Psychic Sylvia Browne dies at 77 in California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Sylvia Browne, a psychic whose frequent appearances on shows such as "Larry King Live" and "The Montel Williams Show" made her a popular personality, has died at a hospital in California, hospital officials confirmed on Thursday. She was 77.

Good Samaritan Hospital spokeswoman Leslie Kelsay said Browne died Wednesday. She said she could not disclose further details.

Browne said she believed in reincarnation and could help people communicate with their dead loved ones as well as see the future. She was a regular on "The Montel Williams Show," where she fielded questions on topics ranging from marriage and careers to ghosts.

Browne was criticized after telling the mother of Ohio kidnapping victim Amanda Berry on the show in 2004 that her daughter was dead. Berry and two other women were later found alive. They had been held captive for years.

Browne grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where her psychic abilities began to manifest themselves at the age of 3, according to an obituary on her website.

She founded two nonprofits, The Nirvana Foundation for Psychic Research and the Society of Novus Spiritus, and was the author of dozens of books, many of which appeared on the New York Times Bestsellers list, according to the obituary.

Her 2009 book, "Temples on the Other Side," was intended to help people understand where they go after they die, she told Montel Williams.

"So you just don't float around," she said. "You can go to the Hall of Messengers, where you can talk to Jesus ... You can go to the Hall of Reconnection, where you can connect with someone you love."

In a statement included in the obituary on Browne's website, Williams called her a friend. "A beacon that shined for so many was extinguished today, but its brightness was relit and will now shine forever for many of us from above," he said.

Browne is survived by her husband, Michael Ulery, two sons and a sister, according to the obituary.