Now if you know me, you know I love unsolved cases that just seem too crazy to be true. I find myself researching more and more into it until I come to my own personal conclusion of what could of happened. Whilst scrolling through tumblr when I was around 15, I came across a thread about a case I will be talking about in this blog, and it sparked my interest for unusual unsolved cases. This case has almost cemented itself into my mind and I believe it is just so bizarre it is like something from a film. If this doesn't make you think "what on earth?!" then I don't know what will.
Elisa Lam, a 21 year old Canadian student started her tour of numerous cities on the West Coast of the USA in January 2013. She arrived in LA on the 26th January where she checked into the Cecil Hotel. After five days of sight seeing, Elisa was due to check out of the hotel and continue her tour to Santa Cruz. However after her parents didn't receive their daily call and finding it very out of character, they reported her missing to the LA police.
The hotel staff stated that they had seen her alone the morning she went missing and the last known person to see her alive, a bookstore manager, described her as being "very lively, very friendly" when she had come in to buy gifts for her family.
The Police and some very strange evidence.
The police searched the hotel, including the use of sniffer dogs, but could not search the building to a full extent due to the absence of any probable crime having been committed. They found no trace of Elisa.
On 16th February, the LAPD released CCTV footage from the hotel taken from February 1st. This CCTV footage is what I saw on Tumblr and it actually gave me chills. The eerie video shows Elisa acting very strangely in one of the hotels elevators. It shows her peeking and jumping in and out of the elevator, hiding in the corner, pressing all the buttons and chatting to someone who you can not see in the footage. She then exits the elevator and its doors open and close serval times.
I was going to put stills of the footage here, however instead I will add a link to the actual video footage at the end of this blog, because I think to get a feel of why this case is so unnerving, you need to watch it yourself.
Bad Water?
Not long after this footage was released, guests at the hotel began to complain that the water tasted strange and their water pressure was low. In one interview I watched of a young British couple, the woman stated how when she turned her tap on, the water ran black for a second.
The employees began to investigate the plumbing and it led them to the water tanks on the roof of the hotel. Inside one of the tanks, floating naked along with all her clothes, was the partially decomposed body of Elisa Lam. She was floating face up in a 1/2 full tank.
Autopsy.
Whilst looking more into this case, I kept reading contradicting facts about Elisa's body, so I decided to read the full autopsy report myself. It stated that there was moderate decomposition of the body, with greening around the thighs. There was no trauma on the body which matches with the police statement of no foul play. However the report does state Elisa did have a history of bipolar disorder which I will talk about later. The autopsy states "a complete autopsy examination showed no evidence of trauma and toxicology studies did not show acute drug or alcohol intoxication". Her death was ruled an accidental drowning.
SO MANY QUESTIONS!
In the footage, it seems like Elisa is talking to someone, but no one else is seen in the shot. Many people believe that she was on drugs due to the erratic way she was acting in the footage, however the autopsy report states that she was not intoxicated. So who was she talking to, and why was she acting that way?
Another question which still bugs me to this day, is how did she even get into the water tanks? Their lids require some force to move and are awkward to get off, and Elisa was only a petite woman. Could she really have done this alone? She would have had to climb a ladder, move the lid and drop herself inside the 10 foot tank.
There is also questions raised about why she was naked inside the tank? The most odd part of this to me is the fact that her clothes were in the tank with her. If she was just going for a 'swim' why would she get her clothes wet? Why would she get into the tank and then take her clothes off, why would she take all her clothes off and get completely naked in the first place? If this was a suicide, why would she feel the need to get naked? and if this wasn't a suicide but instead an accidental drowning, why would she take her clothes in and get them wet if she was planning on getting out?
Some theories.
One theory is that Elisa was murdered. At first, this is the theory I believed. In the CCTV footage, she appears to be talking to someone and hiding. At one point of the video she appears to playfully jump out as though she is trying to scare someone. Elisa also had a Tumblr blog where in one of her posts whilst she was staying at the Cecil (27 January) she said "I'm going out tonight I really hope no creeper comes near me, seriously though those Italian and Mexican guys go after you strong". Also the fact that it is hard to believe that such a petite girl could move the lid off the water tank and climb in on her own.
However another theory about this case, and the one I believe is the most possible, is the tragic effects of Elisa's mental health. "I wish I could put part of my brain into a taped shut box and shove it to the back of my closet for the night" (January 29th). "My laptop screen is brighter than my future" (January 29th). These are both quotes taken from her blog.
However another theory about this case, and the one I believe is the most possible, is the tragic effects of Elisa's mental health. "I wish I could put part of my brain into a taped shut box and shove it to the back of my closet for the night" (January 29th). "My laptop screen is brighter than my future" (January 29th). These are both quotes taken from her blog.
Someone experiencing psychosis during a manic episode may have grandiose delusions about how powerful they are, or have levels of confidence that are dethatched from reality.
During depressive episodes someone may believe that they have caused a breakout of a terrible illness or feel horrible about themselves not based off facts.
In the CCTV footage, it is hard to tell if Elisa is having a manic or depressive episode. One moment she looks playful, and then she is hiding and could be seen as looking scared. In the autopsy, it states that there was not enough blood samples to determine if her bipolar medication was in her system at her time of death. However her family stated that she took her medication regularly and it was unlike her not to take it. Therefore after all my research and watching the footage closely, I believe Elisa was experiencing psychosis during a manic episode where she was having delusions about how powerful she was and was dethatched from reality. In my opinion, I believe under this manic psychosis, she was hallucinating (hence why she seems like someone was with her in the elevator) and believed that it was possible for her to just take a swim in the water tank and be able to get back out again. But of course, she couldn't get back out, and drowned.
Now, if you thought it couldn't get weirder, let me tell you about the Haunted Hotel.
The Cecil Hotel, opened 1927, is the inspiration behind American Horror Story Hotel and honestly, I was baffled by what I learnt when I was researching this case.
The case of Elisa Lam is not the only eerie thing to happen at this hotel. There has been at least 16 murders, suicides and 'paranormal events' at the Cecil and has even served as a home for some famous killers.
1934, an army sergeant Louis D Borden slashed his own throat with a razor blade.
1944, 19 year old Dorothy Jean Purcell woke in the middle of the night with stomach pains. She went to the bathroom where she gave birth to a baby boy, she had no idea she was pregnant. Then thinking the baby was dead, she threw her live baby from the window onto the roof of the building below. At her trial she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment.
Mid 1980's Richard Ramirez who murdered 13 people lived in a room on the top floor of the
hotel during much of this killing spree.
Elizabeth Short, known as the 'Black Dahlia" after she was murdered and mutilated in 1947, stayed in the Cecil Hotel before her murder. Her case still remains unsolved.
The last body found in the hotel was in 2015 when a man committed suicide.
Not surprisingly, there has been conspiracies around the hotel itself and if it was the hotel that drove Elisa 'mad'. Some say it turns people crazy, others say it is cursed. Either way, the hotel is eerie and very tragic events have happened here.
Watch the CCTV footage on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TjVBpyTeZM
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