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People keep finding late loved ones on Google Maps

Some find it comforting, some find it creepy.

Google uses cars to capture the panoramic images that power Street View, and sometimes, images of people.
 Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing — and changing us.

For years, Google Maps has offered Street View, which stitches together panoramic camera images to recreate a digital facsimile of physical spaces in the real world that you can explore online. Some people are discovering that if they scroll through the platform long enough and use a time travel feature, they just might find the image of a late loved one captured by one of Google’s cameras — and seemingly saved in Google Maps forever.