Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Deborah graduated from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County earning a BA degree in English with an emphasis on medieval literature and a minor in accounting. Deborah worked as a consultant combining her computer knowledge with her writing abilities designing computer systems and developing standards, procedures and user manuals for clients.

Deborah's career made the improbable leap from businesswoman to psychic consultant in the summer months of 1991 when her love for animals lead her to help the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department find their missing canine.

Although Deborah had requested anonymity, the media announced that a "psychic" had found the missing canine. An article in The Washington Post brought hundreds of telephone calls and letters requesting her assistance in everything from missing persons cases to lost property.

In the years that followed, Deborah became a well-respected psychic investigator who shunned the spotlight while providing significant information in over 50 cases nationally including arsons, robberies, homicides and missing persons. Utilizing details provided by Deborah, local, state and federal law enforcement personnel were able to obtain appropriate warrants and facilitate arrests after following leads suggested by the information.

Additionally, Deborah assisted many families directly in resolving adult disappearances where foul play was not suspected and law enforcement was not involved.

In May 1993, Deborah was profiled on a WUSA Channel 9 News (Washington, D.C.) series entitled "Visions of Crime." Since then she has appeared on numerous television, radio and internet broadcasts and has been featured in newspaper and magazine articles. She has been the keynote speaker at conferences including VISIONS: The Women's Expo, held annually at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center. Deborah currently lectures as an adjunct professor and has spoken on college campuses nationally on topics relevant to both her academic training and psychic investigations. A published author, Deborah wrote "The Reluctant Psychic" in 2001, a semi-autobiographical mystery based on her first homicide investigation.

In August 2009, Deborah was featured on two separate episodes of the Biography Channel's Psychic Investigators. The nationally broadcast series profiled two of Deborah's homicide investigations, both of which resulted in convictions.

Deborah's first paranormal investigations began in the fall of 2007 when she joined retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Athena Varounis to investigate haunted locations throughout Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The results of their collaboration can be found in the recently published, "Franklin County Ghosts."