Group ImageC20 was geolocated to coordinates (13°21’24.90″N 103°51’31.60″E) in Siem Reap, Cambodia at the level of the Wat Bo village in the city centre.pic.twitter.com/hpEh1xxA9p
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Our latest on #StopChildAbuse #TraceAnobject
This is Part II of the investigation: CAMBODIA
Image forensics, visual analysis and 3D modelling. A full #OSINT pack to answer: Where and When.
@europol @bellingcat @EC3Europol @ECPAT #OSINThttps://www.bellingcat.com/news/2019/12/17/two-europol-stopchildabuse-images-geolocated-part-ii-cambodia/ …
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Group ImageC20 rearranged to define the land plot orientation based on sunlight direction, shadows and other elements seen in the images. A building was believed to be located behind the fence and some of its parts appeared on both ImageC20 A & Cpic.twitter.com/wl0zEg6QWG
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Preliminary sketch of the site produced to assist the geolocation processpic.twitter.com/gXkInmYxSj
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Initial efforts focused on finding urban centres in southeast Asia that could lead to a village featuring the following elements: Houses with pink roofing sheets type. Concrete electricity posts. Tall trees along the roads.
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Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia were checked. After a full day of navigating via street view in Google Earth through the principal cities of these countries, only Siem Reap was shortlisted as a potential candidate. Visual evidence was collectedpic.twitter.com/NOp13zuQty
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matching concrete posts were a determining factor when shortlisting
#SiemReap#Cambodiapic.twitter.com/nSXzFOhRHM
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We took a section of the original ImageC20 featuring a post and a tree fork next to it. This image was flipped horizontally to recreate the relative view a person standing on the road would see. This was used as a visual pattern to check trees next to posts along Siem Reap riverpic.twitter.com/H4pI7YmwFs
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Now that a match for the tree fork and post was found, further verification of the site were needed. By exploring Road 22 adjacent to the plot of land, more matching elements were identified.pic.twitter.com/RPSaWZeteT
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Google street view of the back of the hotel from Road 22 and Samdech Tep Vong Street in 2013. The awning of the hotel above the third floor was already fitted to the hotel when ImageC20 was takenpic.twitter.com/y89VvJhQT2
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Verification of additional matching elements from ImageC20. One of the side elevation windows on the ground floor match the relative position, height and style of the one featuring on ImageC20-Cpic.twitter.com/yqTBUEEZc0
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Satellite images of corner of River Road & Samdech Tep Vong in different years. In 2004 the hotel building did not exist. In 2015 the adjacent property south of the hotel all trees were missing. Therefore, ImageC20 could have only be taken during the period 2004-2015pic.twitter.com/5LGdat39BU
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Using Flickr, Google maps, YouTube and news articles, images mainly related to these events were investigated. Those showing the hotel were used to build a chronological sequence of changes in the construction of the building between 2005 and 2011
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April 2005. View of the construction of the Hotel Angkor Sayana from across the Wat Bo Bridge. The construction of the third floor just startedpic.twitter.com/UItPm8F1ma
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November 2006. View of the construction of the Hotel from across the Wat Bo Bridge. The Hotel was already fitted with a roof . A section of the awning is visible. However, wooden scaffolding and green netting are still in place. No windows are fitted yet to the buildingpic.twitter.com/uCGKEJh9Vu
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December 2006. The hotel was still surrounded with wooden scaffolding and green netting. The latter seems to fall onto the front corner of neighbouring plot of land. This is not featured on ImageC20. A row of tall trees is seen along the fencing dividing the two propertiespic.twitter.com/g3mRkUIaYs
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February 2007. View of the construction of the Hotel Angkor Sayana from across the Wat Bo Bridge. The hotel no longer features scaffolding and green netting around it. No fitted wooden windows are yet visible. The awning above the third floor is clearly visiblepic.twitter.com/elxsqLVCNs
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August 2008. View of the Hotel Angkor Sayana from across the Wat Bo Bridge. All floors seem to be fully fitted with wooden windows including the ground floor for the first timepic.twitter.com/BVAuQCURIU
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October 2008. A footing and a pole which belonged to a traffic sign post in front of the hotel is visible. A red parasol largely matching the tone, shape and lettering of the one seen on ImageG20-C. Close to the parasol a blue area in similar position and height of the blue tentpic.twitter.com/ujfsfLs18Z
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October 2009. Flooding affected the riverside area on October 1st 2009. A wooden structure similar to the one featured on ImageC20-C.. A damaged blue/green tarpaulin next to a faded red parasol. The lettering on this parasol looks very similar to the one featured on ImageC20-C.pic.twitter.com/3LyjiEqTBi
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October 2009. A mango tree is observed above the fence line featuring leaves of copper colour. The same type of leaves are observed on ImageC20. Within the premises of the hotel construction site, a blue tent is also visible.pic.twitter.com/f7qtierDOZ
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November 2011. The shack observed in October 2009 during the flooding was relocated to approximately the same spot where the blue tent was located on ImageC20 meaning the image had to be taken earlier.pic.twitter.com/0rEHIehO5g
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Approximate timeline of the construction of the hotel building and observations on the adjacent property. The information is used to establish a likely period of time within which Imagec20 could have been producedpic.twitter.com/9MCZkrunML
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A simplified model of the hotel building and nearby houses were prepared. Based on solar data for the site’s coordinates and neglecting atmospheric and surface factors, an approximation of the shadows cast by the hotel building on adjacent houses was computed.
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Although the shape of the resulting shadows might not be the same due to the simplification of the building and atmospheric factors, the analysis provides an intuitive approach to determine when the shadow of the hotel reach the nearby building as seen on ImageC20.pic.twitter.com/Q2nsIrMot9
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Conclusions and more details of the investigation here:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2019/12/17/two-europol-stopchildabuse-images-geolocated-part-ii-cambodia/ …
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