Case of Elisa Lam
Hotel Cecil: She Checked In, But Doesn’t Checked Out
Haunted Hotel? Or A Realistic Explanation?
Who was Jack The Ripper? Who shot Kennedy and Tupac?
Throughout history, there have been many unsolved mysterious cases. The mysterious case of Elisa Lam was one of the more bizarre ones in modern history.
February 14th, 2013, Downtown LA, Cecil Hotel, Canadian student-traveler, Elisa Lam hasn’t been seen for two weeks now. This sudden disappearance shrouded in mystery spun into internet rumors about conspiracy theories from paranormal activity to government mind control, and invisibility cloak technology.
Maybe it was the LAPD covering up, working with the secretive Illuminati?
Or maybe it has a realistic explanation?
Skid Row
Like most young people, Elisa Lam liked to travel, to see the world and its vastnesses. However, unfortunately, her first stop to America was also her last, January 29th Elisa Lam checked into the notorious Cecil Hotel located on the historical shady, Skid Row, where she never checked out.
Since the 1930’s Skid Row was known for its condensed population of homeless people, over 12,000 homeless live there annually. Where tons of crimes were committed, drug use, prostitution, muggings, and murders, to say a few.
For travelers the Hotel Cecil seemed like a good place to stay, it was luxurious with pristine decorations in the lobby, they get a good deal and can visit L.A, however it was more deceiving than what meets the eye.
The Hotel Cecil
The real reputation of the Cecil Hotel was more nefarious in nature, known for its suicides, murders, drug overdoses, prostitution, robberies, mental breakdowns, and a place where Serial Killers, can just relax and be themselves, like the infamous Night Stalker, who terrorized Los Angeles in the ’80s.
The only question was, which category does Elisa Lam’s case fall under?
As a traveler, Lisa Lam was unaware of these risks when she checked in the Cecil Hotel, but became aware not too long after.
Last Known Whereabouts
At the time of her disappearance police searched her last known whereabouts, the sketchy Cecil Hotel. Investigators searched for clues in her room, it was left a mess, her valuable items such as money and passport were left behind. This was not a good sign of where this case was going.
Other than mentioning seeing her there, the Hotel staff couldn’t give the police any valuable information to help the case.
Mysterious Elevator Footage
The only thing they saw of value was elevator footage where she was last seen. It looked like something that came out of a paranormal activity movie. The police released the footage online, hoping that someone in the public could help them out, maybe see something they missed.
That was not to
o far from expectations, after the initial video was released on the LAPD website, the video was also shared on Youtube where it went viral.
It appealed to so many because they know what they are looking at was the last known footage before a girl went missing.
The video has so much going on in it, it starts with Elisa Lam getting into the elevator, she pushes some buttons, but nothing happens. The elevator goes nowhere, the doors stay open.
She then quickly pops her head out the door, looking left and right as if she’s expecting someone. Startled, she immediately clings to the walls her body flat against the wall, as if she’s hiding from someone or something as conspiracy theorists would put it.
She seems panicked, but there’s no reason why.
The elevator doesn’t close.
She keeps frantically popping in and out of the elevator. She starts walking in a square motion pattern for some reason. She then starts moving more strange erratic motions with her hands, as if she was conjuring up spirits.
Maybe she’s communicating with something that we just don’t see?
Whatever it is, she loses her balance, grabbing onto the elevator walls, then she starts pushing a row of elevator buttons, still nothing.
She seems to have given up on the elevator moving. She nervously puts her hands in her hair, as she leaves the elevator.
The elevator starts to work.
The doors slams shut.
She is never seen again.
Another Person
Web Sleuths speculate if there was another person outside the elevator holding the door open. That could be one reason why the elevator wouldn’t go anywhere. If so that would mean foul play was involved. Could it be a shady visitor of the Hotel or someone from skid row coming in?
The moments when she leaves the elevator you see a foot, it is unclear if it was hers or someone else’s. The foot seemed to be either the tiptoes of a foot at a weird angle, but it could just be the back heel of the foot at a normal angle.
Tampered Video?
In the video, Websleuths point out bizarre things that suggest the video was tampered with. When asked about the possibility of the altered video the police and hotel manager could not confirm or deny that.
Three Reasons
- Time Code — The video’s time code was hidden. where the time code should be it looks like someone placed another time code over it to hide the real-time.
- Slow downed — The footage appears to be slowed down which makes her movements creepier
- Missing Cut — There’s a cut in the video when the door closes, seconds were missing. This could be why the door closes so much faster, but why was there time missing? To hide someone else’s identity in the video?
Wrong Button
Upon deeper investigation conducted by web sleuths, it was determined that Elisa Lam was pushing the door open button which was the reason it did not close.
However, it is strange how she did push all of them, why was she so nervous to have pushed all of them in the first place?
We may never know
Water Tank
The case gets stranger when the hotel water was low pressure and black water was coming out of the sinks. Complaints from Hotel residents were coming in constantly.
What could be the problem?
As the Hotel repairman goes to fix the problem at the water tank, he is stunned by what he finds. It was Elisa Lam or just the naked body of what was left of her. Her body was white as a ghost floating on top, her clothes sank to the bottom.
Residents were disgusted when they found out they’ve been drinking, bathing, and using contaminated water from a decomposing corpse.
Her decomposed body was in the tank for over two weeks. While police searched the hotel they did go on the rooftop with dogs but nothing was found.
Murder or Suicide?
The tank was initially reported locked and the door was closed, but strangely enough, it was then reported unlocked and opened. The big difference here is if it was locked then somebody would have to unlock it with a key, but if it was unlocked then she would have jumped in and drowned by herself.
Dark Water
The most strange thing about this case are the coincidences related to a 2003 Japanese horror movie Dark Water, which strikingly resembles the case of Elisa Lam.
Four Coincidences
- In Dark Water, the location takes place in a rundown sketchy hotel just like the Cecil Hotel where Elisa Lam stayed
- In the film, this little girl is wearing a red jacket, the same color as Elsa
- In Dark water, black water comes out of the faucet just like in the Cecil Hotel because of Elisa’s body clogging up the water pipes
- The biggest coincidence is the little girl falls goes to the roof of the building and drowns by falling in the water tower tank just like Elisa’s died reportedly by drowning in the water tank on the Cecil roof.
This makes you wonder if somebody was inspired enough by this horror movie to carry it out in real life or just a total coincidence.
A Realistic Explanation?
The official police report says it was a suicide. Elisa Lam was off her medication which made her act up and do strange things like in the Hotel Elevator. One night off her meds she climbed up to the roof through a fire escapee, made her way to the water tank, opened an unlocked lid jumped in, took off her clothes, and accidentally drowned.
That’s the police’s version of events but who’s to say for certain what really happened?
To this day the case is closed and remains a suicide. The investigative documentary; Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel on Netflix opens up questions, details that may have been overlooked. Some may be satisfied with the results, but others following it back when it was first reported to remain deeply invested. It is a story a part of a larger narrative that asks if a 21-year-old girl can feel safe on skid row, the answer is a resounding no.
