Google says it will remove images of a murder scene from Google Maps

Google says it is working to remove images of a murder scene from its Google Maps service following a request from the victim’s father.

Jose Barrera recently stumbled upon a picture of his son Kevin, who was found shot dead near railway tracks in Richmond, CA, in August 2009 aged 14, on Maps. Barrera told KTVU that the overhead image brought back a lot of memories and prompted him to lodge a request with the search giant.

Google is often reluctant to change data based on user requests, but the company is working to replace the photograph, as Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps, confirmed in a statement to TNW:

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. 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. We believe we can update this in eight days, and we’ve spoken to the family to let them know we’re working hard on the update.

➤ Father wants Google to remove image of dead son [KTVU] | Via CNET

Image via TopRank Online Marketing / Flickr