Mysterious discovery

Help messages on Google Maps pose a mystery

(Bild: Screenshot Google Maps)

"What's going on in Los Angeles?" asks a scientist on X (formerly Twitter) after a curious discovery on Google Maps. Simon Goddek found messages such as "Help" on a site with junk in Los Angeles. Now the web is puzzling over what the mysterious lettering could be all about.

In addition to several letters with "Help" in different sizes, the words "Terrorism", "LAPD" (the Los Angeles Police Department, note) and "FBI" were also immortalized on the property in huge letters - so large that they are clearly visible on the online map service.

The researcher's posting:

Tunnel entrances disturb users
The post went viral and was viewed more than 51 million times - hundreds of thousands of users gave it a like. Many pondered in the comments whether a crime might have been committed. One of them points out that there are at least three tunnel entrances on the site. "Either a hoax or a crime scene," concludes Goddek. "The police should investigate here," demanded numerous users.

An X user drove past the site and filmed one of the letterings: 

Because "Traffico" can also be read as lettering, some suspect that human trafficking may be taking place there. Others suspect that the noise from the adjacent roads and railroad tracks may be the reason why the landowner is demanding help. 

Police know about the writings
One of the private investigators in the case told X that he had informed the police. "They said it had been there for over a year," he says, describing the reaction. Nothing more was revealed to him. However, the terse response from the executive probably does nothing to stop speculation about the mysterious messages.