Sylvia Browne | Psychic, author, 77

Sylvia Browne, 77, 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 San Jose, Calif., hospital officials confirmed on Thursday.

Ms. Browne said she believed in reincarnation and could help people communicate with their dead loved ones and could see the future.

Ms. 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.

Ms. Browne, whose website says her psychic abilities began to manifest themselves at the age of 3, founded two nonprofits, the Nirvana Foundation for Psychic Research and the Society of Novus Spiritus, and was the author of dozens of books. - AP