Google Earth Helps Man Find Home After 25 Years

Saroo Brierley is living the real life of a "Slumdog Millionaire" -- minus all that money.

But the Indian who has been missing from home for 25 years may have found something more important than a wad of cash: Home.

Back in 1987, Brierley was 5-years-old and he spent one particular day begging on the streets of India.

On their way home, the two brothers got on their usual train but they overslept and ended up on the other end of the country, not knowing how to get back home.

For a month, Brierley tried to find his way back home but he was unsuccessful.

He eventually was placed in an orphanage before being adopted by Tasmanian parents. But he never forgot his roots.

"I kept in my head the images of the town I grew up in, the streets I used to wander and the faces of my family, I treasured those memories," he told Australia's Mercury newspaper. "Using Google Earth, I spent so many hours zooming in and out looking for something I recognized.

Eventually he had his breakthrough after 10 years of searching. He joined a Facebook group for his hometown and was able to track the train station he used to get off and on at on Google Earth.

Piecing all the pieces together, Brierley finally tracked down his mother. She too said she searched for him for years but held out hope that they would one day reunite.

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