True crime fans claim to catch 'killer disposing of body' on Google Street View

31 August 2023 , 08:13

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It actually shows a homeless man moving his belongings to another camp (Image: Kennedy News/Google)

Google have been forced to blur a bloke moving his tent captured on Street View - after internet sleuths mistook him for a killer disposing of a dead body. Eerie snaps of Kent Road in Akron, Ohio, left local resident Tami so baffled she couldn't help posting them to Facebook.

The images show a man pushing his bike along the side of the road with a wrapped-up grey tarpaulin cutting a worrying shape across its frame. The shape appears like that of a body wrapped inside with its legs hanging over the handlebars, its torso and arms strapped tightly and its head hanging above the back tyre.

True crime fanatics were quick to get to work - brightening the image and claiming it showed 'blood' on the man's boots and hands, while some even asked if the unusual images had been reported to police. But more cautious internet users pointed out the area has been popular with homeless people who used to pitch tents on a street adjacent to Kent Road.

They believe the images, taken in June 2019, simply show a homeless man moving his folded tent to or from the camp by resting it on the bike. But the furore over the 'body' appears to have prompted Google to act, as they blurred whatever the man is carrying after it gained more than 1,000 shares on Facebook.

Poster Tami said: "My niece showed [a photo] to me and I had it saved to my phone so I decided to take a trip to Kent St. on Google to make sure he was still there. The picture is literally worth a thousand words. The comments have been hilarious. The reality of it is, he's possibly moving his belongings from the homeless camp that used to be near there."

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One commented: "He has a body!" Another agreed and said: "Looks like a body." A third added: "Let’s hope it's a tent, not a body." A fourth joked: "Imagine walking a body down the road like that and seeing the dang Google car drive by you with all the cameras on it."

One said: "That's got to be a tent or something. That can't be what it looks like, right!?" Internet sleuths even claimed to have 'cleared up' the image and spotted 'blood' on the man's knuckles and boots.

One said: "True but who knows what holds the living of a homeless man. Maybe a chopped-up body because I don't see hips. This is really weird/f**ked." One added: "Oh my! I couldn’t get that clear of a picture when I zoomed!" Another speculated: "His knuckles though lol." A user finally commented: "There was a homeless tent city over there for a few years. I'm guessing it's a tent."

Google declined to comment. Akron Police Department has also been contacted for comment.

Adam Wareing