Google Says It’s Working On Removing Image Of Man’s Slain Son From Maps

(Bill Binns)

Anyone who’s ever used Google Maps has likely searched for their own address, where they grew up or other important spots, just to see what image of the place Google has captured. But unfortunately for a man whose teen son was killed in 2009 in Richmond, Calif., it appears the image of his son’s body is shown at the spot where he was found.

Since he first learned of the image’s presence, the 14-year-old shooting victim’s father brought his concern to the media, telling KTVU.com he didn’t want Google to show the disturbing snapshot out of respect. The teen’s slaying remains unsolved.

“When I see this image, that’s still like that happened yesterday,” his father said. “And that brings me back to a lot of memories.”

After the station ran the story about the offending image, Google called KTVU to work with the man and let him know they’d be working on removing the picture.

The vice president of Google Maps says that although images are usually on the site for one to three years and removing them rarely happens, the company was willing to make an exception to get the satellite image removed as soon as possible.

“Our hearts go out to the family of this young boy. Since the media first contacted us about the image, we’ve been looking at different technical solutions,” said the statement from Brian McClendon. “Google has never accelerated the replacement of updated satellite imagery from our maps before, but given the circumstances we wanted to make an exception in this case.”

The image should be replaced with a new one within eight days, which means as early as next Tuesday.

Although Google has apologized, the father wants more from the company.

“Sorry is not all. Just to say sorry? It affects my whole family,” he said. “They need to be more careful when they publish in the future.”

Yes, making sure there are no murder scenes on the map seems like it should be a high priority, so better star working on that, guys.

Google says its working to remove image of slain teen [KTVU.com]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist