We've investigated this image before. It's one of crime scene investigation vehicles.
We've investigated this image before. It's one of crime scene investigation vehicles.
Let's revisit this.
Take a look at the metadata of the exact area where this truck is located.
Use:
http://mvexel.dev.openstreetmap.org/bing/#
You need to zoom out, and then zoom in on Ocean Parkway. You'll need to look at the two images side by side to determine the exact area where the white truck is located.
I attached images for reference.
If you look at the exact area where that white truck "should" be, it shows the satellite image was taken in March 2011.
But...
The white truck isn't there.
So, the white truck was definitely there sometime prior to when we first discussed it - we saw it on Bing. I believe we first discussed it sometime around 4/2011-5/2011.
The metadata shows the satellite image was taken in 3/2011, but the white truck does NOT appear there. So, here's how we can take a good guess at the timeframe of the image with the white truck.
The image
without the white truck, taken in March 2011, is the most recent. The image
with the white truck would be much earlier, definitely prior to December 2011, when the first bodies were found.
My guess is winter 2009 or winter 2010 given the lack of greenery.
It takes months for Microsoft to process the maps info from Navteq, the provider that Bing uses. Also, their algorithim for viewing the maps likely uses a combination of best pixel vs. most recent date. For instance, you can zoom in and out and back and forth and see the truck disappear and reappear.
My opinion: there's no way that this truck is an emergency vehicle. The image with the truck was from prior to when the bodies were first found in December.
Take a look at Chirs Pendelton's comment here:
http://www.bing.com/community/maps/f/12264/t/648772.aspx
Here's what we know:
- White truck image available to us in April 2011
- Typical time for Microsoft to process imagery: 90 days
- Typical time for Microsoft's provider, Navteq, to acquire and process images: unknown, but probably 60 days.
- Navteq update frequency: quarterly