Nicole Mistretta

@MistrettaNicole

In the last three years, The Cajun Medium took the phrase “put yourself in their shoes” to a whole new level.

April, formally known as The Cajun Medium, is a physical psychic medium. A physical medium feels what the departed felt when they died. In some cases, April said she feels and sees their deaths very specifically.

A sad smile crossed April’s face, she glanced down at the ground as she said, “What they see, hear and feel in their last moments, I see hear and feel. Unless it’s somebody they loved very much that killed them.”

She paused, closed her eyes, and said, “In those instances, they refuse to show me their [murderer’s] face.”

April perked up as if she realized something important. With stern hand gestures, she said the families are the ones concerned with justice, not the dead. April dedicated the last three years to missing persons cases to bring families closure.

April joked that the casework is nothing like television shows. The police don’t call her and say, “April, get down here. We need you.” She said a lot of her research and work is done alone, much of it, until recently, free of charge.

April shifted uncomfortably as her gaze moved to the floor again. She placed her hands in her lap and squeezed her hands gently as she admitted it scares her every time she connects with the dead.

“I am about to walk into someone’s worst nightmare. I have to prepare myself to die,” she said with furrowed eyebrows, “I have PTSD from other people’s accidents. I never used to be afraid of big bridges, but now I’m terrified because I know what it feels like to go off one.”

In January of 2019, April determined the location of missing mother Emily Wade in Ennis, TX. After a 15-day investigation, a volunteer searcher discovered Wade’s body in the exact location disclosed by April. Wade’s ex-fiancé Jared Jones said April came to him with the location after the rescue team refused to “waste resources.”

Although the investigation remains open, Jones said April provided comfort and a little closure. He said April shared Wade’s final thoughts of love for Jones and their 7-year-old daughter. In an emotional moment, Jones wondered if Wade might have lived had someone listened to April sooner.  

Jones said, “You wanna use every resource in that situation. If people put away their skepticism for a minute and listen and take it in, people could have a better outcome than I ended up with.”

Jones said he was initially wary of April. After the investigation ended, Jones said April knew “the little things” about him and Wade that no one else would know. When Jones listed two of the three dishes Wade could cook, April blurted out the last one: Cheeseburger Macaroni Hamburger Helper.

While working on cases for people like Jones, Jason George, April’s close friend of 27 years, said he worried about her safety. Due to the intensity of her cases, April does not publicize her last name.

George said, “She’s pretty good at what she does, so my fear is that she’s gonna get to one of those situations where she’s right on top of someone, and those people who don’t want that individual found will try, in some shape or form, to make sure that she doesn’t do that.”

April said she understands the skepticism and disbelief in what she does. In response to skeptics, April showed a list of 21 initials tattooed in black ink. The list covers her forearm and represents the cases she worked. April said she wants to get tattoos of the remaining eight names in the near future.

The set of tarot cards April uses for personal readings and mediumships

At the age of four, April said her ability began to develop. Initially, she believed she was an intelligent child and never realized everything she knew was being communicated to her. In fear, April pushed away her psychic abilities and took anti-depressants, which she claimed blocked her gift.

April “came out of the psychic closet” in her late 30’s and said most of her friends and family supported her. April quickly realized she had to make a career out of her ability or ditch it for a full-time job. She chose the path of a psychic medium and never looked back.

April grew up in Lafayette and said her goal is to have a parking spot at Cajun Field “Reserved for the Cajun Medium” and for her hard work to be recognized by the community.

Currently, the Cajun Medium is working on a physical location to perform readings. Most readings, unrelated to cases, are performed over the phone. Additional information about April and her business are on her official Facebook page.