Imagery from Google’s Street View has reportedly helped to solve a murder case in northern Spain.
Street View is the online tool that lets you view 360-degree imagery captured by cameras mounted on Google’s Street View cars that travel the world.
A number of Street View images that were recently uploaded to Google’s online service gave Spanish police an important lead in a case involving a Cuban man who went missing last year, the BBC reported.
One of the pictures — captured from a Street View car as it drove through the tiny hamlet of Tajueco about 90 miles (142 kilometers) northeast of Madrid — shows what appears to be a body-sized bundle being loaded into the trunk of a car. You can still view the image on Street View.
Another series of Street View images taken in the vicinity at around the same time show someone transporting a large bundle in a wheelbarrow, the BBC said. After examining the images and other evidence, police arrested two individuals last month, accusing them of involvement in the disappearance and murder of the man, whose remains were found in a cemetery two weeks ago.
What makes the story all the more remarkable is that the images were captured during the first visit to the town by a Google Street View car in 15 years.
The appearance of Google’s car was terrible luck for the person loading the bundle into the back the vehicle, but a wonderful turn of events for the police. It’s not certain if the man handling the bundle saw the Street View car pass by, but if he did, he will have immediately realized that images from the car’s cameras would soon be viewable by anyone around the world with an internet connection. Including the local police.
It’s not the first time that Google Street View imagery has helped law enforcement with their investigations. In 2022, an Italian mafia figure who’d been hiding in Spain for years was apprehended after being recognized on Street View, while in 2009, twin brothers who’d committed a robbery in the Netherlands were also caught on camera by a car taking photos for Google’s Street View service.