Google Maps has house on ordinary street blocked out for incredibly chilling reason
Google Maps has long been a great tool for exploring the world from the comfort of your laptop screen, however there's one house that's been blurred from view - with good reason.
While Google commonly blurs the faces of people who are out and about in their Street View feature, houses and public buildings are (within reason) available to view.
However, a seemingly ordinary suburban street in Ohio is an exception to this case.
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People looking at 2208 Seymour Avenue in Cleveland will notice that images taken in 2009 have since been blurred by Google, completely obstructing the house from view no matter how far you zoom in - and there's a chilling reason for it.
The house previously belonged to notorious criminal Ariel Castro, who was responsible for a series of kidnappings.
Between 2002 and 2004, Castro abducted three women - Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight - keeping them locked away in his home for a decade.
Castro first abducted 21-year-old Michelle in August 2002 as she walked back from her cousin's house, a day before she was scheduled to appear in court for a custody hearing regarding her young son.
Next to be snatched was Amanda, who was taken while on her way home from her job at Burger King in in April 2003, a day before her 17th birthday.
Amanda would later give birth to a child fathered by Castro three years later.
His final victim was fourteen-year-old Gina, who had accepted a lift home from Castro as she was friends with one of his teenage daughters.
The women were regularly abused by Castro while in captivity, being subjected to a series of mental, physical and sexual abuse.
The three women's daring escape came in 2013 when they were left alone in the house, allowing for Amanda to catch the attention of one of Castro's neighbours.
Following the women's rescue authorities revealed that the four-bedroom home had been turned into a house of horrors, with confined to their own room and given a bucket to use for the bathroom.
Chains and tape used to restrain the women was also found at the scene.
Conditions at Seymour Avenue were similarly horrific, with an official revealing to The New York Times in 2013 that the women were kept in 'abysmal' conditions and had no contact with anyone other than Castro, each other and Amanda's child.
The house was later demolished on August 7, 2013 in order to allow nearby residents to move on from the crime.
Castro was later sentenced to 1,000 years in prison after pleading guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping and rape.
He died by suicide a month after sentencing.
Brenna Cooper