Mysteries and crimes solved using Google Maps (11 photos)

Google Maps is a very popular service that allows you to look at most of the world from the comfort of your own couch. Some people use Google Maps for entertainment, looking for something funny in pictures, others study cities and countries. In general, the service is really interesting and entertaining. However, it turned out that the platform can be used for good. For example, to solve crimes and solve a variety of secrets and riddles. In the continuation of the post, you will learn about some real cases where the Google Maps service helped solve crimes.

This photo caused quite a stir on social networks. Users were sure that a certain criminal was transporting a victim in the back of a pickup truck. Everything turned out to be much simpler - after checking it turned out that it was “Oscar” - that’s what the US Search and Rescue Service employees called their training dummy.





A satellite image helped to find a thief who stole more than 500 bicycles.



William Mold, a 40-year-old man from Florida, disappeared in November 1997. A lengthy search involving volunteers and police led nowhere. It wasn't until 2019 that a surveyor studying Google Maps accidentally spotted an object in the Moon Bay Circle area. It turned out that this was a car - the missing Mold himself was found in it.





Another missing person was found using Google Maps. The car, which sank in the lake, was discovered in 2015. It turned out that David Lee Niles, who disappeared back in 2006, was in the cabin.



A man named David Slones complained that someone had robbed him for the second time. However, the police could not find any clues. Fortunately, during the second robbery, a Google car was driving near the crime scene, which helped identify and apprehend the criminal.



Gioachino Gammino is one of Italy's most wanted criminals who managed to avoid jail time for murder. The Italian fled to Spain and successfully hid from the Italian authorities for 20 years, living an ordinary life. However, the search continued. And one day the criminal was caught on Google maps - technologies that help recreate a person’s appearance decades later confirmed that it was him. Gammino will now serve a life sentence.



A teenager from Holland contacted the police, saying that his bicycle, phone and cash had been stolen. However, the police were unable to help. After 6 months, the guy accidentally noticed his robbers on Google Maps - he provided the footage to the police, after which the attackers were identified and detained.



This photo scared many people - people, understandably, decided that something was clearly wrong with the person in the photo. However, everything is not always bad! It turned out that the young girl was just playing with a friend, slipped and fell. And it was at that moment that she was photographed by the Google car camera.



In 2013, it was discovered that an Oregon farmer was growing, so to speak, “weeds” on his farm. And he exceeded the permissible limit, planting almost 7.5 thousand square meters with them, hiding the plantings behind corn. Of course, satellite images on Google maps helped identify the culprit.



Leslie Todd is a criminal who was accused of killing two people during an argument. He managed to escape from the police in a green Kia minivan. They searched for the man for many years, but over time the case was forgotten. Apparently, the wanted Todd calmed down - moreover, he thought of returning in the same car to his house, where he ended up in the photo.



And for the Greek authorities, Google maps helped identify citizens who did not receive licenses for their swimming pools. It turned out that there are almost 17,000 such pools.