The Disappearance and Death of Elisa Lam

Few cases will haunt you, like that of Canadian student, Elisa Lam. Miss Lam had disappeared while on a trip to Los Angeles, only to be found almost three weeks later in the water tank atop the Cecil Hotel, after hotel guests had complained about “tainted” water.

Elisa Lam was the daughter of immigrants from Hong Kong, and a student at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver Canada. She, like so many, suffered with bipolar disorder and depression. She was on four different types of medication – Wellbutrin, Lamictal, Seroquel, and Effexor. She kept a blog named Ether Fields on Blogspot, and used it from 2010 until 2012, posting pictures of fashion models as well as writing about her life and her struggle with mental illness.

In January 2012, she lamented that she had a relapse, forcing her to drop several classes at university, and leaving her “so utterly directionless and lost.” She worried that her school transcript would look suspicious with the withdrawals, and she feared it would leave her unable to attend graduate school. Abandoning her original blog, she moved to Tumblr, where she continued posting about fashion, quotes, and a few posts written by herself as she dealt with this difficult time in her life.

Elisa took a trip to the United states, traveling alone, calling her parents every day so they wouldn’t worry. She visited the San Diego Zoo, even posting pictures on her social media accounts. Then, on January 26, 2013, she arrived in Los Angeles and after two days, checked into the Cecil Hotel.

Originally assigned to share a room on the fifth floor, she was later moved to a room of her own after her roommates complained about her odd behavior. Oddly, on January 31, the day she was supposed to check out of the hotel, she failed to contact her parents. When her family didn’t hear from her, they called the Los Angeles police, and then flew to Los Angeles to help with the search.

Staff at the Cecil hotel said they had seen her on January 31, and that she was alone. The manager of a bookstore nearby, Katie Orphan, said she had also seen Elisa that day. Having met her while she was purchasing gifts for her family, Katie recalled “She was outgoing, very lively, very friendly. [She was] talking about what book she was getting and whether or not what she was getting would be too heavy for her to carry around as she traveled.”

Police searched Elisa’s room, had dogs go through the building and even up to the rooftop, but they turned up no trace of her. By February 6, with still no sign of her, the LAPD posted flyers with her image on them in the neighborhood and online.

On February 14, two weeks after she disappeared, the LAPD released a video showing the last known sighting of Elisa Lam, taken in one of the Cecil’s elevators by a video surveillance camera on February 1. The video drew worldwide attention to the case; Elisa’s behavior was very odd and has since been extensively analyzed and scrutinized.

In the clip, the camera at one of the rear corners of the elevator looks down from the ceiling, showing not only the interior of the elevator, but a partial view of the outside hallway. The video is grainy, and the timestamp is obscured, but you can clearly see her.

Elisa Lam enters the elevator in a red hooded sweatshirt, zipped up over a gray T-shirt with black shorts and sandals. She enters from the left and goes straight to the elevator controls, selects several floors and then steps back to the corner. The door fails to close, and after a few seconds she steps up to eat, leans out and looks both directions before stepping back in. The door still remains open.

Elisa walks to the door again and stands in the doorway leaning on the side before stepping out into the hall, to her side, back in, looking to the side, then back out. She steps sideways again, and for a few seconds she is mostly unseen behind the wall she has her back to just outside.

The whole time, the door remains open.

You can then see her right arm go up to her head, then she turns and re-enters the elevator, putting both hands on the side of the door. She goes back to the controls, presses several buttons and returns back to the wall, putting both hands over her ears. The door still remains open.

She turns to her right and rubs her forearms together, then waves her hands out to her sides with palms flat and fingers outstretched, while bowing forward just slightly, and rocking gently. When she backs to the wall again, and walks away to the left, the door finally closes.

There are several theories as to what was really happening.

1. Elisa was trying to get the elevator door to close in order to escape someone pursuing her.
2. Elisa was under the influence of ecstasy or some other party drug.
3. Elisa was having a psychotic episode.
4. Some claim the video had been intentionally tampered with, intentionally obscuring the timestamp, slowing parts down and even removing nearly a minute of footage. They believe this was all done in order to protect the identity of someone who may have been involved in Elisa’s disappearance.

While police searched for Elisa Lam, guests at the Cecil Hotel began to complain about low water pressure. Water from faucets was brown or black, and had an unusual taste. On February 19, they discovered Elisa Lam’s body, inside one of the four 1,000 gallon tanks that provided water to guest rooms, a kitchen, and a coffee shop.

The tank had to be drained and cut open in order to remove Elisa’s body. The maintenance hatch was small – too small for even someone as little as Elisa to get in, let alone the equipment needed to remove her body.  On February 21, the Los Angeles coroner’s office issued a statement – Elisa Lam had died of accidental drowning, with her bipolar disorder as a significant factor. Their official report, released in June, stated that her body had been found naked, clothing similar to what she had on in the elevator video was floating in the water, and covered with a “sand-like particulate.” Her watch and room key were also recovered with her body.

Elisa Lam’s body was moderately decomposed and bloated. Her skin was mostly greenish and separation evident, with some marbling on her abdomen. There was no evidence of physical trauma, sexual assault, or suicide.

Toxicology tests were incomplete and inconclusive as not enough of her blood was preserved or available for testing. What they did find was traces consistent with her prescription medication, as was found with her belongings, as well as some non prescription drugs such as Sinutab and ibuprofen. She also had about 0.02g% of alcohol present, but no signs of recreational drugs.

With doors and stairs that access the hotels roof locked, where only staff had the passcodes and keys, how did Elisa get up there. In addition, each tank was a 4-by-8 foot cylinder, propped up on concrete blocks. There was no fixed access point to them – even hotel workers had to use a ladder to see inside. They were also protected by heavy lids that would be more than difficult to replace from within.

Since her death, her Tumblr blog was updated – which is assumed to have been through Tumblr’s Queue option, which allowed posts to automatically publish themselves when a user was away. Her phone has not been found, and it is speculated that perhaps continued updates were facilitated by someone who had stolen her phone, or a hacker.

The story of Elisa Lam is tragic, and has yet to give us an answer that completely explains the outcome. A similar case would be that of Kenneka Jenkins.