Elisa Lam was a Canadian tourist visiting the United States in 2013. Lam was last seen alive on
January 31, and on February 19, 2013, her lifeless body was discovered in a cistern on the roof of
the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. The manner of Lam's death was reported as inconclusive,
and her death was ultimately ruled as an accidental drowning.
Footage of Lam was released by the Los Angeles Police Department, showing her acting erratically
in the hotel's elevator, which subsequently led to a large amount of online interest in the case,
with internet sleuth's dissecting the footage to piece together the events leading to Lam's death.
Inconsistencies in the case as well as a number of strange coincidences helped catapult the case
into an infamous, worldwide internet mystery.
Lam's body would eventually be discovered, having drowned in the water tank on the roof of The
Cecil Hotel.
In 2010, Elisa Lam began "Ether Fields": a blog cataloguing her pictures and personal
life.
[1]
In January 2012, Lam highlighted her distress over a potential "relapse". Her struggles caused Lam
to drop a number of school classes, and she worried that this would prevent her from attending
graduate school:
[2]
feel I am wasting my time compared to my fellow peers. I had a relapse at the start of the term and had to drop 2 of the 3 courses I was taking. Now I am down to one course and I have missed 3 weeks of classes since my sleeping pattern is completely reversed...
I'm very disappointed in myself for breaking down during the term forcing me to withdraw from courses. I've been at university for 3 years and I've only managed to complete three courses. That means I've been a first year for three years and this September it will be for the fourth year because I require 30 credits in order for second year status.
- Elisa Lam, Ether Fields, 2012
In June, Lam created a new Tumblr, "Nouvelle-Nouveau", to replace her original one. This new
blog focused on fashion, quotes and her own thoughts, as well as detail Lam's struggle with mental
illness, having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
[3]
On January 26, 2013, Lam arrived in Los Angeles as part of her solo California adventure. Around
this time, she booked a shared room online for Stay on Main for a three-night stay.
[4]
On January 28, Lam checked into Stay on Main Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. She was assigned to
room 506: a shared room on the 5th floor of the hotel.
[4]
On January 30, Lam was assigned a private hotel room on the same floor due to complaints from her
roommates regarding her disruptive behaviour:
[4]
[5]
She was leaving these notes on other guests' beds. She was writing "go away", "go home", "get out".
When other guests were trying to access their rooms, she wouldn't open the door. She was looking for a password.
- Amy Price, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
On January 31, investigators found that in the days leading to her death, Lam had attended a live
taping in Burbank, thought to have been Conan, during which she was escorted off the
premises due to her behaviour, and for sending a letter to the host before the show.
[6]
[7]
A clerk
working at a local bookstore recalled seeing Lam by herself, and spoke to her
about a book she was thinking of taking around with her. This was the last day Lam was seen alive.
[8]
On February 1, Lam was reported as missing to the Los Angeles Police Department. On searching her
room, investigators found Lam had left a number of important items behind, including her laptop,
clothing, medications and wallet. Her room was described as messy, but there was no sign of foul
play.
[9]
[8]
On February 5, The LAPD began an extensive search of the entire Cecil Hotel.
[4]
In the coming weeks, visitors of the hotel would complain about the water at the hotel:
[10]
We noticed that the water pressure was very low...
And the water's quite discoloured. It was like a dark colour, it had like a brown tint to it.
- Michael Baugh, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
On February 13, the Los Angeles Police Department release security camera footage of Lam in an elevator at the Cecil Hotel: [11] [8]
We need the public's help to put more eyes out on the street. The last footage that we had of Elisa before her disappearance was the footage we found of her inside the elevator. So it was decided that we would release the video.
- Tim Marcia, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
The release of the video garners widespread, international attention.
On February 19, Lam's body is found by hotel maintenance worker, Santiago Lopez, floating in a
water tank located on the roof of the hotel, with the lid to the tank open.
[12]
On February 21, an autopsy is performed on Lam's body by the LA County coroner's office.
[13]
Her blood is sent off for a toxicology analysis to see if she had any drugs or medication in her
system before a conclusion is made:
[14]
It was a very suspicious death.
So at that point in time, we had decided that we wouldn't provide a cause of death at that moment and wanted to wait for all the tests to come in.
- Dr. Jason Tovar, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
On June 21, LA County coroner's report determined that there were no visible signs of trauma, and
drugs were not in Lam's system, aside from traces of her prescription medication. Lam's body was
reported as being naked on discovery, floating face-up. Her watch and room-key were in the tank
with her, while her clothes were found floating in the water, covered in a layer of "sand-like
particulate". The final consensus is "accidental drowning" with her bipolar disorder as a
"contributing factor".
[13]
On September 19, the parents of Elisa Lam, David and Yinna Lam, filed a wrongful death lawsuit
against Cecil Hotel Management Inc., citing that their daughter's death could have been prevented
if the premises were safe.
[15]
On December 14, 2015, a judge dismissed the Lam family's lawsuit, stating that their daughter's
death was unforeseeable due to it occuring in an area of the hotel where guests were not allowed.
[16]
Elisa Lam was a 22-year old Canadian student of Chinese descent. She was diagnosed with bipolar
disorder and depression, though her parents stated she had no suicidal tendencies. Lam's medicinal
regiment for her condition included Wellbutrin, quetiapine, lamotrigine, venlafaxine, and Dexedrine
Spansule, though she was known to have not taken her medications on several occassions, causing her
to suffer hallucinations and become hospitalised more than once.
Lam's blog revealed much of her personality and thoughts: she had a passion for the fashion world,
and liked to document her travels in photo format, but was also worried about how her disorder may
affect her future, and spoke openly about dealing with mental illness and loneliness.
The Cecil Hotel was built in 1924 as a cheap, affordable hotel. The hotel consists of 14 floors and
700 total guest rooms.
A part of the hotel was rebranded in 2011 as "Stay on Main". Incidentally, this was the name of the
hotel Elisa Lam booked online and checked into, not the Cecil Hotel.
The hotel has a history of misfortune, with numerous suicides, murders, and illicit activity taking
place within its walls. It is located near Downtown's Skid Row, a notorious hotspot
for crime and rampant homelessness.
In 1964, a long-term resident of the hotel, named "Pigeon Goldie" Osgood was found dead in her
room, having been raped, beaten and stabbed. Her murder remains unsolved.
The hotel was a temporary residence for several serial killers, most famously Richard "The Night
Stalker" Ramirez during the 1980s, and Jack Unterweger in 1991. The hotel is also purportedly the
last place Elizabeth Short "The Black Dahlia" was seen before her death.
On February 13, 2013, The Los Angeles Police Department released footage of the last recordings of
Elisa Lam before her death.
[11]
Lam is seen entering an elevator at the Cecil Hotel where upon she begins to press buttons for
several different floors of the hotel. Lam is seen standing and waiting with the elevator door
remaining open. After a few seconds, Lam quickly peers outside of the elevator, looking in both
directions before pushing herself up against the wall of the elevator, moving into the corner
closest to the door, seemingly hiding from someone. After a few more seconds, Lam slowly peers
around the corner of the elevator door again, before suddenly stepping out of it as if to catch
someone in the corridor. Lam then proceeds to take a few steps in front of the elevator before
entering it shortly and then leaving to stand at the left side of the elevator entrance.
[17]
Lam stands in the same spot for a while, with only her bent elbow seen on camera. She eventually
turns back into the elevator with her hands raised near her head, before she begins pushing several
buttons to different floors once more. Without waiting for the elevator to react, Lam steps out
into the corridor again, returning to the same spot at the side of the elevator entrance. Lam then
turns to face the right side of the corridor and can be seen gesturing, and wringing her hands in a
strange manner. Lam eventually leaves down the corridor to the left. The elevator doors close after
30 more seconds.
[17]
Investigators ultimately concluded that Lam never left the hotel:
[8]
In reviewing all the footage... we never saw [Lam] leave.
She never left the hotel.
- Tim Marcia, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
The elevator footage is a key component of the case, and the single piece of evidence most
scrutinised by investigators.
After close inspection, many online argued that the footage released to the public of Lam in the
elevator had been manipulated in a number of ways:
The timestamp at the bottom of the footage is illegible, the numbers showing as a mass of blurred symbols, suggesting the footage had been damaged or tampered with. [18]
By playing a sped-up version of the video side-by-side with the released footage, it highlighted how the barely legible timestamp's numbers would skip and freeze out of sequence. [18]
A noticeable skip in the video can be seen as the elevator door starts to close. A total of around 53 seconds of the video is missing. [18]
With these discrepencies highlighted and shared online, people speculated that only a few people would have the access and authority to edit the footage: the LAPD, or hotel employees.
The footage shows the door to the elevator staying open for a lengthy period of time. Many wondered if someone outside of the elevator may have been pushing the button to prevent the door from closing, but a mixture of online and in-person investigations revealed that Lam had in fact pushed the door hold button, either intentionally or accidentally. [19] After testing, it was revealed that pushing the door hold button makes the elevator door stay open for two minutes, explaining the seemingly odd behaviour of the elevator door in the footage. [19]
At around the 2:25 mark of the video footage, Lam leaves from the front of the elevator a final time, disappearing down the corridor before the elevator door closes. As Lam steps away from the front of the elevator, what seems to be a foot, possibly belonging to someone else, can be seen for a brief moment. [20] Others have pointed out that it could simply have been Lam's own heel as she pivoted awkwardly to head down the corridor. [20]
After web sleuths visited the Cecil Hotel, they were able to determine that the floor of the hotel that Lam was recorded on was the 14th, one floor below the roof: [21]
When [Lam] presses 14, it lights up while her thumb is on it, but as soon as she takes it off it goes out. Because she's already on that floor.
- John Lordan, BrainScratch: Was Elisa Lam a Sleepwalker?, 2015
A synchronicity is a coincidence or series of coincidences that are seemingly connected by something other than mere probability, with some interpreting them as spiritually meaningful, or a form of providence. The case of Elisa Lam has a number of what could be described as strange synchronicities.
Similarities have been drawn between Elisa Lam's story and the 2005 horror movie, Dark
Water, a remake of a 2002 Japanese movie of the same name. The film centers on a mother and
daughter who move into a dilapidated building that suffers many leaks.
[22]
At certain points in the movie, discoloured water starts pouring from the taps, and the daughter
character dies by falling into the building's water tank and drowning, all events that coincide
with Lam's death at the Cecil Hotel.
[22]
The numerous coincidences between a film made 10 years prior to the death of Lam caught the
attention of many:
[14]
You wonder "Is this an incredibly elaborate, staged murder inspired by a movie, or is it just crazy coincidence?"
- Josh Dean, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
Days after Elisa Lam's body was discovered, a tuberculosis outbreak swept through Los Angeles.
[23]
What links these together is that the test used to detect the strain was named Lipoarabinomannan
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, or LAM-ELISA:
[14]
You have this really bizarre twist in that a test that you give someone to detect tuberculosis is called a LAM-ELISA test.
It is Elisa Lam just with the two words reversed.
- John Lordan, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
The Last Bookstore was one of the last places Lam was seen before her disappearance, and besides
the ominous name, web sleuths uncovered another strange coincidence with Lam's case.
By finding the postal code in the registration information section of The Last Bookstore's website
and putting it into Google Maps, it would pinpoint an area of Burnaby, British Columbia, more
specifically, the town that housed the cemetery where Lam is buried.
[26]
Officially, Elisa Lam's death has been ruled as an accidental drowning. Despite this, the case has sparked a myriad of alternate theories that range in plausability.
The official theory that closed the case was that Lam's drowning was an accident.
[13]
The stairs and access doors to the roof of the Cecil Hotel were all locked and alarmed, only
accessible by hotel staff. It's thought that the only way these measures could by bypassed
was via the fire escape.
[14]
Tracking dogs lost Lam's scent near a window that connected to the fire escape,
and online videos showed how someone could easily access the roof.
[8]
[27]
Staff at the hotel told investigators that they had previously seen Lam in an area of the
hotel that was off limits to guests and had asked her to leave, indicating that Lam was no stranger
to going where she wasn't supposed to.
[8]
With this knowledge, the theory posits that Lam's strange actions in the hotel elevator can
be explained as a mental episode due to her failing to take her medications, something the
toxicology report substantiates.
[13]
Lam could, in theory, have made her way to the roof via the fire escape, and could
accidentally have fallen into one of the water tanks, or have gotten in with the intention of being
able to get back out, but due to the distance of the lid, may have died in the tank.
Upon discovery, Lam's body was naked, with her clothes found in the tank.
[13]
The likelihood of Lam removing her clothes herself before accidentally ending up in the tank only
for the clothes to end up in the tank too is a sticking point for those who believe she met with
foul play:
[14]
...but why remove your clothes?
Really does not make much sense.
- John Lordan, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
A somber theory suggests that Lam knew what she was doing and intentionally ended her own life. Having been shown to be able to access the roof herself via the fire escape ladder, it's thought she made her way up to the roof and threw herself into the tank. Her blogs give insight into Lam's struggles with her mental health, and so some believe Lam simply made the decision herself, or failing to take her medications, felt compelled to do it: [3]
Depression Sucks.
I have no control over my emotions. I will be angry for two minutes and then said again. I will be happy for half an hour and then emotional again.
- Elisa Lam, Nouvelle/Nouveau, 2013
Despite her parents claiming she had no suicidal thoughts, Lam's blog reveals otherwise: [3]
I want to kill myself.
It scares me so much that I'm thinking about it.
- Elisa Lam, Nouvelle/Nouveau, 2013
These points aside, others point to the fact the body was found naked as an indicator that it was unlikely that Lam killed herself. [14]
The Cecil Hotel itself had a notorious reputation for suicides, murders, drugs and housing a number of serial killers since its completion in the 1920s, which some see as enough reason to entertain the possibilty that a local may have had something to do with Lam's disappearance: [8]
If Elisa is out at night by herself, she could easily become a victim.
- Tim Marcia, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
Lam had previously wrote in her blog several posts regarding her concerns for getting herself into trouble: [3]
I really need to be removed from society before my big mouth gets me in trouble and I get beaten up.
I already do so many stupid things. I have troubles knowing where the boundaries are and it seems I always make the biggest mistakes at the worst possible moments and get caught and face consequences for getting caught the one time I wasn't thinking and did something stupid to cut corners.
- Elisa Lam, Nouvelle/Nouveau, 2013
Using her blog posts as a window into her mind and personality, some speculate that Lam's actions may have attracted someone more dangerous than she had anticipated, as had been the case in the past: [3]
I really hope no creeper comes near me
Seriously though those Italian and Mexican guys go after you STRONG.
Show the slightest inclination and they hound you
- Elisa Lam, Nouvelle/Nouveau, 2013
For a while, black metal musician, Pablo "Morbid" Vergara was suspected as Lam's murderer by web
sleuths due to his content.
[28]
The video that caught the most attention was one of Morbid singing about a girl dying in water
where he mentions China. Some believed this was a reference to Lam's Chinese roots, and that Morbid
was leaving a trail of his murder for people to discover and follow.
[29]
A separate video showed that Morbid had visited the Cecil Hotel in 2012, 12 months before the death
of Lam. Morbid ultimately had an alibi to prove his innocence in the case:
[5]
It was one year prior to when Elisa Lam checked in. And when she died, I wasn't even in the country.
I was in Mexico working on my album. I have contracts from the recording studio. I have stamps in my passport.
- Pablo Vergara, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
Theorists who believe Lam may have been murdered tend to point their suspicions in one of two
directions: hotel staff, or a hotel resident/guest.
Those who lean towards it being a member of hotel staff suggest that someone in charge may have
been able to control the elevator and intentionally kept Lam on the 14th floor, though this has
been mostly debunked after investigations revealed that Lam likely pushed the door hold button
herself.
[19]
Internet sleuths believed that the video footage had been doctored, and that it would have to have
been by someone with access, such as a member of staff at the hotel, something the then general
manager of the Cecil Hotel, Amy Price, strongly refutes:
[10]
We provided all that [footage] to the police department. We gave it all.
There's no way that could have been edited by somebody at the hotel.
- Amy Price, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
If not by the hotel staff, then the LAPD would be the next likely suspect for the editing: [5]
I can't give a concrete answer on if our media relations or if the independent media outlets actually edited it for one reason or another, but I do know that any changes to the video weren't made by anybody at the hotel.
There was nothing suspicious about the actual original hard drive video, which we have in our custody.
- Tim Marcia, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
The tank in which Lam's body was discovered would have been incredibly difficult to get to,
considering the stairs and access doors to the roof were all locked and alarmed, only accessible
by hotel staff.
[14]
Those who believe Lam may have been murdered by a resident or guest of the Cecil Hotel focus on
Lam's actions in the elevator. Many who have watched the elevator footage believe that Lam looked
as if she was hiding in the elevator from someone in the corridor. This is reinforced by Lam
peeking around the corner, suggesting someone is most likely present, but out of frame. Lam's hand
gestures while stood outside the elevator suggest she may have been communicating with someone
nearby
[30]
Skepticism towards the murder theory point to Lam's actions in the elevator footage being
explained as her playing with a hotel guest, as some note that she can be seen smiling in the
video.
[31]
A lack of external injuries on Lam's body, as well as a negative result on a rape-kit test cast
doubt on the homicide theory:
[14]
Ultimately, there appeared to be no evidence of external or internal injuries that could have led to her death.
- Dr. Jason Tovar, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
A theory posits that Lam may have been drugged at the hotel, hence her strange actions: [10]
You do have to consider that she could be on LSD or something mind-altering...
Because this particular area was a place that drugs are rampant.
- Greg Kading, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
However, the theory that Lam was drugged or on drugs doesn't line up with the toxicology report showing no drugs were in her system other than her prescribed medicines, and Lam's own blog revealed that she does not drink or take drugs: [13] [3]
I don't abuse any drugs. I don't drink alcohol.
- Elisa Lam, Nouvelle-Nouveau, 2013
The coroner's report actually reveals that Lam wasn't taking all of her her prescription medicines for her bipolar disorder: [5]
When we went back and looked at all the levels in the toxicology results, comparing those to the prescriptions that were found at the scene, it also suggests she was undertaking her medication.
- Dr. Jason Tovar, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
Lam's family had stated that she had gone unmedicated in the past, resulting in mental episodes and hallucinations similar to what was seen in the video footage. [5]
Some inconsistencies in the case prompted people to speculate that Elisa's death was being covered up by authorities, such as the LAPD claiming they had searched the roof during the hotel sweep but didn't inspect the water tanks, the police falsely reporting that the lid to the water tank was found closed, and despite requests, a police report has never been provided. [5] This led to many believing that the case was being deliberately sabotaged by those who were attempting to solve it in order to cover up a crime, perhaps in conjunction with the hotel: [14]
You already have people speculating that someone in the hotel might have done something to harm [Lam].
And we now think that there is some potential for the LAPD being involved.
- John Lordan, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, 2021
On January 13, 2013, shortly before her death, Lam tweeted about an article from The Huffington Post Canada which detailed the invention of an invisibility cloak by Canadian company HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp, who received funding from the Pentagon: [32] [33]
Canadian company invents invisibility cloak http://huff.to/TT9Ukg via @HuffPostCanada
- L.L, X, 2013
Some speculate that Lam knew too much or was bringing too much attention to the subject of cloaking
technology, and was disposed of at the behest of government officials, while others link her tweet
to her appreciation of the Harry Potter franchise, which features an invisibility cloak.
[34]
Apparently, shortly after her disappearance but before her body was discovered, a number of
Facebook accounts were created using Lam's name, one of these was called "Lam Elisa", which
had only 1 friend: an American male working for the US army based in Korea which was shortly
taken down.
[35]
It was noted that, for a while, when using Google Maps to view the Cecil Hotel it showed as a
company named "The Invisible Light Agency": essentially a top-secret company specialising in
producing lighting effects. Anthony Bea, a man reported to have been working for ILA, was
said to have moved on to work for The Raytheon Company, a military contractor and weapons
development company with plenty of controversy in their history.
[35]
The footage of Lam in the elevator shows her pushing a number of buttons to different floors, and while some believe the buttons she pushes are random, there are those who believe the order in which she pushed the buttons was intentional. The order is believed to be 14-10-7-4-Door Hold, numbers that theorists have linked to verses in the Bible, specifically to The Book of John. Verses 4:7, 4:10, 4:14 all heavily reference water, which people believe is proof that Lam was possessed by something to make her act odd in the elevator, push the buttons in that way, and then kill herself. [35] [36]
(John 4:7) A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her “Give me a drink” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
(John 4:10) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of god, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.
(John 4:14) but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
- John, The Bible
Viewers of the tapes have claimed they can see the faint visage of serial killer Richard
Ramirez show up in the elevator, believing the hotel is haunted by the ghost of it's previous guest
who is manipulating events in order to kill Lam. This theory loses steam when taken into
account that Ramirez was still alive and incarcerated at the time of Lam's death.
[37]
A popular theory around the time the footage was released was that Lam was performing "The
Elevator Ritual": an online urban legend that describes a game that lets players temporarily
enter another realm by pressing the correct sequence of floor buttons in an elevator, but leads to
the death of those who do it incorrectly.
[38]
Some have linked Lam's death with the occult, particularly with occult leader Aleister
Crowley. Crowley was said to have stayed in London's Hotel Cecil in the 1800s where he wrote his
poem, Jephthah, about a man who sacrifices his daughter, Siela, whose name is an anagram of
Elisa.
[35]
Crowley purportedly also drew a picture of a strange creature he dubbed "Lam", a creature he
believed he had contacted that resembles a stereotypical "grey" alien.
[39]
It's always been a bit mysterious what [Lam] was to Crowley, or what the creature was at all. You can tell by looking at it that it looks like a gray alien, although it precedes that.
- Brian Butler, Vice, 2012
While many believe these to be coincidences, others speculate Crowley was the cause or at least linked, to Lam's death. [40]
