Google Maps Helped Solve Kidnapping Case

Natalie Maltais, 9-years old, is going to be home safely thanks to some smart police work using Google Maps.

Natalie was kidnapped by her grandmother, Rose M. Maltais and her legal guardians called police when Natalie’s grandmother threatened they would never see the girl again. Thankfully, Natalie was in the possession of a cell phone, and after police called the number they were able to trace its approximate location. The cell phone company provided police with the GPS coordinates, which is accurate within about 100m.

Using GPS and Google Maps

The police already knew Natalie was in Rhode Island, and was able to use the GPS coordinates to narrow down the search around the Virginia Route 11 near Interstate 81 in Natural Bridge, Va. Deputy Chief Lozier, who worked the case, used the street view function in Google Maps to scan the area around the location the cell phone call originated from. He noticed, as you can also see in the picture, a low building close to the highway. Assuming it was a motel, he Googled for motels in the area. It did not take long to figure out the building in the picture is the Budget Inn.

Low and behold, Natalie and her grandmother were staying at the motel found with street view on Google Maps.

The Google Maps function that really made it happen

It’s not just the ability to see street view pictures that made this happy news possible, it is the fact that you can scan a stretch of road using street view. In the picture you might notice two arrows, when dragging across the screen, you move along the road on the picture as if you were actually traveling on the road. In my opinion, it must have been this function that made it possible for the police to notice the building that turned out to be the motel.