Samaritans, Chennai cops use Google, OSINT to reunite missing woman with her son

A sixtyyearold woman who went missing from her home for almost a week was reunited with her son by a team of good Samaritans who used Google Maps trackers and other internet open sources to trace her familyPreliminary inquiries revealed that the woman was in shock after losing her husband a year agoOn Wednesday September 18 she was spotted in an unconscious state lying on the side of a road in Chennai However timely intervention by a team of private detectives not only saved her life but they also managed to reunite her with her son in a short duration of three hours with the help of local police and internet toolsSequence 1 Detective firm staffers find woman in an unconscious stateOn 630pm Wednesday September 18 a woman aged around 60 was found lying unconscious on the side of a footpath near a private detective firm Her clothes were shabby and she looked like a destitute person Given the proximity the staff at the detective firm immediately rushed to her and tried bringing her back to a conscious state by splashing water on her face They also gave her lemon juice and managed bringing her in a semiconscious stateSequence 2 Cops suspect woman had mental health issuesThe incident was immediately reported to Ramapuram Police following which a team of cops reached the spot After preliminary inquiries the police suspected that she was going through some mental health issues The police planned to send the woman to the Institute of Mental Health IMH in Chennairsquos Kilpauk area The institute is one of the oldest and largest mental hospitals in AsiaSequence 3 lsquoOperation Reunitersquo begins Around 630 pm the Samaritans launch an operation to reunite the woman with her family ldquoWe approached the woman and tried to gather information about her identity and hometown The woman mentioned a name related to her husband Based on this our instincts led us to trace her family using Open Source Intelligence OSINT With cooperation from the police we moved forward quicklyrdquo said Esakki A the chief executive officer CEO of the detective firmSequence 4 Woman identifies sonThe detective firm staffers and the cops first gathered key details about the womanrsquos name and location ldquoUsing the voter list we identified potential family members including one of her sons We then searched for the son on LinkedIn and fortunately found a matching profile When we showed the woman his profile photo she confirmed that it was her son Further investigation revealed that he worked at Ramapuram near an infotech parkrdquo said EsakkiSequence 5 Technology comes to rescueThe team then splits into two groups one with the police officers who went to the IT Park to locate the womanrsquos son and another who worked to contact people from her hometown Using Google search and Maps we pinpointed the location and contact details of people in her area Through Google Street View we found phone numbers of the residents living in the same neighbourhood and made several calls until we connected with the relevant personIn the meanwhile the first team reached the IT Park and managed to contact the officials from the company where the womanrsquos son was employed and obtained his phone number When he was informed about his mother the womanrsquos son immediately rushed to the location where she was keptSequence 6 Mother and son reunitedSimultaneously the team also informed the womanrsquos relatives in her hometown ldquoThey stayed in touch with us throughout the operation to ensure her safety By 930 pm just three hours after the search began the womanrsquos son arrived and was reunited with his motherrdquo the CEO saidldquoThe police were highly impressed by the efficiency and coordination of our team and appreciated our swift resolution The use of available resources mdash including OSINT mdash and the strong collaboration with the police enabled us to reunite the family quickly It was one of our proudest moments as we demonstrated the power of teamwork and smart investigative techniques said Essaki who was overwhelmed by the success of lsquoOperation Reunitersquo