Woman in tears after discovering Google Maps: ‘Memories came flooding back’

It was the ghost of the father passed.

A UK woman broke down in tears after seeing her late father sitting in his favorite spot on Google Maps 11 years after his death.

“I cried when I found it. All those memories came flooding back,” said Katie Scott, 49, looking at her father’s digital specter, frozen in time thanks to Google’s Street View feature.

Her father Arthur Scott was reportedly diagnosed with stage three kidney failure in 2008, prompting his daughter to live with him as his full-time carer.

“When he was diagnosed we were told he only had a few years, so I moved in with him to look after him,” the Manchester resident recalled. “It was a shock when he was diagnosed and it’s heartbreaking to think about his loss.”

He then passed away four years later in 2013 aged 83, leaving his daughter devastated.

Little did she know, however, that her late father had been immortalized online.

Shortly after his death, Katie was looking at his home on Google Maps when she discovered a photo of her father sitting on the bench outside his house, soaking up the sun just like old times.

Another photo showed Arthur’s German shepherd, Elsa, who died a few years before him, wandering around the house.

“When I found the image, I felt very emotional,” Katie said. “This was his favorite place. As soon as the sun came up, he was on that bench.”

She added: “It was worrying but I was happy. I don’t have many photos of my father, but we were very close.”

Unfortunately, the Brit was heartbroken again after Google updated the image shortly after, leading her to think it was lost forever.

Then, last month, Katie revealed through various TikTok instructions that she “could access older Google Street View images.”

“I discovered on TikTok that you can look at older photos and it was nice to see it again,” she said.

In fact, visiting deceased relatives on Google Street View has become the rage of nostalgia-seeking Gen Zers, who regularly look at photos of loved ones sitting on their porches or gardening in their front yards.

“Somewhere, on Google Maps, it’s a sunny day in 2008 and both of my grandparents are still alive and working in their yard together,” creator Tyra Littlefield wrote in a viral TikTok video.

“Somewhere on Google Maps, my grandmother and I are sitting on a bench on the front porch of my childhood home while I hold my family dog ​​in 2011,” wrote another user, Kenzie Stevens.

However, Katie said this virtual version was no substitute for the real deal.

“He had a great sense of humor and our relationship was largely based on humor,” she said. “It’s been hard to live without him.”