Elisa Lam - Girl Who Died A Mysterious Death At The Cecil Hotel ⋆ Mysterious Facts

On February 19, 2013, Elisa Lam was found floating naked in the water tank on the roof of her hotel, The Cecil. She was staying alone since January 26, 2013.

Who Was Elisa lam?

Elisa Lam was a 21-year-old student at the Univesity of British Columbia. She was on her trip around the west coast. On January 26, 2013, she arrived in Los Angeles by Amtrak train from San Diego and was going to Santa Cruz.

At first, she was living in a shared room with other occupants but later on a complaint by her roommates specifying “certain odd behaviour,” so she then moved to a personal room.

Elisa Lam had a Bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder causes a shift in unusual mood swings, energy, concentration level, and the ability to carry out daily tasks. She was on medications and prescribed for Wellbutrin, Lamictal, Seroquel, and Effexor.

Due to her medical condition, her parents were not ready to leave her alone on the trip. But, she assured them that she will update about her trip every day so that they could know about their daughters’ safety.

On January 31, 2013, the day of checking out from the hotel, her parents did not receive any kind of communication from her. Being worried, the parents didn’t make any delay in filing a missing report with the police department. Policemen searched the hotel premises thoroughly but had no luck whatsoever.

Elisa Lams’ Video

On February 15, 2013, after two weeks of the disappearance of Elisa Lam, the LAPD (Los Angles Police Department) released one surveillance video from the hotel, The Cecil.

This surveillance video went viral on the internet and drew worldwide attention to this missing case of Elisa Lam.
In the pixelated video released by the LAPD, Elisa Lam can be seen Entering into the lift and pressing all the floor buttons. She steps in and out of the elevator. She peeks out sideways toward the hallways of the hotel. Before leaving the elevator entirely, she peers out the elevator for more few times.

This video was reposted widely on many online video sharing platforms, including Youku, where this video gained 3 million views and 40,000 comments in just the first 10 days.

Many theories evolved with her actions in the surveillance video released by the LAPD. In one of the scenes, Lam was acting like she was running and hiding from someone and also can be seen making various hand gestures.

Theory 1:
She was trying to get an elevator to escape from someone who was chasing her on that floor.
Theory 2:
She was under the influence of ecstasy or any other drug.
Theory 3:
Due to Elisa Lam’s bipolar disorder, she may be experiencing a psychotic episode.

Elisa Lams’ Body Discovered

On February 19, 2013, one of the guest couple at the hotel complained to the staff about the water. They complained that black colored water is coming out from faucet and having unpleasant smell and taste.

While checking the tank, the cleaning staff found one naked human body floating on water. After reviewing the body, they came to know that the body belongs to Elisa.

Mystery Part: Unresolved Issues

The police investigation failed to prove how Elisa Lam got to the restricted area without triggering an alarm. Doors of the terrace are locked with keys and passcode. And access is limited only to the hotel staff.

Elisa’s Tumblr Account Mystery

Elisa Lam’s Tumblr Account was still posting pictures after her death for six months. In the investigation, her phone was never recovered. Experts believe that Elisa put some of the photos on auto-posting. i.e., Tumblr provides one unique feature; it allows users to schedule the post for publishing it.

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) closed this case by stating it as death by drowning.

The Cecil Hotel Mysteries:

The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles has few such stories related to murders and disappearance of people. Horror At The Cecil Hotel is a video series of such events. This series has gained a lot of popularity and is highly rated by reviewers.