LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – A patch of undeveloped land in downtown Los Angeles is going viral on social media for some distressing messages seen from above, but police have confirmed that they found no illicit activity in the area. 

The lot, located just east of the L.A. River at the intersection of East Cesar Chavez Avenue and North Mission Road, is littered with discarded metal and dumpsters.

It is also littered with the word “help” spelled out nearly a dozen times, as seen from above on Monday. Another word “traffico” is also seen spelled out once, as are “LAPD” and “federal.” 

The largest “help” message appears to be constructed with piping that has the word “Corruption” on one of them, as well as “trafico humano,” “extorcion” and “terrorismo,” which are Spanish for “human trafficking,” “extortion” and “terrorism,” respectively.

Google Street View shows that “help” was also scrawled on the sidewalk the last time the company’s street view car drove on East Cesar Chavez in July 2023.

The largest “help” message located at the bottom of the overhead image is also seen spelled out in the July 2023 street view footage.

The apparent entrance to the lot is located at 599 N. Mission Road, which, according to Google Maps, is the site of a LATC Union Pacific Rail Yard, which is adjacent to an access road leading to a Southern Pacific Rail Yard.

Multiple social media users identified the person making the messages as a man named Jose, and the Los Angeles Police Department responded to one post and confirmed that the man, a known transient, had been at the location “for a few years,” though they did not identify him by name.

“We’ve had several different contacts with the individual,” LAPD’s Central Division said. “He has refused housing or a mental health evaluation [and] there is no evidence of human trafficking.”