. Incredibly, what isn't unique was the attempt to
use an apparent psychic to help solve it. Fairly recently, both the UK and Australia's police forces have been on record to state that they don't regard supposed psychics as credible, nor do they use them, and yet a number of veterans for both forces have also stated that in fact they have, and in nineteen ninety three, a survey conducted in the United States revealed that a of the nation's police departments from the largest fifty cities had consulted apparent
psychics in the past. A quick search online will throw up a number of individuals whose apparent psychic abilities have helped to crack police cases, but there is one who stands out a little more than the others. Known variously as the Dutchman with the X ray Mind, the radar Brain, and the Wizard of Utrecht, Gerard Quizette is thought to
have been the most effective of them all. Gerard Quizette, who was born in the town of Lorente in the Netherlands in nineteen o nine, had a difficult to childhood, with an act of father who spent most of his time away from the family on tour and a mother who struggled to look after him alone. Quizette spent considerable time in foster care from the age of eight to eleven. He was bounced between six different foster families, including one that was partial to chaining him to a stake in
the floor rather than care for him properly. When he wasn't in foster care, he would be brought back to the local orphanage, where he was often whipped for perceived insubordination. During this time, Quasette is thought to have become understandably withdrawn, preferring the company of his many imaginary friends over anybody else. At some point, when he was eleven, Quasette's mother, now married to another man, was granted custody of her son
once more. However, after falling out with his new stepdad, Quizette ran away from home. Over the next few years, Quasette struggled to hold down a job before finally seeming to settle down when he moved to Ensched and met the love of his life, Gerda, in nineteen thirty four. That same year, the pair established a grocery store business, and soon after had a son. A few months later, Coosette had a nervous breakdown. It was as if all the misery that had befallen him as a child had
suddenly come rushing back. Having eventually recovered, however, Coosette seemed to emerge from the breakdown somehow changed. At some point during his teens, Cosette is said to have discovered that he had the ability to conduct psychoscope. Now convinced that it was in fact a gift from God, Cosette decided to devote all his time to sharing it with others.
Psychoscope or psychometry is the term for a form of supposed extrasensory perception in which those who apparently possess it claimed that they can make predictions and associations about other individuals purely by touching an object linked to them. Quasette soon gained a reputation for himself in Enchet as a psychic who was able to successfully diagnose illness. But then the German army invaded the Netherlands, with the continent now
at war, and Quasette singled out as a Jew. He was swiftly arrested, separated from his family, and then deported to a concentration camp in Germany. Quasette would spend most of the war working in a factory as a slave for the German government. By nineteen forty five, Quisette had miraculously survived the war and was eventually able to return home. In December of that year, he attended a lecture on parapsychology conducted by Professor Villiam Tenhaf of Utrecht University. Quasette's
life would never be the same again. Professor Tenhaf had joined Utrecht University, who were a little wary of his chosen field of study, as an external lecturer, in nineteen thirty three. Twenty years later, having finally convinced them of its merits, he was fully established as its director of Parapsychology. When he first met Quasette in nineteen forty five, Tenhaf had been examining people for signs of ESP for twenty years.
It wasn't long before he realized that the future Wizard of Utrecht was the most impressive subject he had ever come across. Over the next ten years, the pair formed an unusual relationship. As news of Quasette's apparent abilities began to spread further, Afield convinced that his e s P was real. It was vital for Tenhof that had been demonstrated to work under laboratory conditions. As such, whenever possible, the professor insisted that Quisette carry out his work at
his lab in Utrecht. Quasette, well aware of the skepticism surrounding his apparent gift, was more than happy to comply, and by nineteen fifty six he and his family had even moved to Utrecht to be closer to the university. Encouraged by Quasette's apparent academic credibility, it wasn't long before local law enforcement began to wander if they might be
able to put him to good use. By the early nineteen sixties, Quisette was receiving requests from as far away as the United States and Russia to help with everything from petty theft to murder. Trying to locate people, however, were the cases he liked best, since with serious crime there was always the potential for raising false hope or
contributing to a wrongful arrest. Typically, whenever the police were formally involved, an item of clothing relating to a missing person or the victim of a crime would be sent to Utrecht University, where, under the watchful eye of Professor tenhuf Coisette would tell them what he got from it. Over the years, he is thought to have helped solve numerous cases, but there is one, perhaps more than any other, for which he is most remembered. Are you always taking
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Podcast Today to get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. On February twenty se nineteen sixty one, four year old Edith Kea Coorius from Brooklyn in the United States, went with her mother to visit her uncle in Manhattan. At some point that day, the young girl was said to have been playing outside her uncle's apartment on Eighth Avenue in the district of Chelsea when she completely disappeared.
Over the next few days, three hundred and fifty police conducted one of the widest missing person's searches in the history of the city in an effort to find a young Edith. However, despite searching the many surrounding buildings and rooftops, and even dragging the nearby Hudson River, they failed to find any sign of her. Having heard about the story, the vice president of the Dutch airline company KLM. Ryan Vogels, aware of Quisette's involvement in similar cases, suggested flying the
apparent psychic to New York to see if he might help. Quasette, who was eventually tracked down a few days later, was more than happy to offer his services. Speaking to him over the phone, Vogels offered to fly him out to New York at the expense of klem However, Quasette declined the invitation, insisting that all he needed was an article of clothing belonging to the girl and a street map of the city. Vogels replied that he would have the
necessary items flown over to him immediately. Then came a pause from the other end of the line. I can tell you already, said Quasette. She is not in the center of the city. If you were standing with your back to the Statue of Liberty, it ought to be on the left hand side of New York. That is where the child is. I see a tall building, but that does not mean a thing. There are many tall
buildings in New York. But on top of this building, I see an orange rectangular advertisement and a garage rolling shutters, a square, and a park. I see a railway nearby, and rails above street level. Beyond that some rubbish, and after that some water. I feel there is a river quite near. The man who took the child is small, about fifty four or fifty five years old. His origin is South European. I see a gray house. That is
where the child has been. Quisette, who had never before been to New York City, had described almost exactly the area where Edith had last been seen. A little taken aback, Vogels asked, hesitantly, is the child still alive? No, I'm afraid it is dead, came the kurt reply. The New York Police Department were equally taken aback by Quisette's description, particularly his detail regarding the raised railway line, since it was one of the few places in Manhattan where such
a thing existed. The following day, Quisette met with Vogels at a hotel in Amsterdam, where he was handed a photograph of a child, some of her clothing, and a map of New York. Taking hold of the pieces, Quisette focused for a moment. Now I have a warm point, he said. I see a woman sitting in front of a window. Two houses further down, there is a laundry, and also a shop where clothes are pressed. I see that gray building again. It has I think five floors.
The man I described yesterday is possibly older, between fifty four to fifty eight. He is small, with a tawny complexion and a sharp face. The child is in the gray house and on the second floor. I get a strong emotion. It is in this room that I see
the child with the man. Later that day, back in Manhattan, Detective James Peterson and Patrolman John mcgreeney returned again to investigate a boarding house at three o seven West twentieth Street, just around the corner from Edith's uncle's home, where she had last been seen. Another train rumbled past high up on the city's central freight trestle, just two blocks away. As the officers approached the gray Stone four story building
five if you included the basement. Smashing open the front door, the officers proceeded to the second floor and continued into an apartment that had just recently been vacated, Holding their noses from the stench. They found the place littered with empty beer cans, a whiskey bottle, half eaten pizza, and cigarette butts. On a table, they found a torn out photograph of a four year old Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the US President, and in the bedroom, lying lifeless on
the bed was the body of Edith Kia Courius. On March first, Fred Thompson, the last person to rent the room in which Edith was discovered, was picked up working on a New Jersey farm, where he later confessed to and killing the young girl. Thompson, although from England and not Southern Europe, turned out to be fifty nine and short, an average at five foot six, with a sharp nose
and a tawney complexion. Though there was no orange billboard nearby or a garage as described by Quisette, the apartment in which Edith's uncle lived was neighbored on one side by a laundrette and on the other by a tailor. It isn't known whether it was Quasette's description of where he thought Edith's body to be that led police detectives to that ill fated building on West twentieth Street. Certainly, no mention of the Wizard of Utrech's involvement was ever
included in any subsequent reports. It is said that Quasette never once accepted money in return for his services, believing instead that since it was a gift from God, it was his obligation to use it for good. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now go to Unexplained podcast dot com forward slash support All donations no matter how large or small are massively appreciated. All elements of Unexplained are produced by me,
Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward slash Unexplained. Now it's time to
take care of yourself. To make time for you. Teledoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video any time between seven a m. To nine p m Local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit teledoc dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast to day to get started. That's t e l a d oc dot com Slash Unexplained Podcast