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The Unsolved Death of Elisa Lam

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Elisa Lam, from Vancouver, Canada, had been travelling along the West Coast of America when she disappeared on January 31, 2013.



 


220px-Elisa_Lam_LAPD_flyer_photo.jpg


AP:ASSOCIATED PRESS

Elisa Lam was travelling alone around America when she mysteriously disappeared in 2013


 

The 21-year-old student’s parents alerted the Los Angeles Police Department after they didn’t receive a daily phone call from their daughter – behaviour they said was unusual.


Elisa was due to check out of the Cecil Hotel that day, a location notorious for murders, suicides and paranormal activity.


Katie Orphan, a manager of a nearby bookstore, was one of the last people to see her alive.


"She was outgoing, very lively, very friendly," while getting gifts to take home to her family, she told CNN.


"[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 travelled."


In a bid to help find Elisa, cops released a surveillance video that showed her in a lift.



 


HANDOUT


Security footage released by cops shows the student acting bizarrely in a lift



 


HANDOUT

Elisa was seen cowering in the cover of the elevator after studying the lift buttons


In the clip, which has since been viewed thousands of times on YouTube, Elisa steps into the elevator, studies the buttons and then cowers in the corner.


As the doors ping open, she leaps up and flips her head frantically in both directions, as if someone was chasing her. Nobody else can be seen.


Midway through the video, Elisa frantically walks out into the hallway and gesticulates with her hands.


Many viewers reported that the security footage was unsettling.



 


REUTERS


Firefighters work to remove a body found inside a water tank on the rooftop of Hotel Cecil in Los Angeles


Nineteen days later, residents at the hotel complained about strange tasting, black water.


Staff checked the water tank on the alarmed, secured rooftop and found Elisa’s partly decomposed, naked body floating face up.


Her clothing was in the water near her coated with a “sand-like particulateâ€.


Her watch and room key were also found with her.


It took the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office four months to release the autopsy report.


 


(taken vi.a The Sun)


They concluded her death as an accident.

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srsly Senior Idol

srsly

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i feel like this is so familiar to me...but I think it's a combo of completely unrelated things -  "how to get away with murder " body dump in watertank on roof (i think this is the right show?  and i think there's even more i can't currently recall) and the vid of the girl who was found in chicago hotel freezer.  

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Kingsandqueens Superstar

Kingsandqueens

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I watched the buzzfeed unsolved vid on it 

 

398950551422894080.png?v=1398950551422894080.png?v=1398950551422894080.png?v=1398950551422894080.png?v=1

 

people think she was playing the "elevator game" 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_game

 

but like how tf did she get in the tank...... 

 

because they said that if you failed to return to your original place, the "thing" would bring you anywhere she wants

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Solfa Global Superstar

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It’s pretty resolved from the toxicology report. She was bipolar but had only taken antidepressants (for the depressive episodes), not the mood stabilizers (for the manic episodes). Taking only one of them causes severe imbalances and in her case, she had a severe manic episode.

 

There are also a lot of other things that were misreported in the media which made her look worse. Such as she was possesed. That never sat well with me because it dehumanized her so much, and continued to demonize and stigmatize mentally ill people. Also, it was easy to get into the roof via fire exit stairs. It was easy to open the cap of the water tank, because it’s very light, not like it was falsely reported.

 

She was having a manic episode...

 

Still doesn't explain how she got into the tank? Maybe someone witnessed it and took advantage of her?

Illogical things seem logical during a manic episode, especially one as bad as hers. Not taking the medication right makes manic epsiodes worse.
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Pirine Superstar

Pirine

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From what I remember from looking into this case, I think she had been taking both an anti psychotic and and an anti depressants, but shortly before she died she stopped taking the anti psychotic which probably triggered and extreme manic episode. And some crazy adrenaline burst was probably how she got into the water tank. The more I looked into it the more I felt it was just a horrible accident and less of a mystery, just really sad.

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Ayaewyn Legend

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The case was ruled as accidental drowning, but the thing that got me curious is not how she got into the tank but on how she was able to close the 20 pound lid after she was already inside.

 

Still, whether it was an unfortunate accident or had foul play involved, it's a sad tragedy for her family. 

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Solfa Global Superstar

Solfa

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The case was ruled as accidental drowning, but the thing that got me curious is not how she got into the tank but on how she was able to close the 20 pound lid after she was already inside.

 

Still, whether it was an unfortunate accident or had foul play involved, it's a sad tragedy for her family. 

 

It wasn't a 20 pound lid, it was a very flimsy lid made of aluminum, like this one

 

ss20tank2010-20000_uk-600x600.jpg

 

She had been diagnosed as bipolar, had a manic episode caught on camera, and during manic episodes illogical things seem logical. She had only taken the anti-depressants for days and not the mood stabilizers, so her brain chemistry was very imbalanced when she decided to take a swim in the water tank. In fact, she even lost her job because she had been acting "erratic" according to her co-workers before the incident happened. Meaning, this had been going on for days, it only culminated with the water tank. 

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Ayaewyn Legend

Ayaewyn

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It wasn't a 20 pound lid, it was a very flimsy lid made of aluminum, like this one

 

ss20tank2010-20000_uk-600x600.jpg

 

She had been diagnosed as bipolar, had a manic episode caught on camera, and during manic episodes illogical things seem logical. She had only taken the anti-depressants for days and not the mood stabilizers, so her brain chemistry was very imbalanced when she decided to take a swim in the water tank. In fact, she even lost her job because she had been acting "erratic" according to her co-workers before the incident happened. Meaning, this had been going on for days, it only culminated with the water tank. 

 

So the lid wasn't 20 pound (actually that might not be heavy for her to lift) still how was she able to close it after getting in? Is there a platform one can stand before jumping in the water? 

 

I knew about her illness that's why I didn't question her actions on the elevator and the ruling of accidental drowning, only that closing part. The idea of her closing it herself after she got in is strange for me. It's been also a while so there's a possibility that I read conflicting reports on this case. 

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Praying Debutee

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So the lid wasn't 20 pound (actually that might not be heavy for her to lift) still how was she able to close it after getting in? Is there a platform one can stand before jumping in the water? 

 

I knew about her illness that's why I didn't question her actions on the elevator and the ruling of accidental drowning, only that closing part. The idea of her closing it herself after she got in is strange for me. It's been also a while so there's a possibility that I read conflicting reports on this case. 

The person who reported Elisas body reported that the lid was open not closed.

 

The only thing I question is the door giving access to the roof top, I read it was locked so how did she gain access to the roof?

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Ayaewyn Legend

Ayaewyn

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The person who reported Elisas body reported that the lid was open not closed.

 

The only thing I question is the door giving access to the roof top, I read it was locked so how did she gain access to the roof?

 

So the police didn't notice that when they searched the rooftop during the time she was reported missing. 

 

The doors were locked and required staff passcodes and keys but apparently the fire escape can be accessed easily and bypass security measures. 

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