Murder psychic ‘welcome’

The husband of missing Parmelia woman Iveta Mitchell has welcomed reports of the intervention of a psychic as part of efforts to find his wife.

Picture: Iveta Mitchell

Chad Mitchell said he thought it was ‘‘really great’’ that his wife’s friends had taken the step of inviting Queensland-based psychic Deb Webber to provide input on the case while she was on a visit to Western Australia.

Mrs Mitchell, 37, was last seen leaving the family home at Meares Avenue at 1am on May 3 last year, after arguing with her husband about money.

He said she went for a walk after becoming upset.

The following day she was reported missing and her family made a plea for information.

Despite an extensive police investigation into MrsMitchell’s disappearance, which has involved forensic searches of the family home and surrounding bushland, no trace of the mum-of-three has been found.

Police received a number of unconfirmed sightings, including from a motorist who claimed he saw her walking near Old Mandurah Road about 7pm on May 9.

On May 18, Mr Mitchell found his wife’s wedding and engagement rings on their front doormat. This led police to search the family home.

It was declared a murder investigation threemonths after she was last seen, although at the time police would not confirmwhythey had taken this step.

Mr Mitchell’s previous workplace at a Kwinana Beach tip and quarry was searched by detectives as part of the investigation.

He has alwaysmaintained his innocence in his wife’s disappearance, although in the past he has said he believed he was a suspect.

On Monday, however, he said he felt this was no longer the case, and added that he was not involved with the police investigation.

‘‘I have not spoken to the police and they have not spoken to me.Wedon’t talk because of the way they have treated me,’’ he said.

According to reports, psychic Deb Webber has identified a 6km wide area of bushland near Serpentine where she believed Mrs Mitchell’s body has been buried, and her friends and family carried out extensive searches over the weekend.

Mr Mitchell welcomed the news, and said in the days after her disappearance there had been reported sightings of her alive and well in Serpentine.

‘‘I was told by some people that they had seen her in the Serpentine area, about 20km from Kwinana. We heard a lot about it,’’ he said.

The family home, which was the last place Mrs Mitchell was seen and which became a focus for the police investigation, wasrecently put up for sale.

Real estate agent Rob Dohnt said on Monday that the $250,000 property was already ‘under offer’.

The director of Harcourts in Kwinana said he was not surprised the house had attracted a potential buyer, despite it going on the market less than two weeks ago, but declined to comment about the potential buyer or the price they had offered for the house.

Mr Mitchell, who now lives in Mandurah, said he had mixed feelings about the sale of the home he shared with his wife.

‘‘There were a lot of good memories and a few bad memories. I just can’t keep up with the mortgage repayments so I had to hand it back to the bank before it was taken off me,’’ he said.

A police spokesman said police did not discuss ‘‘persons of interest’’ with the press.

He added that the Iveta Mitchell murder case remained an active and ongoing investigation. ‘‘WA Police does not use psychics,’’ he said.