Elisa Lam Mystery

The mysterious death of 21-year old Vancouver university student Elisa Lam was ruled an accidental drowning by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, but it’s a case that will probably go down in history as one of the eeriest unsolved mysteries on the LAPD’s books. I can’t tell you anything about the details of Miss Lam’s death that hasn’t already been covered, speculated about, and theorized at hundreds of other blogs and websites around the net, but this is a refreshingly morbid piece for this site.

Above is the actual elevator surveillance footage from LA’s somewhat infamous Cecil Hotel, where Miss Lam was staying at the time of her disappearance on January 31st of this year. It was captued just a short while before she was never seen alive again. Behaving strangely in this viral 4-minute video, she acts as if she’s hiding from and later interacting with, someone who isn’t there or, at least, wasn’t caught on camera. Also strange is the elevator doors staying open so long.

Miss Lam was reported missing on February 5th. Her body was found by hotel maintenance workers on February 19th, in one of the hotel’s rooftop water tanks, which supplies the rooms with potable water. Guest complaints of low water pressure was what prompted the maintenance workers to check the tanks.

Selected articles in chronological order:
Reported Missing
Body Found
Ruled Accidental Drowning
Cecil Guests File Lawsuit Against Hotel
Lam Family Files Lawsuit Against Hotel

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  1. Avatar of Guest Poster

    Okay, she looks out of it enough in this video to have fallen to an accidental death, but can somebody explain how she could have ended up in a covered water tank?

  2. Avatar of ......

    I’ve read about this case before. What she was doing in the elevator was creepy like she wasn’t all there. Weird stuff…

  3. Avatar of krippledmaster

    Great post in preparation for Halloween. I think it’s creepier that the elevator stays open for so long. The ones in my building scream at me when I don’t let them close but this one doesn’t even WANT to close.

  4. Avatar of fungusfarm

    Agree with Mcantrell.

    Although her behavior was odd, I still think someone murdered her. Weird. Sad. Too Bad.

  5. MaJieMao’s avatar

    Well she is obviously not all there in the video footage, could be she was just drunk. My guess she was Bipolar and drunk and killed herself.

  6. CEC’s avatar

    Dr. Lee,
    A covered water tank on a rooftop with reportedly locked and alarmed access doors.

    MaJieMao,
    An autopsy revealed no traces of drugs or alcohol in her system.

  7. Avatar of smellykev

    How did i not hear about this case until now?

    Without knowing anything beyond what I’ve just googled, I wonder if her mental condition simply made her an easy victim for somebody in the hotel. Strange the police/coroner seemed so quick to rule it accidental drowning when everything about the incident was so bizarre.

    Not that appearance makes it any more or less tragic, but she was an attractive lady judging from the photos.

  8. Tbone’s avatar

    I remember this case from the stories of hotel guests wondering about the lack of water pressure as well as funky odours and tastes from the tap water.

    But wondering what this has to do with Asian sirens.

    Perhaps a new morbid category, dead Asian sirens?

  9. Avatar of French

    In my last trip to Vietnam, I met two Aussie ladies on holiday. They were mental healthcare workers and we got into a discussion of mental healthcare here in the USA compared to Australia.

    Mental healthcare is not at the level it should be at in the USA. You can compare to other “western” countries, but the USA falls short. Much of this can be traced to the origin of healthcare coverage here. Physicians had their lobbying group, but Psychiatrists and Dentists did not. So guess what- mental health and dental care were not covered. Been like that for decades.

    The comments and lack of empathy from the British tourists at that hotel quoted in the “Body Found” article are appalling.

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