The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam

On February 19, 2013, the body of a 21 year-old Chinese-Canadian student, named Elisa Lam was found in a water tank on top of the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angles. 

She was found with her clothes and personal belongings floating beside her. She had been reported missing on February 1^st. Maintenance workers found her after guests made complaints about low water pressure, discoloration, and an odd taste in the water. The release of the autopsy report was pushed back several times. When the toxicology report was finally released, it was determined there were no drugs or alcohol in her system. There were no sign of trauma on her body, either. Police concluded her death was an accidental drowning.

Five days prior to the discovery of her body, police released a video of the last known sighting of Elisa Lam, taken by an elevator surveillance camera. In the video Lam enters the elevator and presses numerous buttons, but the doors don’t close. She steps out of the elevator then goes back in and presses the buttons once more, the doors still won’t move. She then steps out again and begins making odd, almost inhuman, hand gestures and it appears she is talking to someone. She then steps away from the elevator, and out of view of the camera, and the elevator doors close. Authorities say that after the video Lam somehow found her way to the roof where she ‘accidentally’ drowned in the water tank.   

Many people have examined the footage above and have concluded that, not only is the time stamp obscured, but it has also been slowed and nearly a minute of footage is missing.

There are many problems with the official story. First, the doors to the roof are locked and alarmed. The only people who had the code and key were employees. Second, the water tank is ten feet tall. There is no way to reach it without a ladder, and no ladder was found. Finally, the lid on the water tank is very heavy and takes multiple people to move. It would be virtually impossible to close the lid from the inside.

There are many theories about what happened to Elisa Lam. Many suggest she was simply having a psychotic episode, while others believe she was possessed by a malevolent spirit. This is suggested because the Cecil Hotel has a history of unexplained suicides and was reported to be the residence of serial killer Richard Ramirez. It was also the last place Elizabeth Short was seen before she was brutally murdered and mutilated. Another theory is that she was playing the Elevator Game, a game that some say allows a person to travel to another dimension.

What happened to Elisa Lam? Was she merely having a psychotic episode? Or was it something else? Was it a trip to another dimension gone awry, or was she possessed by an insidious entity? You decide!

And if you ever find out what happened to Elisa Lam tell us all about it—that is you can ever look at a water tank the same way again...