This is the last resort. This is our week to find them.
When official channels feel insufficient against the silence of a missing person, grief and urgency can lead those who love him toward older, more uncertain forms of knowing. Friends of Greater Sudbury Councillor Michael Vagnini — missing since January 27 — held a public press conference in February to share psychic visions suggesting he may be sheltering in a barn or garage near a church in Ward 4. The gesture speaks less to the reliability of such methods than to the human need, when time grows short, to exhaust every possible thread of hope.
- A 62-year-old city councillor has been missing for over two weeks, with his truck last spotted on a rural road and his satellite radio system mysteriously accessed hours later — suggesting he may have left the region entirely.
- Desperate friends bypassed police entirely to hold a press conference, publicly sharing unverified psychic visions before even consulting investigators — a move that reveals how urgency can fracture the boundary between official process and private grief.
- Two unnamed, unpaid psychics independently described Vagnini hiding near a church that rings once daily, prompting searchers to call on the entire community to check their barns and garages — a crowd-sourced search built on spiritual testimony rather than evidence.
- Police are treading carefully, confirming all tips are followed up while forensic experts warn that psychics have a decades-long track record of emerging in high-profile cases without producing results.
- The search now runs on two parallel tracks — one methodical and institutional, the other driven by love and desperation — with Vagnini's friends framing this week as the last real window to bring him home.
Michael Vagnini, a city councillor in Greater Sudbury, has been missing since January 27. On February 12, two men close to him — a former mayoral candidate and a personal adviser — stood in a parking lot near where he was last photographed and told reporters they had consulted psychics.
The psychics, unnamed and unpaid, described Vagnini as hiding in a barn or empty garage somewhere in the Sudbury District, possibly in Ward 4 near a church that rings its bell once a day. A second psychic offered what the men called a corroborating vision. When asked why they went public before speaking to police, one of them said simply: time was running out.
Vagnini was last seen driving a black 2021 Ram 1500 with a broken tail light, captured on surveillance heading west on McCharles Lake Road around 5:40 p.m. that evening. A week into the investigation, police revealed his truck's Sirius XM system had been accessed at 2:45 a.m. the following morning — raising the possibility he had left the region.
Police responded measured: all tips are followed up through official channels. But forensic experts caution that psychics have long surfaced in high-profile disappearances without proving useful — one OPP psychiatrist noted three decades of experience yielding no meaningful results from such involvement.
Vagnini was last seen in a bright yellow hoodie, green pants, and black running shoes, and does not have his phone. His friends are asking the community to check their properties. Police are asking anyone who spoke with him before January 27 to call a dedicated tip line. The search continues — part procedure, part prayer.
Michael Vagnini, a city councillor in Greater Sudbury, has been missing for more than two weeks. On a cold February morning, two men who know him well stood in a parking lot where he was last photographed and told reporters they had turned to psychics for help finding him.
Bob Johnston, who once ran for mayor, and Tom Price, described as Vagnini's adviser, held the press conference at the corner of York and Paris streets on February 12. They said they had consulted two psychics—neither of whom they would name—who offered visions of where the 62-year-old councillor might be. The psychics claimed Vagnini was hiding in a barn or empty garage somewhere in the Sudbury District, possibly in Ward 4, near a church that rings its bell once a day. One psychic described the location; the second offered what Johnston and Price said was a corroborating vision. Neither psychic was paid for their work.
Vagnini disappeared on January 27. He was driving a black 2021 Ram 1500 pickup truck with a broken passenger-side tail light. Police video surveillance captured the truck heading west on McCharles Lake Road between Whitefish and Naughton at around 5:40 p.m. that evening. That remains the last confirmed sighting. A week later, investigators revealed something else: the truck's Sirius XM system was accessed at 2:45 a.m. on January 28, roughly seven or eight hours after Vagnini was last seen. Police suggested this might mean he had left the region entirely.
When asked why they were going public with psychic predictions before even speaking to police, Johnston said time was running out. "Are we gonna sit back and wait for the police?" he asked. "I mean, it's been two weeks, two days." Price added that they weren't criticizing police work—they simply wanted to help however they could. "We all love Michael," Johnston said, appealing to the community to check their own barns and garages. "This is the last resort. This is our week to find them."
The Greater Sudbury Police Service responded carefully. A spokesperson noted that any information coming through 911, the non-emergency line, or the tip line gets followed up by detectives. The use of psychics in criminal investigations, however, carries a long and troubled history. Dr. Peter Collins, an operational forensic psychiatrist with the Ontario Provincial Police's Criminal Behaviour Analysis Section, wrote in a 2021 article for Blue Line magazine that psychics regularly emerge in high-profile cases but have not proven useful in his three decades of experience. "Over the past three decades, whenever I've consulted on cases that are considered by the media to be a high-profile investigation, psychics start crawling out of the woodwork," he wrote.
Vagnini was last seen wearing a bright yellow hooded sweater, green pants, and black running shoes. He does not have his phone. Police are asking anyone who spoke with him in the days before January 27 to call a dedicated tip line at 705-675-9171, extension 2320. The search continues, driven now by both official channels and the desperation of people who know him, reaching for any thread that might lead home.
Citas Notables
Are we gonna sit back and wait for the police? I mean, it's been two weeks, two days.— Bob Johnston, former mayoral candidate and friend of Vagnini
Over the past three decades, whenever I've consulted on cases that are considered by the media to be a high-profile investigation, psychics start crawling out of the woodwork.— Dr. Peter Collins, Ontario Provincial Police Criminal Behaviour Analysis Section
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did they decide to hold a public press conference instead of just passing the information to police quietly?
Johnston said they felt time was slipping away. Two weeks had passed with no public breaks in the case. He saw it as a way to mobilize the community—to get people to actually look in their own barns and garages rather than waiting for police to do it.
Do you think the psychic angle undermines their credibility, or does it show how desperate they are?
Both, probably. It signals desperation—they're grasping. But Johnston and Price clearly believe they're helping. They're not trying to deceive anyone. They're just willing to try something unconventional because conventional methods haven't worked yet.
The police said the Sirius XM access suggests he left the region. How does that square with the psychics saying he's hiding in a barn nearby?
It doesn't, really. That's the tension nobody's addressing directly. If he left, he left. If he's hiding locally, he never left. The psychic claims and the technical evidence point in opposite directions.
What does it mean that neither psychic would be named?
It's hard to say. Johnston and Price said they weren't paid, which suggests these weren't professionals looking for publicity. But anonymity also means there's no way to verify anything they claim to have said or seen.
Is there any chance this actually helps?
Stranger things have happened. If someone sees the story and remembers seeing Vagnini or his truck somewhere, that could matter. But the forensic psychiatrist's point stands—in his experience, psychic involvement in investigations doesn't produce results.