by: Kristy Erdodi
A mobile phone signal and Google Street View have led authorities to find a young girl, who was allegedly kidnapped by her grandmother.
Natalie Maltais, a nine-year-old girl allegedly kidnapped by her grandmother, Rose Maltais, has been found thanks to a mobile phone signal and the use of Google Street View.
After authorities learned of the girl’s kidnapping, a police officer and a firefighter came together to work on the case in Athol, Massachusetts. GPS in the girl's mobile phone led authorities to the approximate location where Ms. Maltais had taken her.
Problems began when Ms. Maltais picked her granddaughter up from her legal guardians for a “weekend away”. According to Police Chief Timothy Anderson, Ms. Maltais said that she did not intend on bringing the girl back and left the state.
The police contacted Ms. Maltais, but she still did not return the girl as promised. Authorities decided to find the two using the girl’s mobile phone.
Police officer Todd Neale contacted the mobile phone provider, AT&T, submitting a compliance form to request tracking information, as authorities must do in these cases. AT&T was able to provide Officer Neale with GPS coordinates each time the phone was activated.
Officer Neale then contacted Athol's deputy fire chief, Thomas Lozier. Lozier had previous experience using GPS in tracking people, for example, in the guidance of firefighters during forest and brush fires and in the tracking of lost hikers.
Authorities entered the girl’s coordinates into Google Street View, enabling them to identify the hotel location where they eventually found her.
Since 2005, according to U.S. law, mobile phone providers have been required to house the ability to find 67 percent of callers within 100 meters and 95 percent of callers within 300 meters. As a result, most of the United States’ new mobile phones have GPS capabilities.
Chief Anderson explained the extent of this process’ availability, “This is very useful, although we can only use it in emergency situations such as when a person is missing or lost, or a life is in danger."
