Twitter Users Freeze Deceased Friends, Family Members in Time With Google Maps

A tweet by Fesshole (@fesshole) — a handle where followers submit anonymous confessions — has led to many users sharing touching images of their deceased family members and friends spotted in Google Maps Street View captures. Users have shared screenshots of their loved ones as spotted on Google Maps — frozen in time.

On June 16, one such user confessed to going on Google Maps and looking for images dated before the death of the user's father. “I go on Google Maps to the images that were dated as being taken before my dad died. so I can walk around a little bit in a world where he is still with me,” read the tweet.

I go on Google maps to the images that were dates as being taken before my dad died so I can walk around a little bit in a world where he is still with me.

— Fesshole (@fesshole) June 16, 2021

What started as an anonymous confession on a Twitter handle has received an overwhelming response with many people sharing the heart-touching stories of their families and friends. The original tweet has been retweeted over 450 times, while over five thousand people had already liked it at the time of writing. Soon after, many shared moments and memories of their loved ones, who were still there on Google Street View Images.

This tweet, for instance, by user @seanyboyo shows his parents walking hand-in-hand past a red-coloured car.

“I can go back to 2009 and see my parents walking down the road holding hands. I lost them both 8 & 6 years ago," wrote the user.

I can go back to 2009 and see my parents walking down the road holding hands. I lost them both 8 & 6 years ago. pic.twitter.com/0YmYROw81k

— Seán (@seanyboyo) June 16, 2021

Neil Henderson, an editor at BBC, tweeted an image of his father and wrote, “My dad outside his house; passed away a few years ago, but still here.”

My dad outside his house; passed away a few years ago, but still here. pic.twitter.com/uLIXBZiv54

— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) June 16, 2021

He further tweeted that the weird thing was that he hundreds of pictures of his father, “but the Google Street View is quite affecting like he's still around.”

The weird thing Is that obv I have literally hundreds of pics of my dad, but the google street view is quite affecting, like he's still around.

— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) June 17, 2021

User @RockAndBaguette posted a photo of his great grandmother “taken 13 years ago” looking out of the house window. He wrote that though his grandmother died in 2013, she “is still having a nosey out the window.”

Taken 13 years ago, but my Great Granny who passed in 2013 is still having a nosey out the window. :) pic.twitter.com/S1mERZSlG4

— Adz (@RockAndBaguette) June 17, 2021

Here are some more touching stories from the same thread:

My Dad who died in 2015 unloading his car in his trusty aran jumper. I still have the jumper. pic.twitter.com/T5nbdRj1PF

— Caroline Pearce (@flamingvintage) June 17, 2021

My dad returning from walking our dog back in 2009 at our old house. Dad and dog since deceased but most definitely still with us in our hearts. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/HTNxFIql1W

— Hairy Viking (@hairy_viking) June 17, 2021

My dad, taken by the year 2020. Immortalized by Google maps. pic.twitter.com/w1yk3xNQcU

— Peter Cavey (@Twitspc) June 17, 2021

My cousin's late father, sitting on his porch, wearing his jeans and white t-shirt, just like I always remembered him. He's dead, the house is sold, yet I see him sitting right where he should be. pic.twitter.com/Ps6pfmZkPd

— Tammy Parker (@_TammyParker_) June 17, 2021

Dad fixing the gutters at my grandmother's house. Will be about 2010. He died in 2012. pic.twitter.com/J9Yc4v7fAw

— Rick Leeming - Beaker (@BeakerRick) June 17, 2021

That's her. On the way back from the shops. She's going home to the house I grew up in and my dad still lives in, in the next street. I've known this place my entire life and we laughed when we found her years back. I thought it was lost forever. pic.twitter.com/niYSHAPsl1

— Steven Wade (@familylawspec) June 17, 2021

Bobby Bardsley, who identifies himself as a freelance writer, reacted to the original tweet with something that could help people find their loved ones easily, even if a location's Street View is updated later.

"If the photos ever get updated, click the little clock icon with the arrow around it and you can go back to any previous image," he wrote.

If the photos ever get updated, click the little clock icon with the arrow around it and you can go back to any previous image.

— Bobble Bardsley (@bobblebardsley) June 16, 2021

In another tweet, he demonstrated how it can be done.

...and in case anyone has trouble finding it, this is the icon and the pop-up you get when you click it. You can embiggen the past pictures to full-screen by clicking the little magnifying glass at the bottom-right, and the white dots show each time the pic was updated. pic.twitter.com/MG7QHhoEPA

— Bobble Bardsley (@bobblebardsley) June 16, 2021

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