The messages are situated between the Los Angeles River, North Mission Road, and E Cesar E Chavez Avenue, on what appears to be a piece of storage or wasteland. This area is near the Union Pacific Railroad and adjacent to a shipping container yard.
While the majority of the messages say ‘help,’ there is at least one instance of a message that seems to read ‘Traffico’.
The existence of these messages, along with their location, has led to concerns from viewers that they might have been created by human trafficking victims.
On Reddit, a user expressed their thoughts: “I also see the words trafico, federales, LAPD, and FBI, and this looks like a building site. If it’s a joke it is in dangerously poor taste, this sounds like someone or a group of someones are being trafficked and used materials available to them to spell out an SOS. I hope if a random person noticed, authorities noticed as well.”
One concerned individual, known as LA Guy on Twitter, decided to investigate the area personally, sharing his findings online through various posts.
In one video from the roadside, he remarked: “I honestly don’t know if this is just kids fooling around, or something real, but you can get into the yard through […] a hole in the fence.”
Hoping it might be a prank, he noted the area is very visible. “If you’re writing that, everybody sees you,” he pointed out. “It seems to me like it’s just a bunch of kids playing a prank.”
In another clip, LA Guy interviewed a man familiar with the location who suggested the messages were written by those experiencing homelessness. A woman in the vicinity concurred, stating that they were penned by a man named José, who was also in need of assistance.
“[José’s] the one who puts it (help) all the time,” another woman explained to LA Guy. “He writes it everywhere […] it’s been years,” although she was unsure of his reasons for doing so.