How Google Maps helped authorities catch and arrest double murderer

US police once used Google Maps to track down a man accused of a double murder.

Google Maps may be our go-to for GPS directions, but it also turns out it can help in criminal investigations.

Back in 2022, the technology helped find the body of a missing woman after a police officer located her final moments on Google Street View.

In 2010, it played a key role in the arrest of Leslie Todd Parvin, who was charged with two counts of murder, as announced by Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.

Parvin was accused of killing two Hispanic men, Edgar Lopez and Pablo Gutierrez-Guzman, on July 30, 2010. Lopez was an immigrant from Guatemala, and Gutierrez-Guzman was from Mexico.

Google Maps and Google Earth have been involved in solving several cases over the years (Ingo Joseph/Pexels)

At the time, he was a 20-year Army veteran with five overseas deployments.

Parvin allegedly shot and killed Lopez and Gutierrez-Guzman during a small gathering.

All three were drinking together in a backyard on July 30 when an argument broke out, according to the sheriff's department.

Parvin allegedly pulled a handgun from his waistband and shot the unarmed victims, Lott said.

Though the reason for the argument remains unclear, Parvin’s father, Leslie Todd Parvin, Sr., later suggested that his son's 20 years of military service and the stress from his tours near Iraq and Afghanistan may have contributed to the tragic incident.

After the shooting, investigators reported that Parvin fled to Louisiana.

Police couldn't trace him, but they knew he was driving a green Kia minivan.

So police began scanning through license plate records of all green Kia vans registered in Louisiana.

Google Maps helped to catch Leslie Todd Parvin, pictured (Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center)

Then, they began reading through the list to find tags with the partial number, Lott described.

After narrowing down their search, they discovered a Columbia address linked to Parvin. And there it was.

On a whim, deputies say they plugged Parvin's address into Google Maps and noticed a green minivan parked in front his house on Street View.

"When we Googled his address the vehicle was in the picture on the Google map," the police stated. "Once things started rolling they just fell into place."

Authorities believe Parvin eventually left Louisiana, travelled to Texas, and got rid of the van witnesses had seen at the crime scene.

But thanks to a partial license plate number provided by a witness, investigators were able to match Parvin to the vehicle.

Parvin was arrested at his home in the Windsor Lake area of South Carolina on August 19, after reportedly being brought back by a family member.