Ms Butterworth's brother, Jim, told a coronial inquest investigating  her disappearance 46 years ago that the family was approached by several psychics.

Mr Butterworth said a Dutch psychic told the family she was in reeds on the banks of the Derwent River near Granton.

He used scuba gear to search the area, to no avail.

''Any straw was a good straw for us at the time,'' Mr Butterworth said.

Mr Butterworth said the family was inundated with calls from people telling them they knew where Ms Butterworth was.

''Every crank and his brother was making statements about where she was,'' he said.

He said the family then vowed not to use ''mystic predictions'' again.

Mr Butterworth told the inquest that he and his brother John searched all the way to Launceston when Ms Butterworth disappeared.

''It was just impossible, and as things turned out, it was,'' he said.

Ms Butterworth, 20, vanished from a Claremont bus stop in August 1969.

Investigators believe she accepted a ride with someone she knew and died on the same night.