Why can't they use Google Earth to see what happened Maddie McAnn? Or any other missing kids, crimes etc..?

• They can get pretty good detail on it and know where she was taken from, why cant they check? They have found other kids with it.

• Answer:

  Google Earth is not live and interactive. In other words, Google Earth is not a live picture of every area of the Earth at any given time. Google Earth is actually a HUGE database of satellite photographs that have been stitched together to give the appearance of a seamless map of the planet. However, for some areas the last satellite pass may be recent and for other areas the last satellite pass may have been months or years ago! You can get a general idea of the age of the image from the bottom of the screen... there is usually a copyright or image date posted. I know that the last pass of my area (central Florida) was done several YEARS ago. Many MAJOR changes in the area aren't in the photographs. So if major changes (like entire new communities, highway changes, etc) aren't visible on the images, certainly something that happened an hour or day ago won't be. Yes, the government has satellites that can spy down in great detail on the Earth, but we don't yet have every inch of the planet under scrutiny! The only way you could use satellite photos (or a live, interactive Google Earth if one existed) to solve a missing child case would be if that EXACT region just so happened to have been photographed at the EXACT moment the abduction took place... and even then it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Also, don't confuse things like using security cameras and surveilance videos of terrestrial nature with something global like Google Earth and satellite photographs. You have a nice idea... but one that isn't possible or practical given current technology! ADDENDUM: I also did a bit of research and you are confusing something like Google Earth with GPS technology. An Internet search turns up exactly zero cases of missing children being discovered using satellite PHOTOGRAPHS. However, there are more and more cases of children being found using another satellite technology: GPS. GPS works like the NAV system in your car. With the proper equipment, you can use satellites to triangulate the position of any object on Earth. You don't see a picture of it... but you can pinpoint the position on a map. With abducted children, some have had parents who gave their kids cell phones (or security devices) with GPS transmitters hidden in them. When the kids went missing, they were able to use the unique GPS locater frequency in the kid's devices to track their position... much the same way you can use LoJack to find a stollen car. However, this will only work if the child has a GPS device on their person, and that device is not removed from them by the abductor. Unfortunately, this has also led some parents to have GPS chips implanted in their children... which may or may not cross some ethical lines.