Google search has been used billions of times.
This time, it stopped a kidnapping.
Belgian businessman Sander Cokelaere was being held for ransom and was chained to a tree.
According to the Independent, Cokelaere was targeted by John Clarke Spence, 51, who demanded tens of thousands of pounds (£10,000 equates to over $15,000) from Cokelaere’s boss.
Spence, an ironworks business owner, developed the plot when he felt as if the company Cokelaere worked for owed him money.
The Independent reports that Spence created a fake email account, posing as a client of Cokelaere’s company. Once they set up a meeting, the two men met up, and Spence drove Cokelaere to an isolated area.
When they arrived to the area, Spence tied Cokelaere to a tree, pointed an airgun at the victim and demanded the victim’s bank card and pin number. He then told Cokelaere to call his boss and demand more money.
What Spence didn’t know was that Cokelaere had stashed a cell phone in his sock. When Spence was distracted, Cokelaere was able to Google his location and send a screenshot of the location to his boss, who called the police.
The kidnapper will now be spending eight years behind bars.
