Netflix - Elisa Lam

[Blknyellw]

Is there any info on what her sister said?

 

[AGettler]

So why didn't the police helicopter say anything while they searched roof...

1. I don't think, in the documentary, it is mentioned whether or not the lid on the tank was commented on from someone in a helicopter. There is footage of the helicopter(s) apparently searching the roof, so I wonder if there is footage of the roof.
2. Perhaps no one saw the lid was off (if it was). They may have had tunnel vision, trying to see a body and did not notice the lid?
3. (tongue-in-cheek) There is a cover-up and the helicopter peeps were paid to keep quiet.

 

[AGettler]

What more I would like to have found by watching the documentary:

1. The position of the lid could be a key piece of evidence, so is there footage of the roof from a helicopter?
2. What book did she buy?
3. Were her roommates interviewed?
4. IIRC, the pathologist mentioned scenarios that *advertiser censored* and accelerate decomposition, but did he say that the state of decomposition Elisa was in, could be consistent with being submerged in that tank for 19 days?
5. The term "abuse" was used in relation to drug use. What does this mean: drugs were or could have been used but not so much that it would have had acute ill effects, no non-prescription drugs were used at all, or something else? I think they mean drugs weren't used at all, however, use of "abuse" indicates (to me), some sort of use beyond what is normal? Anyone in the know on this?

 

[claudicici]

I just saw "Dark Waters" wow those similarities can't be coincidence IMO I believe Elisa was reenacting the movie.....

 

[x_files]

1.

I found it fascinating, the outliers with the case (zip code registered with the book store, the name of the TB test relative to the victim's, that complete freak musician, etc.). However, I agree with the findings of coroner and police. She suffered from a psychotic episode that resulted in her death.

Did anyone ask the owner why their domain is registered to her final burial place? Was it registered prior to her death or afterward?
The LAM-ELISE TB Test is a really strange coincidence.

 

[AGettler]

My google earth skills are rudimentary. Here is an image. Perhaps there is an image taken of the roof, by google earth, in those 19 days and it can be cleared up enough to see the position of the lid? The only questionable area that I see is circled in red. I have no idea when this image was taken, but I think one can find out somewhere in the interface.

Of these 4 tanks, can anyone id the tank where she was found?

 

[Pathology]

Ok. I am convinced that the LAPD had a cover-up since a.) they "extensively" looked at the roof but didn't find the body, b.) the video was obviously altered, and c.) the one detective had an obviously fake "cry" at the end of the show that came across as cold and manipultive.

Does anyone else find it weird how during this investigation took place, one of their own LAPD turned their back on them...(odd...right???) and dropped many people from the case?

I feel like this is a link

 

[SerialGal]

I agree there were many unanswered questions and plot holes in the Netflix documentary. I did feel bad for Morbid, despite the crazy coincidences, I don’t think he had anything to do with the murder. I think one of the major things the doc failed to include were the exact statements or interviews of her bunk mates, and her family, and like you mentioned I was also interested to know what books she bought.

I, too, was curious as to what books were in the box!

 

[MsBetsy]

What more I would like to have found by watching the documentary:

1. The position of the lid could be a key piece of evidence, so is there footage of the roof from a helicopter?
2. What book did she buy?
3. Were her roommates interviewed?
4. IIRC, the pathologist mentioned scenarios that *advertiser censored* and accelerate decomposition, but did he say that the state of decomposition Elisa was in, could be consistent with being submerged in that tank for 19 days?
5. The term "abuse" was used in relation to drug use. What does this mean: drugs were or could have been used but not so much that it would have had acute ill effects, no non-prescription drugs were used at all, or something else? I think they mean drugs weren't used at all, however, use of "abuse" indicates (to me), some sort of use beyond what is normal? Anyone in the know on this?

From what I remember, no drugs were found in Elisa's system other than the four that were prescribed to her. However, the ME noted low levels for the amount she was prescribed which was consistent with investigators finding more medication in her room than there should have been.

So she may not have been taking her meds regularly, or at least not taking them as prescribed, which may have contributed to her pyschosis.

All I remember about the roommates is that they complained that Elisa was strange and two days later she was given a private room.

The autopsy indicated the body was in "moderate" decomposition, greenish in color, there was skin slippage, marbling, etc, so I would assume that would be consistent with being in cold water for 19 days. I don't remember anything in the report described as unusual about being in water for that length of time. Imo

I haven't seen the documentary yet but I'm hoping to watch it this weekend.

 

[Rock306]

I was wondering why I have not heard anyone talking about a non reflection inside the elevator door from the elisa lam elevator video. Especially from the youtubers or sleuths who have traveled to the hotel and discovered some great findings? Although I have not been there, and do not have any measurements from the elevator inside wall to the outside wall, where the push buttons are located in the corridor, it seems, in the theory of her being followed, or someone waiting for elisa outside that elevator, which as far as the netfix doc is concerned, was on the 14th floor, you do not see any reflection from anyone who would be in that corridor. It's like a aluminum type wall that you can clearly see reflections from. In fact, you can see elisas feet from it every time she crosses that threshold..You never see any other reflection the entire time that door was open. Not even when she walked away. It just seemed strange to me, why nobody has brought that up

 

[MsBetsy]

Is there any info on what her sister said?

Yes. Her sister told investigators that Elisa had gone off her medication before, and had experienced delusions and hallucinations in the past. At one point it was so bad she had to be hospitalized.

This supports the theory that she thought someone was after her and she was attempting to get away from them and hide. One of the roommates also revealed that she left notes around the room saying, "Go home," and "Go away."

Imo

 

[sony12]

Always be wary of documentaries, the sole purpose sometimes is to do nothing more than create a good story.

Same can literally be said about many amateur detectives on the internet. Many are in it more for the thrills than the facts.

To be honest I completely buy the idea that she was suffering a breakdown due to not taking her meds properly. The video clearly shows someone who is not in their right mind. Bipolar people who aren't properly medicated do a lot of things that don't make any sense.

 

[Blknyellw]

Just finished the Netflix show. I feel like each different episode I watched I had a different opinion on what happened to her. I now believe it was definitely an accident.

 

[Blanche]

I think it is so sad that people still cannot see that this was someone suffering with mental illness and in a psychotic state in that elevator. All the "theories" , "conspiracies" , just look at this for what it is , a young woman who wasn't taking her meds , suffering with a severe mental illness in a strange place, she was suffering a psychotic episode and accidentally drowned. It is tragic on so many levels but it is uncomfortable viewing when so many people want to make this into an "entertaining" jaunt into a mystery or a haunting or conspiracy, which is just is not. The zest with which those you tubers etc went after that poor guy with their theories and believing they could actually solve this thing with no access to the actual facts of the case made me sick to my stomach, it could so easily have led to his suicide. Shame on them!

 

[sony12]

The zest with which those you tubers etc went after that poor guy with their theories and believing they could actually solve this thing with no access to the actual facts of the case made me sick to my stomach, it could so easily have led to his suicide. Shame on them!

Yep. It was a good program but I don't think they should have given the YouTube personalities as much attention as they did. If their reason for putting them on the show was to indicate how over the top and toxic these people can often be you aren't going to solve that problem by giving them a lot of focus on a Netflix show. You are only going to encourage more people to throw their over the top opinions around on the internet.

John Lordan isn't terrible but pretty much all he does is pull up webpages and gives his opinions about what they say on camera. ThatChapter is entertaining but he literally just reads about cases that are largely finished already. And we don't even need to get into the hair and makeup gals who often try to plug their hair and makeup products during the videos they do.

Giving these people time on Netflix is only going to encourage more people to go by themselves a camera.

 

[Algo214]

The zest with which those you tubers etc went after that poor guy with their theories and believing they could actually solve this thing with no access to the actual facts of the case made me sick to my stomach, it could so easily have led to his suicide. Shame on them!

I coincidentally watch some of the ones that were featured and literally not one of them ever mentioned his name at all, it was in another platform that that crap happened, a third grade forum

 

[whatwhatchickenbutt]

Second episode in on the netflix doc.
First of all the hotel manager I get a bad vibe from. There's something I don't like about her. Second did the police find out what floor she was on when she kept looking out the elevator? Did they interview the people on that floor she kept jumping out on? What were the complaints from the other girls she was bunking with it? What day did she fill the scripts and how many pills were left on the last day She was alive. I think she was talking to someone down the hall and someone was holding the button. Did they interview the girls she bunked with? Was she sexually assaulted and then forced into the tank? Was it about humiliation? They made her take her clothes off and threw them in the tank and she jumped in to get them, then the people closed the lid. I do think it was someone who knew the building so a long time resident or someone who worked there. Oh and what was the book about, the one from the book store? The amount of time and being in water diminishes evidence. Lots of crazy coincidences, I definitely don't think the metal rocker killed Elisa. I think it's stupid to connect him to it.

 

[whatwhatchickenbutt]

Meh. The hotel manager has a budget and only so much she can do. It's not like her target market is wealthy people, look at the # of people and ridiculousness she had to deal with on a daily basis. She gave Elisa her own bunk room. After I found out it was Bipolar 1 she had, I felt like the documentary was kind of a waste of time. In no way takes from her death, but her sister said she would get like she was in the elevator when she was off her meds. Without clear evidence or a confession, there is really no way of telling anything from she decided to skinnydip and was hiding from someone - and somebody came by and shut those latches not realizing she was in there, to who knows what. I will say a lot of this comes down to the hotel being out of compliance as I'm guessing the staff and alarms, like everything at the hotel, were run down. To be honest, as an adult I guess they couldn't do much about it, but she should not have traveled on her own without someone looking out for her. Checking in everyday was not enough. Argue with me all you like, but the ending really does prove it. Bipolar 1 is very serious and those with a history of not taking their meds is very dangerous.

 

[sony12]

I coincidentally watch some of the ones that were featured and literally not one of them ever mentioned his name at all, it was in another platform that that crap happened, a third grade forum

True and people like John Lordan are at least somewhat respectable. However they are still part of the overall problem of the online sleuthing culture in that they have no credentials to be doing what they are trying to do. They literally are just a person with a computer cam who decided to start making videos.

 

[whatwhatchickenbutt]

I had not heard of this case till the Netflix doc either, but now it has me fascinated.

I have a couple of questions/points.

• Ok, say she had a psychotic break. How in the world could she have figured out how to get onto the roof and into a water tank? It seemed rather complicated to get up to the tanks, under some pipes and such, to the tank where she was found. I don't know what it's like to have a "psychotic episode" but logic dictates that she may have run screaming through the hotel but...to have the presence of mind to get out the window, up the fire escape, and somehow find the water tank? It would have made more sense for her, at that point (assuming the psychotic break was the case and she weren't in her right mind) to have leapt off the roof as opposed to finding that tank.
• OTOH, how could someone else have carried her up there? I have also never tried to carry someone up a ladder - maybe it happens in the movies - but in real life by a real person, it seems like a pretty difficult maneuver.
• The singer had anything to do with it. He wasn't even there and proved it in several ways. His music/persona was simply an affect/act to sell records to a specific audience. Not unlike a Marilyn Manson or Ozzy Osbourne. Unusual to some, sure, but it doesn't make him a murderer. I am all for webslueting like we do, responsibly, but for the people who sent death threats to a guy who just happened to stay at the Cecil a full year prior is just wrong.
• I can't find the post now, but someone asked why she would remove her bra and underwear if she were trying to tread water and her clothing was bogging her down. Did they recover a bra and underwear? It seems she was wearing a sweat top and sweat shorts in the elevator video. It is possible that she may have not had either on under her sweats.
• Did they definitively say her death was "drowning?". If so, I missed that. If she died from drowning (accidental or otherwise) then, well, obviously she was alive when she went in.

I think AutumFalls is pretty close. That she perhaps died - or someone thought she had died - accidentally somehow, and that someone panicked. The problem there goes back to "how did a person get a literal dead weight up that ladder?" unless there was more than one person. I fully expected them to find drugs or alcohol in her system, as that's where I was headed. I figured "There were people partying up there, someone invited her, and she overdosed accidentally or something else happened accidentally. The rest panicked." If that were the case, it would almost have to be assumed that there were hotel employees up there. I have done that. Not murder/hiding bodies of course, but I used to work at a hotel and we had keys to the secret spots. We'd sneak up to the roof and drink or smoke pot. Ok - I was in my early 20's, don't judge. But, toxicology report says no drugs other than her own prescription, no alcohol. Again though...what layperson (Elisa or anyone else) not affiliated with that particular hotel would know where the water tanks were? Or even if they were water tanks? I wouldn't know a water tank if I saw one. Could Elisa have been running from someone and thought she would "hide" not knowing the thing was full of water? Thinking it was maybe a - I don't know - escape route of some kind? I just can't see her figuring out how to get there on her own unless she did it in a completely lucid state with intent. And I don't see that either.

And what is up with her name, reversed, being the name of the Tuberculosis study/test/whatever? That's supposed to be a "coincidence"?

But man...those guests in the hotel drinking the water...yikes. That actually brings up another point. Assume she was in the tank the full 19 days since she went missing. Why didn't someone notice/report bad water pressure/bad smell prior?

And to add a bit of levity to an otherwise gruesome situation, I had to literally laugh when they said they plan to "...convert one half of the hotel into low income housing and the other half into a luxury hotel." In my 30 years in business, that has to be the absolute worst marketing decision I have ever heard.

Still too many questions, say I.