Chilling reason house on ordinary street has been blurred out on Google Maps

Google Maps has blurred out a seemingly ordinary house on an ordinary street and the reason why will send shivers up your spine.

When it comes to getting from A to B, we'd all quite literally be lost without Google Maps.

And, for the curious among us, there's nothing more fun than wasting away time on Street View.

But did you know you can actually request to blur out yourself or your property?

It's really easy to do.

All you need to do is head to the Google Maps app and enter your home address.

Once outside your property, click 'report a problem'. The app will then ask you why you are reporting the image.

Google Maps blurred out an Ohio home due to its disturbing past (Google Street View 2009)

You can then select 'request blurring' and select 'my home.'

Then, drag the box over your entire property - including any outside buildings or gardens - and enter your email address to confirm the changes.

With just about everybody using the tool, people may choose to blur their home for privacy or security.

But, one house has been blurred by Google itself for a far more sinister reason.

To a passerby, 2208 Seymour Avenue is rather unremarkable. It looks like any other house on its suburban street in Cleveland, Ohio.

However, it hides a disturbing past.

The suburban home belonged to Ariel Castro, who abducted three women and held them captive for over a decade (Angelo Merendino/Getty Images)

This house once belonged to Ariel Castro, who was responsible for a series of kidnappings.

Between 2002 and 2004, Castro abducted three women - Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight - keeping them locked away in his home for a decade.

The women endured horrific abuse and violence until Berry managed to escape and make contact with a neighbor in 2013 when Castro forgot to bolt the door shut.

"Help me. I’m Amanda Berry," she said after running into a neighbor's home.

"I’ve been kidnapped and I’ve been missing for 10 years and I’m — I’m here. I’m free now."

The house was razed to the ground in 2013 to offer Castro's neighbors closure. (Google Maps 2019)

Following the women's rescue, authorities revealed that the four-bedroom home had been turned into a house of horrors.

Each woman was given a bucket to use for the bathroom and chains and tape used to restrain them were also found at the scene.

On August 7 2013, the house was demolished in order to allow nearby residents to move on from the crime.

Castro was later sentenced to 1,000 years in prison after pleading guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping and rape.

He died by suicide a month after sentencing.

Topics: Google Maps, Crime, US News

Bec Oakes