Disturbing 'help' message found on Google Maps as people try to work out what it means

Multiple instances of the word 'Help' written using materials on the land in Los Angeles have sparked concern among internet users who spotted them on Google Maps.

The images have gone viral after being found on Google Maps and shared online over the weekend, where different users posted updates and details about the location of the messages in a bid to spread the word.

Located between the Los Angeles River, North Mission Road and E Cesar E Chavez Avenue, the words have been written on a plot of what looks like storage or waste land. The area is located close to the Union Pacific Railroad, and next to a shipping container yard.

This is the very best angle you can get pic.twitter.com/qdgGJ9Nwgk

— LAguy (@LAguy310) January 26, 2025

While most of the words read 'help', there is also at least one message which seems to say 'Traffico'.

The location of the messages, combined with the pleas themselves, have prompted concerns from viewers that the words may have been written by victims of human trafficking.

On Reddit, one user wrote: "I also see the words trafico, federales, LAPD, and FBI, and this looks like a building site. If it's a joke it is in dangerously poor taste, this sounds like someone or a group of someones are being trafficked and used materials available to them to spell out an SOS. I hope if a random person noticed, authorities noticed as well."

One concerned internet user who goes by LA Guy on Twitter went to take a closer look at the area, and has shared numerous posts about his investigation online.

In one video taken from the side of the road, he said: "I honestly don't know if this is just kids fooling around, or something real, but you can get into the yard through [...] a hole in the fence."

"I just like to believe this is a prank," he added, pointing out that the area is 'exposed'.

"If you're writing that, everybody sees you," he said. "It seems to me like it's just a bunch of kids playing a prank."

In another video, LA Guy spoke to a man who was familiar with the area and who claimed the messages had been written by people experiencing homelessness. Another woman in the area agreed, claiming the messages had been written by a man named José who was experiencing homelessness and needed 'help himself'.

"[José's] the one who puts it (help) all the time," a second woman told LA Guy. "He writes it everywhere [...] it's been years," she said, though she made clear she didn't know the reason behind why he was writing the messages.

UNILAD has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for comment.