Running From Something: The Strange and Controversial Death of Elisa Lam
In January 2013, security footage would capture a frightened 21-year-old woman named Elisa Lam appearing to hide from an unseen figure. She would later be found dead under suspicious circumstances
Background
In 2013, the bizarre circumstances surrounding the disappearance and subsequent death of 21-year-old Elisa Lam at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles made international news.
Unsettling footage of a fearful and agitated Lam in the hotel’s elevator just prior to her disappearance has only led to more questions about what happened to Elisa.
Her death has led to much speculation, particularly within online true-crime and paranormal communities. The case has spawned numerous theories, with some involving classified activity going on within the hotel.
Join us as we investigate the troubling case of Elisa Lam.
Elisa Lam’s West Coast Trip
Elisa Lam was a 21-year-old originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. She was a student at the University of British Columbia, and her parents had immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong.
Friends and family described Elisa as sweet, introspective, and deeply empathetic. She loved to write and frequently shared things she had written on her Tumblr blog, which she updated regularly.
In January 2013, Elisa decided to travel solo along the West Coast of the United States. At the time, Elisa had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and she also struggled with depression.
She was open and honest about her mental health struggles, connecting with others online and sharing her story. The solo trip was a reset for Elisa, a break from her day-to-day life that she hoped would allow her to grow and connect with herself on a deeper level.
Though her parents were hesitant, Elisa reassured them that she would check in frequently and call them every day. Elisa set off for California, documenting her journey via her Tumblr blog.
She first spent time in San Diego, sharing photos of herself at the zoo.
Arrival in Los Angeles
Elisa then traveled north to visit Los Angeles. She kept in regular contact with her parents, calling them every day just as she promised. She arrived in Los Angeles and checked into the Cecil Hotel on January 28, 2013.
The events that followed have puzzled investigators and true crime fans ever since.
The Cecil Hotel
Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Cecil Hotel was both famous and infamous throughout its history. Constructed in 1924, the hotel began as a glitzy Hollywood attraction. Hotelier William Banks Hanner had planned the property to be a destination hotel, catering to the elite of society and well-to-do international travelers visiting Los Angeles for business.
The construction of the 700-room hotel cost upwards of $1 million, equivalent to more than $20 million today. The hotel was built with a unique and lavish artistic flair reminiscent of the Gatsby era, complete with stained-glass windows and a grand marble lobby.
However, shortly after the Cecil Hotel opened, the Great Depression began. Due to the collapse of the economy, the area surrounding the hotel became less-than-desirable; this area quickly came to be known as “Skid Row,” and the Cecil Hotel’s reputation took a massive hit.
The hotel’s reputation was further stained by the myriad of suicides that occurred there in the 1930s. During that decade alone, at least six suicides took place at the Cecil Hotel, including guests jumping from the windows to their deaths.
The next thirty years continued with more suicides, murders, and shady dealings happening in and around the hotel.
The hotel was also a favorite of Richard Ramirez, better known as the “Night Stalker”- one of America’s most horrifying and prolific serial killers. Ramirez stayed in the Cecil Hotel in the 1980s.
During the early 1990s, Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger took up residence in the hotel. It is unknown why Elisa Lam chose to stay at the Cecil Hotel. Perhaps she was unaware of the hotel’s dark and sordid past. It is also likely that, as a 21-year-old student, she was financially motivated, as the hotel offered significantly cheaper rates than other comparable hotels.
Check In
When Elisa checked in, she booked a hostel-style room. These rooms were shared spaces, offering the ultimate cost savings for budget-conscious guests. However, her roommates complained about her “strange behavior,” and Elisa was transferred to a private room.
The hotel staff noted that Elisa’s behavior was odd, but it did not appear that she was a danger to herself or others.
Elisa was last seen on January 31st. She had visited a local bookshop, strangely called The Last Bookstore, where shop owner Katie Orphan confirmed Elisa had been buying books and music for her family. She had been due to check out of the Cecil Hotel, but she failed to appear for checkout.
Contacting LAPD
Elisa had been diligent about keeping in contact with her parents, and they were suddenly unable to reach her. Knowing this was out of character for Elisa, her parents contacted the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD began an investigation to locate Elisa. They started by searching the Cecil Hotel, as it was her last known whereabouts.
The hotel was searched, and flyers were placed in the area, but police returned no leads. Hotel employees noted they had seen Elisa here and there, but they did not know where she was. This missing person investigation quickly spiraled into a baffling mystery.
The police then obtained surveillance footage that would raise even more questions.
Elevator Footage
On February 13th, the LAPD released footage taken from inside one of the hotel’s elevators. The video shows Elisa entering the elevator, pressing multiple buttons, peering out of the elevator, coming back inside, hiding in corners, and making odd gestures with her hands.
The video has been widely shared online, and it is disturbing to watch. It appears that Elisa is attempting to hide from someone, or something, and she seems genuinely afraid. With this video being released to the public, the case quickly became sensationalized.
Shocking Discovery
On February 19th, 22 days after Elisa had checked into the Cecil Hotel, maintenance staff were investigating resident complaints. Guests of the hotel had been complaining about low water pressure, and more concerningly, that the water was dark in color with a strange taste and odor.
Maintenance staff reached the roof, where the hotel’s water tanks were located. There, they made a horrific discovery- the badly decomposed body of Elisa Lam, floating in a water tank.
Elisa was naked, but her clothing was floating in the tank with her, along with her watch and room key. The medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and from this, they concluded that Elisa had drowned.
However, the state of decomposition of the body has called this decision into question and also prevented the collection of potential DNA samples.
Her toxicology screen indicated that she had taken her antidepressant and mood stabilizer, but also showed that she had not recently taken her antipsychotic medication.
Elisa’s clothing was also strangely covered in a sand-like particulate. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning, likely influenced by the effects of Elisa’s bipolar disorder. However, many disagree with this ruling and instead believe that the truth of what happened is something else entirely.
Lawsuit Against the Hotel
Elisa’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Cecil Hotel, insisting that the hotel should have prevented her death by eliminating hazards that may harm guests. The Cecil Hotel filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that they could not have reasonably anticipated a guest climbing into a water tank.
Santiago Lopez, the maintenance worker who discovered Elisa’s body, described the difficulty of accessing the roof and water tank. According to Lopez, he had to take the elevator to the 15th floor, climb the stairs to the roof, turn off the rooftop alarm, climb onto the water tank platform, and then climb a ladder to the top of the water tank.
However, he only discovered that the hatch of the tank was open after he had already done so. The Cecil Hotel’s chief engineer stated that the alarms Lopez mentioned could only be disarmed by hotel staff.
If anyone attempted to access the roof, the alarm would sound at the front desk and on the top two floors of the hotel. The night Elisa was last seen, and during the investigation to find her, the rooftop alarms had not been triggered.
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2015.
Potential Theories
Elisa was suffering from depression and bipolar disorder at the time of her death. The toxicology screen proved that she had been taking her antidepressants and mood stabilizers, but she had not taken her antipsychotic medication. Elisa’s erratic behavior in the elevator footage could be a result of mania and psychosis; sufferers of psychotic disorders often experience hallucinations that can be terrifying, especially if this was a new diagnosis.
Many have noted that taking antidepressants alone can trigger manic episodes in people with bipolar disorder. If Elisa had not taken her antipsychotic and had taken her antidepressant, she could have been suffering from a manic state coupled with hallucinations and delusions.
Proponents of this theory believe Elisa’s mental health issues led to her death. The prevailing belief is that Elisa was experiencing psychosis, evidenced by her fearful behavior in the elevator. It’s clear that Elisa is hiding from something, but the footage never reveals another person in the vicinity.
As for how Elisa wound up in the water tank, there are two theories. The first theory is that she intentionally ended her own life by climbing into the water tank. However, suicide by drowning is not common, as the body naturally resists oxygen deprivation.
The second theory goes along with the official ruling of accidental drowning. If Elisa was experiencing psychosis and attempting to hide, she may have decided to hide from whatever she believed was pursuing her in the water tank.
This is far more credible, as someone deep in psychosis may not make rational decisions. Once inside the tank, Elisa was unable to escape and drowned when she could no longer tread water.
As for her clothing being removed, Elisa reasonably could have done this herself after entering the tank. She might have removed her clothes to shed excess weight as she continued to tread water, or she could have been experiencing the effects of hypothermia.
Being winter, the water in the tank likely felt very cold, and hypothermia victims often experience intense burning sensations that trick the brain into believing they are overheating, leading them to remove clothing.
However, there are problems with this theory, such as why the alarms were not triggered when Elisa accessed the hotel’s roof. There is also confusion as to whether or not the water tank’s lid was opened already.
Potential Foul Play
The area around the Cecil Hotel, Skid Row, is known for being a high-crime area. Many speculate that Elisa was murdered, either by a random stranger or a fellow guest of the hotel.
This would explain why Elisa appeared so fearful and seemed to be hiding from someone. It could also explain how Elisa wound up in the water tank. If the lid was closed, then there had to be another person involved in some way. However, there is no tangible evidence supporting this theory.
Another popular theory is that Elisa’s death was covered up by the Cecil Hotel staff. Some speculate that Elisa may have been led to her death by a hotel employee, either by coercion or other means. This would explain how Elisa made it to the roof without triggering the alarm, as a hotel employee would have been able to disarm the alarm.
If, for whatever reason, a hotel staff member had been involved in Elisa’s death, the other employees could have helped cover it up. The hotel’s staff have denied such allegations.
The video from the elevator is one of the most highly scrutinized and reviewed pieces of media in true crime history. The grainy footage has been analyzed and picked apart frame by frame countless times.
In doing so, many have noticed oddities, such as cuts or jumps. There is a strong suspicion that the video has been edited or tampered with. This casts suspicion on the hotel staff, but it might also raise suspicions about the LAPD, which also had access to this footage before it was released.
Conspiracy Theories
Two other popular theories involve a touch of government conspiracy. The first theory of this nature claims that Elisa was being used as a bioweapon. During the time following Elisa’s death, there was a significant outbreak of a new strain of tuberculosis in the Skid Row area.
This theory suggests that Elisa was used to intentionally infect the dense homeless population in Skid Row, perhaps in an attempt by the city to purge an “unsightly” area of the otherwise glamorous town.
Afterwards, according to the theory, an unknown government organization or entity killed Elisa, perhaps disposing of her in the hotel water tank to further spread disease.
Though it reads like a tin-foil-hat-level conspiracy, there is one shocking coincidence: the tests used in diagnosing this strand of tuberculosis are called LAM-ELISA tests, although it is officially known as “Lipoarabinomannan Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay.”
The second deep conspiracy theory is that Elisa was involved with a highly secret organization. Allegedly, Elisa had made posts on social media about an “invisibility cloak” technology being developed. Some believed Elisa might have been corresponding with military members who also knew about such technology.
Strangely, although it has since been removed, Google Maps previously listed a business called “Invisible Light Agency” inside the hotel. This “agency” is said to have operated out of the hotel.
If Elisa were somehow involved in some kind of invisibility-related technology development, this would explain a few things, namely, why she chose to stay at the Cecil Hotel and her behavior on the elevator.
Believers of this theory posit that Elisa was hiding from someone who was using such technology, which is why they did not appear in the footage. This also might explain the strange particles found on Elisa’s clothing. Some argue Elisa knew or had seen too much, and she needed to be silenced.
Closing Thoughts
As we have seen, the strange death of Elisa Lam has intrigued and confounded many who have looked into it. It has led to some truly bizarre theories, and the Cecil Hotel, with its sordid history, has become front and center in the case.
It is unlikely that the full story of Elisa Lam’s death will ever be known. However, more than a decade later, her case has remained a touchstone for online sleuths, true crime enthusiasts, and those fascinated by the unexplained.
Sources:
“All About the Cecil Hotel: The Infamous Los Angeles Spot with a Sinister Reputation.” All That’s Interesting, https://allthatsinteresting.com/cecil-hotel-los-angeles.
“Elisa Lam’s Mysterious Death at the Cecil Hotel.” All That’s Interesting, https://allthatsinteresting.com/elisa-lam-death.
“Family of Elisa Lam Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Hotel.” LAist, 22 Sept. 2013, https://laist.com/news/elisa-lam-wrongful-death-suit.
“Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel: Elisa Lam’s Death Theories Explained.” Screen Rant, https://screenrant.com/vanishing-cecil-hotel-elisa-lam-theories-died-explained/.
Urquhart, Alaina, and Ash Kelley, hosts. “The Mysterious Unsolved Death of Elisa Lam.” Morbid, Morbid Network | Wondery,
“Death of Elisa Lam.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Elisa_Lam.