Last week, speculation surrounding a Google Earth image of El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) ignited a firestorm online, but now, the image has been updated with one that is allegedly photoshopped.
A grainy satellite image of El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison spurred on internet sleuths and conspiracy theorists who claim they've spotted a disturbing scene on Google Earth's March 2024 historical imagery. The photo, which appears to show a dark stain and a pile-like structure within the walls of the maximum-security complex, prompted viral speculation that it could be "a pile of bodies and a stream of blood."
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Suspicion was aroused further when, just days later, an updated image appeared on Google Earth. In the new photo dated March 11, 2025, the once-prominent dark patch and structure had seemingly vanished — replaced with dirt, grass, or oddly pixelated trees.
"This is not just gone — it's replaced," said TikTok user @manthatfadeswithtime. "The exact day people start talking about it, it turns into dirt and grass that literally looks copy-pasted." He went on to point out anomalies like greenery growing where cement once was and "ghost trees" appearing in place of concrete structures.
The scrutiny comes amid the Trump administration's decision to deport undocumented immigrants — including wrongly deported Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego García — to El Salvador and its brutal prison system. CECOT has been described by human rights advocates as a facility where inmates are denied sunlight, rehabilitation, and even contact with the outside world.
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BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from the viral image. "We simply can't tell with any certainty what the dark patch or the pile are," he said of the original image, noting it could just as easily be mud, construction materials, or something innocuous. "This isn't how open-source analysis works."
Google has not publicly commented on the claims.
For now, what the image truly depicts remains unresolved and any manipulations in the updated photo are uncomfirmed, but the timing has intensified unease amongst critics of CECOT and the Trump administration's use of the prison.
"If they have nothing to hide," commented on TikToker, "Why are they working so hard to hide it?"
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