How Google maps helped solve the mystery of a man’s disappearance (4 photo)

Internet users recalled the strange disappearance of a man in October 2006. Almost 20 years ago, an elderly American left a friend in a bar after a get-together and disappeared without a trace.





In the US, an image from the Google Maps service helped solve the mystery of a man’s disappearance after meeting a friend in a bar. This was reported by the Mirror.

“It was almost 20 years after David Lee Niles left a friend in a bar before no one heard from him again – until a shocking discovery on Google Maps,” the publication says.

On October 11, 2006, Niles visited a local pub, Jake's Bar, in Byron Township, Michigan, where he met a friend. However, he did not stay long, "abruptly" saying goodbye, citing discomfort. The man then got into his car and disappeared. Police investigated the missing person's case, but it remained a mystery, and in 2011, Niles' family, having lost hope, decided to publish an obituary online.



According to the publication, in 2015, local resident Brian Houseman, who was decorating a Christmas tree at the Byron Center, a place located about a kilometer from the bar where Niles was last seen, saw a car submerged in a nearby pond from the top of a tree. The man then contacted the Kent County Sheriff's Department, and investigators looked at Google maps, where the outline of the car was visible.





The newspaper noted the incredible fact that the image of the car was visible from a satellite on Google maps for many years. A diving team was sent to the scene and the car was pulled out of the water, and the skeleton of the missing Niles was found in it.

The publication emphasized that despite the fact that the case was finally closed, it remains unknown how and why Niles and his car ended up in the pond.