A young woman couldn’t believe her eyes when she spotted her grandfather, who had been dead for a few years, on Google Maps.
The woman, named Yajaira, found her late grandfather after looking up his old farmhouse in the community of Labor de Guadalupe in the north-western Mexican state of Durango on Google.
According to Yajaira, who reportedly lives in North Carolina in the US, her beloved grandfather passed away ‘a few years ago’ and she never got to say goodbye to him.
Taking to Twitter, the woman shared a video of her discovery:
In the clip, Yajaira uses Google Maps to digitally travel along some dirt lanes before arriving at a bungalow where an elderly man is seen sitting in the shade outside the front door.
Sharing the video on social media, Yajaira wrote:
My grandpa passed away a few years ago. We didn’t get to say goodbye to him.
Yesterday we found out Google Maps finally drove through his farm and as we were curious going through it, where the road ends, there is my grandpa, just sitting there.
The heartwarming video, shared by thousands of Twitter users, prompted others to share their own stories of their deceased loved ones who had been recorded by Google Maps prior to their deaths.
On person replied, saying, ‘same as my buddy Lucky, rest in peace,’ alongside a picture of a dog who is believed to be his old companion.
Another said:
My great grandfather passed away last month, exactly one year after our great nan left us. To see him [on Google] walking towards our old house brings back so many childhood memories.
Another woman shared a photo of her late grandfather, writing:
Same thing with my grandfather, we can see him just relaxing outside our house in Mexico. Every time I miss him I always go back to find it.
Google Maps first launched in 2005, while the street view function, which has allowed all these people to see their late loved ones, was introduced in 2007. While the function was first introduced to help people get from A to B, there’s no doubt it has evolved into so much more than that for so many people.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.