Update: Google says it will take eight days, but it will replace the image.
Another dead body has been spotted on Google Maps, and this time, the victim’s family is not happy.
The image is shown for 901 Sanford Avenue, Richmond, California. The body is that of the murdered fourteen-year-old Kevin Barrera. He was reportedly shot to death along the pictured railroad tracks. Alex Savidge at Richmond’s KTVU-TV reports:
The victim’s father Jose Barrera said he learned about the disturbing image earlier this week, and he’s asking the internet search engine to pull it out of respect for his son.
“When I see this image, that’s still like that happened yesterday,” said Barrera. “And that brings me back to a lot of memories.”
It will be interesting to see how Google responds. Typically, it doesn’t remove content from its search results without legally being required to do so, but its own imagery showing a murder scene might be a different story.
This is not the first time Google Maps has displayed bodies that appear to be dead, but in previous cases, the legitimacy of the claims have been disputed. This case seems to be pretty authentic.
Note: The video report above says “Street View,” but this is satellite imagery.
[via Gawker]
Images: Google Maps