CA/Canada - Elisa Lam - 21 years old - Los Angeles/Vancouver - 31-Jan-2013 - #2

[Robert White]

Cameras often stop recording when the image doesn't change/no movement. The behavior is not unusual.

Can someone look back at the previous page where I compare her postcard handwriting with the graffiti? Isn't that a strange?

Thanks for posting that. I've got no experience in handwriting, but what I did notice is that the card has actual handwriting in some parts (g-e transition I believe). On the post, it appears to be spaced, and no handwriting, just printing. I noticed distinct differences in the "E" and "R" if I can remember from what you posted. Just thoughts. What are you feeling?

 

[cath999]

From Peter Brendt "Now, I read, her behavior in the elevator would indicate a psychotic break. But one of the most significant symptoms, nerve twitching was missing"

This is not a significant symptom. When I'm assessing someone this isn't something that would draw my attention to one diagnosis or another. It can however be a side effect of medication.

Your comments regarding the drowning and physics are spot on.

 

[hopeitcanhelp]

We gave the endearing "booger" message around the corner, but other than that, I don't recall any other.

IMO, the "R" is almost identical as well.

FWIW, when I first saw that particular graffiti beside the tank, my first thoughts were it looks fresh, and looks female.

What is the booger message?

Also, as for how to get on the tanks, it's very easy, there is a ladder to the top of the maintenance building right next to it:

That's how all the firemen got there on another of the pictures. In fact, you would land right on the tank Elisa was found in.

 

[tapu]

Cameras often stop recording when the image doesn't change/no movement. The behavior is not unusual.

Can someone look back at the previous page where I compare her postcard handwriting with the graffiti? Isn't that a strange?

You think it's possible that Elisa Lam tagged that tank with graffiti like that??

 

[Sillybilly]

I haven't seen any posts of the LAPD saying the ladders were chained to the outside of the tanks.

It's clearly shown in the picture i linked.

Do Ctrl+ to enlarge ... the chain is very clear

 

[silsby]

So he goes up, where he buys drugs from Booger, and knows about the water tanks.

:floorlaugh: Is this the Booger that tagged the water tower? Is this a real person who lives at the Hotel? I'm not laughing at your analysis, just that someone is potentially nicknamed "Booger." Poor soul.

Sorry, I needed a laugh.

 

[anansie]

I am not an expert on handwriting analysis but I don't think the handwriting near the water tank matches the one on the postcard. Yes the "E" seems similar. But whoever wrote the graffiti had a way of mixing capital letters with small letters in an "unorthodox" way (i.e. not grammatically correct??) that is not reflected in the postcard handwriting?

 

[hopeitcanhelp]

I am not an expert on handwriting analysis but I don't think the handwriting near the water tank matches the one on the postcard. Yes the "E" seems similar. But whoever wrote the graffiti had a way of mixing capital letters with small letters in an "unorthodox" way (i.e. not grammatically correct??) that is not reflected in the postcard handwriting?

I think if any letters are not capitals on the graffiti, it is the A. All others are either clearly capital, or the U C and O could be either.

People don't usually write graffiti the same way they would write with a pen in hand. It is more "bold" to use capital letters.

I know it is far fetched to think she would have written that, it's just that the handwriting is rather coincidentally rather similar. The E and R are rather distinctive and both similar to the card.

 

[fred&edna]

I am not an expert on handwriting analysis but I don't think the handwriting near the water tank matches the one on the postcard. Yes the "E" seems similar. But whoever wrote the graffiti had a way of mixing capital letters with small letters in an "unorthodox" way (i.e. not grammatically correct??) that is not reflected in the postcard handwriting?

I agree. Also, I'm wondering... Is the graffiti written on a flat surface or is that a barrel or other round object? If it's round then it's possible there could be additional letters on the left that we cannot see.

**I agree that the writing doesn't look similar... NOT that you aren't a handwriting expert

 

[anansie]

It's clearly shown in the picture i linked.

Do Ctrl+ to enlarge ... the chain is very clear

I'm sorry I just can't see the chain on the ladder at all. Would it be possible for someone who can see the chain to maybe save that picture onto their computer and use an image editing software to draw an arrow or circle around whatever it is that indicates a chain? I apologise if this inconveniences anyone and it's okay, not forcing anyone to do it I'm just really curious about this chain and so exasperated I can't see it, LOL

 

[BlazerJH]

I think if any letters are not capitals on the graffiti, it is the A. All others are either clearly capital, or the U C and O could be either.

People don't usually write graffiti the same way they would write with a pen in hand. It is more "bold" to use capital letters.

I know it is far fetched to think she would have written that, it's just that the handwriting is rather coincidentally rather similar. The E and R are rather distinctive and both similar to the card.

The "A" looks totally different from the postcard. Just a coincidence in my opinion, I doubt she put the graffiti there.

 

[tapu]

I would say that the message by the tank is typical "tagging"--graffiti marking that shows up all over L.A. and in that distinctive style. It's almost a font--certainly there are real fonts based on it. It's a learned way of writing, very stylized. I would be gobsmacked to find out a 21-y-o Asian-Canadian girl would be able to tag that, and I venture to say that the content isn't likely hers either.

The graffiti may be irrelevant, or the perp may have deposited it. The former seems most likely to me but I keep an open mind.

 

[anansie]

I think if any letters are not capitals on the graffiti, it is the A. All others are either clearly capital, or the U C and O could be either.

People don't usually write graffiti the same way they would write with a pen in hand. It is more "bold" to use capital letters.

I know it is far fetched to think she would have written that, it's just that the handwriting is rather coincidentally rather similar. The E and R are rather distinctive and both similar to the card.

Okay maybe. Yeah I did think perhaps people write graffiti differently from the way they write with a pen and paper. But then again, hmm... I don't know about the "E" being distinctive though. At some point during my teenage years I had a habit of writing "E" that way after seeing one of my friends do it and I thought it looked like a cool way of writing "E" But like I said, I'm not an expert on handwriting analysis, so...

 

[hopeitcanhelp]

Okay maybe. Yeah I did think perhaps people write graffiti differently from the way they write with a pen and paper. But then again, hmm... I don't know about the "E" being distinctive though. At some point during my teenage years I had a habit of writing "E" that way after seeing one of my friends do it and I thought it looked like a cool way of writing "E" But like I said, I'm not an expert on handwriting analysis, so...

Look on google for graffitis, most E look like this: E, three straight bars and one vertical. I see none looking like that one in the photo.

Again, just seems like a strange coincidence for the handwriting to have such similarities where her body was found.

If in the video she was on a high floor, maybe the top one, she may have been on her way back from the roof. She could have thought the person(s) who was with her there was fooling around (because they did graffitis and such, they were "prankster-like"), starting the chain of reactions we see in the video.

 

[Ruth&Montgomery]

I'm not sure it's set in stone that Elisa was well-adapted to rough-hewn neighborhoods, as she lived with her parents in the more suburban Burnaby, not in Vancouver proper. It's not known whether she ever lived on campus while attending UBC, not that I even know if that campus can be considered urban. She wasn't very far along in school, we know that much (her LinkedIn said she was due to graduate in 2016.) On her Tumblr, she included a few days in Vancouver in her travel itinerary, which makes me think she was staying at a hostel there to experience the heart of the city and considered it part of her "travels" from her suburban life.

I used to live a few blocks from Elisa's parents' restaurant in North Burnaby and if you drive 10-15 minutes west, boom, you're at Main and Hastings, the sketchiest part of the DTES. As an outgoing student who was familiar with clubbing and pubbing, not to mention travelling alone, I highly doubt she had never been to the bars and restaurants near the DTES.

 

[Sillybilly]

I'm sorry I just can't see the chain on the ladder at all. Would it be possible for someone who can see the chain to maybe save that picture onto their computer and use an image editing software to draw an arrow or circle around whatever it is that indicates a chain? I apologise if this inconveniences anyone and it's okay, not forcing anyone to do it I'm just really curious about this chain and so exasperated I can't see it, LOL

No inconvenience, but I just don't know how to do what you are asking.

If you just keep doing CTRL+ (hold the Ctrl key down and press the + sign maybe 15/16 times), it should be very clear. The chain goes underneath the top rung of the ladder and it seems affixed to a fitting atop the tank (underneath something that looks like blue cloth wrapped around the horizontal pipe).

PS: When you are done, do CTRL - (minus sign) to get back to normal size.

 

[anansie]

Look on google for graffitis, most E look like this: E, three straight bars and one vertical. I see none looking like that one in the photo.

Again, just seems like a strange coincidence for the handwriting to have such similarities where her body was found.

If in the video she was on a high floor, maybe the top one, she may have been on her way back from the roof. She could have thought the person(s) who was with her there was fooling around (because they did graffitis and such, they were "prankster-like"), starting the chain of reactions we see in the video.

I Googled the term "Graffiti alphabet" and the list of picture results seem to show quite a few of them with "E"s written the same kind of way as in the postcard and near the water tank though...

These were my search results - not sure if you will see the same ones I do as I don't live in America, but there you go :
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=g...44,d.d2k&fp=ee56fa690b040942&biw=1280&bih=681

I don't think it looks like most graffiti "E"'s are like three straight bars and one vertical?? It seems like a 50/50 toss up ... well on the search results anyway.

I'm not sure if the graffiti is relevant but I hope the LAPD picked up on that and have already explored the avenues around it.

 

[kingsway]

I'm going to go with theory that she stripped naked, hid her clothes in the garbage, and ran up onto the roof undetected, and decided to masturbate in a tank of water while drowning....because, you know, she's mentally ill. In that moment, she decided to drop her plans to go to Santa Cruz, forget about the gifts she bought her family, and just kill herself in a tank of water, because that has always been a dream of hers during periods of psychosis. She wrote the graffiti prior to entering the tank, because she was referring to herself.

Either that, or she met up with a long lost twin and killed her in the water tank, and she's now on some tropical island living her life in tranquility. We must consider all possibilities right?

Seriously though, it's futile to treat her death as a result of her mental condition, because you can argue whichever way you want, and come up with an infinite number of possibilities. We need to analyze her actions in terms of motives and her past history, as if she was a rational human being.

 

[Marlon]

I have got a very sick theory concerning the grafiti. I know some think its irrelevant but im gonna post it... Its kinda bizar, and big.

 

[jetsetsam]

There is an aluminum ladder tied off to the tank beside the one that the body was found in. A strap. No chain.

In the video below, the firemen are using a shorter wooden ladder that doesn't look like it is tied to anything.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/art...ody-found-water-tank-top-hotel?nclick_check=1


So if the body was dragged up a ladder, wouldn't the killer have used the tied-off aluminum ladder, and put the body in that tank?

You can also see in the video where the fireman puts his left boot. Right where the scuff marks are.