A Google Street View photo led to the arrest of a murder suspect in Spain. Discover how virtual navigation images helped to elucidate the disappearance of a thirty-year-old more than a year after the events. Technology at the service of justice!
It’s a case worthy of a thriller that is currently shaking Spain. In November 2023, a thirty-year-old from the province of Soria, Castile and León, was reported missing by his family. The investigation stalled for many months, until an unexpected element came to relaunch the investigations in a spectacular way: a Google Street View photo showing a suspect loading a large white bag into the trunk of his car, at the place and time of the disappearance.
Street View, a key witness in spite of itself
Since its launch in 2007, the Google Street View service has revolutionized the way we explore the world virtually. But it has also become, despite itself, a formidable investigative tool for law enforcement. In the present case, it was by exploring the navigation images available in the area of the disappearance that the investigators came across this disturbing photocaptured by chance by the famous Google Cars.
According to a source close to the case, we can clearly see an individual, leaning into the open trunk of a vehicle, putting in a large white plastic bag whose shape resembles a human body. The GPS and temporal metadata of the photo perfectly match the circumstances of the thirty-year-old’s disappearance two months earlier. For the police, this element is sufficiently disturbing to justify reopening the investigation.
The immediate environment scrutinized
Convinced that the key to the enigma lies in the victim’s entourage, the investigators concentrate their efforts on this restricted circle. Very quickly, the partner of the thirty-year-old as well as one of his ex-companions are arrested and placed in pre-trial detention. According to our information, DNA traces belonging to the victim were found in the vehicle of one of the suspects.
But it is above all the macabre discovery made a few days later which will give a dramatic turn to this affair. By cross-checking the geographic information from the Google Street View photo with the profile of the suspects, the police raided a cemetery in the province of Soria at the beginning of December. It was there, buried in an anonymous grave, that they unearthed a human torso in an advanced state of decomposition. Although it has not yet been formally identified, everything suggests that these are the remains of the unfortunate thirty-year-old who disappeared.
A “cold case” solved thanks to technology?
Although the exact circumstances of the tragedy remain to be clarified, this case illustrates the potential of new technologies in resolving complex investigations. As one forensics expert points out:
With the proliferation of connected devices and mapping services, we have access to an unprecedented mass of geolocated and time-stamped data. It is a real gold mine for investigators, who can trace the actions of a suspect or find the trace of a victim.
But this use of our personal data, often collected without our knowledge, also raises ethical questions. How far can this mass surveillance go in the name of security? A complex debate which is only just beginning, while cases like this are likely to multiply in the future. Waiting for, it is perhaps thanks to a simple Street View photo that a Spanish “cold case” could well be solvedmore than a year after the events.
Other high-tech news items
This is not the first time that consumer technologies have found themselves at the heart of a criminal investigation:
- In 2018, data from a Fitbit connected bracelet helped confound a man accused of murdering his wife, by proving that she had indeed been attacked at the times mentioned.
- The following year, Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant found itself an unwilling witness to a double murder case in Florida, with investigators demanding access to the device’s audio recordings.
- More unusual, the online genealogy application GEDmatch made it possible in 2018 to identify a serial killer who was rampant in California in the 70s and 80s, thanks to the DNA profiles shared by his distant cousins!
So many cases which demonstrate that any digital data, from vacation photos to voice messages to our Google searches, can one day find itself at the heart of a criminal investigation. Something to think twice about before sharing your life online!
