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

[LittleWing]

Has anyone questioned why she was in the specific tank she was in? My roommate and I noticed that the tank she's in appears to maybe be the main tank out of the 4 due to the amount of piping going into it.

Does anyone think the choice of tank was specific?

Hmmm..hadn't thought of that!

Is this the tank, the one on the left with the cut out spot that they pulled her body out of?
Looks like they set up that white towel to cover that area while they removed her, and that's her body in that army green covering. They also have guys on the right with that yellow covering.

Worth investigating how the cisterns work exactly!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[ceefry23]

Has anyone broken down anything about the time stamp? I spent time watching it and it seems to be working fine until the tape shutters (or is edited) around 2:58. The time stamp actually jitters for a second or two before the actual cut is seen in the film. I read somewhere that the time changes 2 minutes but can't make it out myself. Tomorrow ill try to decipher the time stamp a bit more.

 

[ceefry23]

Hmmm..hadn't thought of that!

Is this the tank, the one on the left with the cut out spot that they pulled her body out of?
Looks like they set up that white towel to cover that area while they removed her, and that's her body in that army green covering. They also have guys on the right with that yellow covering.

Worth investigating how the cisterns work exactly!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Yes that is the tank. You can see the hole cut there in that picture very well. If you look at this picture it looks like that is the main tank does it not? Due to the piping at the top. Also it kind of seems like the hardest one to get a body into. Good observation as well that is her body in the green cloth. So sad.
Strange.

 

[Catchew]

Has anyone broken down anything about the time stamp? I spent time watching it and it seems to be working fine until the tape shutters (or is edited) around 2:58. The time stamp actually jitters for a second or two before the actual cut is seen in the film. I read somewhere that the time changes 2 minutes but can't make it out myself. Tomorrow ill try to decipher the time stamp a bit more.

Hi ceefry23! :seeya:
This was my post very early on in the first thread about the time stamp.

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8883976&postcount=290"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Found Deceased CA/Canada - Elisa Lam - 21 years old - Los Angeles/Vancouver - 31-Jan-2013[/ame]

One other thing I noticed with the time counter at the bottom of the screen (other than the stops previously mentioned) is a lapse of time in the counter where it appears the minutes are shown. From what I can make out, to the far right is the millisecond (? is that right?), to the left of that are the seconds, and to the left of that are the minutes. Earlier in the video when I saw a change in the minutes on the counter I then counted the seconds changing and right at 60 seconds the minutes changed (around 2:42/43 in the video). Then I started counting the seconds again and only a few seconds later (around 2:49) the minute changed again, instead of the usual 60 seconds later. So - just before the pauses in time others have mentioned, there also seems to be a lapse in time that has been edited from the video.

 

[SCHMAE]

I wish we knew where her glasses were . If anyone runs across that info, please share. I think it's very important whether they were found in her room, by her purse and personal items like she left them to run outside really quickly to the bathroom for example OR whether they were found elsewhere in the building like someone took them off her face or she lost them while fleeing OR if they were never found anywhere, which would mean someone disposed of them. Also were her clothes found ? Near the tank? Anywhere in the hotel? Poor Elisa

 

[mollymae]

Posters are still referring to the sighting of Elisa on the street corner, and I’m interested in the rationale as to why anyone is considering that a credible sighting. The ”sighting” was posted on the net Friday, Feb 15. The poster said it was the previous Saturday, which would be Feb 9.

Where do you think she was from Jan 31 to Feb 9, and how do you think she ended up back in the water tanks at the Cecil without anyone seeing her there?

It's highly unlikely this was Elisa. The poster said the female had a tattoo on her leg; the person who was maintaining the facebook page said Elisa didn't have any tattoos.

 

[mollymae]

Hmmm..hadn't thought of that!

Is this the tank, the one on the left with the cut out spot that they pulled her body out of?
Looks like they set up that white towel to cover that area while they removed her, and that's her body in that army green covering. They also have guys on the right with that yellow covering.

Worth investigating how the cisterns work exactly!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I'd assumed they'd put her in that green bag as they removed her to prevent media from getting a shot of her body. I'd also assumed the yellow covering was a stretcher of some kind so they could carry her easier.

 

[Juno]

I feel certain the flooding and water problems were caused by this attacker flushing her ID and some belongings maybe a phone.

Perhaps they found the phone was causing the blockage? The whole "we don't want to talk about the phone now" thing has me going

I agree, Ceefry23! I think the phone was found as the cause of the flooding issues, then prompting them to look in the tanks for her in the first place. I would like to hear more about the phone! I think you are spot-on with this as that was my exact thoughts!

 

[Catchew]

I think she was lowered down or dropped down on top of that tank not carried up.

Easy enuff from that building along side!

BBM I completely agree - especially now seeing the pictures. Drop her down onto the tank, then go down to the tanks, climb the ladder, and place her in.

 

[Catchew]

I just wanted to note that it has never been confirmed that Elisa was staying on the 4th floor. If someone has a source stating that she was, please provide. I think we need to go on the assumption she was staying on any of the floors - even the one she is entering the elevator from.
I think the reason we speculated she was staying on the fourth floor was because the Stay on Main (the hostel) is on floors 4-6, and also the fact that the resident, Bernard Diaz, mentioned the noise and flooding came from the 4th floor. Other than that, there has been no statement from LE or MSM, as far as I know, that she was on the 4th floor. Please let me know if I am wrong. Thanks

 

[SCHMAE]

I have two possible working theories on the elevator video.
I wonder if just prior to the film , Elisa was assaulted, either sexually or otherwise.
That coupled with all shes' said about her fragile mental state could easily send one
'over the edge' so to speak. She seems initially to be holding it together until she ' hears' them coming down the hall or whatever it is that she hears. Could be she got away or they
let her go and then thought better of it, to leave no witness. So I wonder could she be
saying ' i wont tell, i promise' type of pleading with. Already shes' been victimized and so she knows they are trouble . Once the assault has happened, they could only be coming back for one thing and she knows it. Thoughts ?

 

[Hejlena]

Bear with me- I'm still on the video, and I realize its all subjective.

IMO, she walks into the elevator with purpose and body language that is clearly stating *something*. What that something is...we don't know. Her hand pressing the elevator buttons to me is very dramatic and purposeful, as in "oh yeah, watch me press all of these buttons to lose you, you freak-I'm smarter than you."

.33 seconds she hears something-she is pressing her ear to the wall to hear better.

.34 she begins to smile

.35 she is clearly smiling--this part is what confuses me the most.

What did she hear? What is she smiling at?

However, none of this will answer anything without the context and background of knowing what time the video was taken.

Prayers for her friends and family.

 

[dotr]

It's really interesting to see all the opinions as to her hand gestures. I saw what appears to be stroking/petting as you would do to a dog and then with the knee bends it still looks to me like she's tying and pulling (twice -two knee bends) some imaginary thing. It's been years since I've actively practiced "signing" but I don't see any language/message she's attempting to convey.

When EL stepped out of the elevator and put her hands together and seemed to bounce a little, I was reminded of the " Gangnam Style "video - pony-ride move, as that character exits an elevator.
It may sound silly, but initially I thought EL was either in, or fantasizing that she was in a video.
Not likely, but I suppose if someone knew a camera was in the elevator and they wanted to have something or someone recorded in the hallway, they might want the elevator door to stay open....

 

[californiared3]

yes, i did some poking around and it just feels.....something is wrong there. it is probably nothing...but the videos rub me the wrong way....and all his "degrees" he places on his website all feel not legit.

Hey, everyone

I'm a frequent reader/rare contributor, but I've been glued to the discussion on this case. Anyway, I have a minor comment I wanted to make in regards to the amateur reporter with the funny hair mentioned on page 38 of the last thread. If you google his name, you'll find a mugshot and a record of some pretty heinous stuff, as well as his address, which is right around the corner from the Cecil Hotel. Probably nothing, but strange to me, nonetheless.

Anyway, stepping back into the shadows now - looking forward to reading more!

 

[Catchew]

<respectfully snipped>

I was looking at this video of a tour of the hotel...
http://youtu.be/_zkukLsXdE0

And they stop on floor 14.... Which is painted a very distinct shade of green. And now I'm so totally confused. Lol. Is there only one set of elevators per level? Have they been repainted? Why ones the light for 14 go out when the elevator door reopens at 3.12????

<respectfully snipped>

RS&BBM
Hi LittleWing - One thing I (and I think others) noticed is that the top button (presumably 14th floor button) lights up when she presses it, but immediately goes unlit when she takes her finger off. You can see this the first time she pushes the buttons, and then again when she re-enters the elevator and pushes them all again. So, the only 4 buttons lit would be floors 10, 7, 4, and whichever is under 4 (sorry - I don't have the picture in front of me). That top button (14) isn't the one that goes out later in the video when the elevator moves floors - it's the 10th floor button that does, and then the 7th floor after that.
I have no idea if she is on the 14th floor in this video, but that would be my only explanation as to why the button is unlit right after she pushes it. It has been noted the difference in the wall paint, etc. So, maybe recently renovated? It is a bit strange, IMO.

 

[SCHMAE]

What if she is expecting someone to be following her or coming and that person is a kind/friendly/ acquaintance type . But mid way through she realizes that is NOT who is in the hall and things get serious real quickly ?

 

[jetsetsam]

Look at the picture where the fireman is looking down the hole into the tank.

The lid has been removed. It's not on hinges.

How would Elisa climb into a tank without an interior ladder, and then replace the lid if it wasn't on hinges?

Someone removed the lid, put her into the tank, and replaced the lid.

And someone on the forum asked why that tank.

Because it's the closest to the roof of the utility room on top of the hotel.

Another video showed a fireman walking on top of the utility room, possibly after climbing up onto it from the tank that Elisa was put into it.

You don't need a ladder to put a body into that tank. Or climb off it afterwards.

The ladder in the videos and pics wasn't necessarily available to whoever put her in the tank. It was most likely locked in the utility room beside the tanks, and was taken out of the room by the utility person to look into the tanks.

The tanks flush themselves out from daily water use, and there wouldn't be a need to leave a ladder there to look into or clean out the inside of the tanks.

The functioning of the tanks would be very low maintenance.

Water in from the pipe, water out at the bottom.

The tanks are necessary due to the irregular and large volume of water use in the hotel that can't be supplied through the City pipe to the building. 300 rooms with higher use in the morning and evenings.

The water in all of the tanks would go down at peak times, and then fill up by the pump at low volume times. Kind of like the tank at the back of a toilet.

The hotel needs 4 tanks to provide all of the water for peak use times, but they wouldn't be allowed to overflow, and they wouldn't be completely emptied, except possibly at peak times when the hotel was full.

The body would go up and down too, as the tanks empted (almost) and filled back up (almost).

 

[Hejlena]

Also, respectfully, I am not of the opinion that she is dancing or signing anything when she steps out of the elevator at 1:56. I believe she is giving an accounting of her troubles either with the elevator, a person (people), or both. I also firmly believe she is speaking to people both to the right and to the left of the elevator; the hand gestures and speaking are clearly aimed at whoever is standing to what we see as the right when looking out the elevator. But she also repeatedly turns her body to the left while she is telling her story, indicating to me the possibility that there is an "audience" of sorts standing to what we would see as the left as we are looking out of the elevator.

I believe the animated hand gestures and bent knees are an indication of her emotional state-I believe she is either yelling or speaking forcefully or out of frustration.

My imagination hears her saying, "leave me alone-you've done this, this, and this...you have prevented the elevator from closing and you are scaring me."

To me, she walks off to what we see as the left with some ease =perceived safety.

Is it possible when pressing all the buttons she pressed a bell or an alarm, thus drawing a crowd or at least an onlooker or two?

When my son was little he loved to press the stop button on the elevator (because it was bright red). Most times, this rang a bell.

Just some thoughts. Bear with my typos, my phone is a ditch to type on.

B

 

[commspecialist]

Okay so.. I braced myself and watched the elevator video again. She must have been drugged or in an altered state, IMO. Those strange hand motions are disturbing and she seems to act like she sees something in the elevator at one point. I doubt that she took drugs of her own free will, but in my view she must be either experiencing psychosis or on some substance (or had taken something that interacted with a medication she was on). It could be that once she realized she was feeling strange/drugged she left the attacker's room and tried to flee by the elevator, idk. I guess if she was on some sort of journey to find herself, she might possibly have tried drugs voluntarily, but whatever the case, if she was in an altered state it would make her an easy target in such a seedy hotel/neighbourhood.

 

[SCHMAE]

Is it fact that she said her sleeping pills prescription had run out ? Could some friendly soul around the hotel said ' oh dont worry i can get you that same pill on the street for 10 bucks' took her money and gave her any other kind of pill and she took it thinking it was her sleeping pill ?