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

[commspecialist]

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 ?

That's a good point. I think a young person in a strange city might let their guard down if they met someone that they thought seemed trustworthy. Travelling alone would get really lonely and nerve-wracking, and if she did have bipolar disorder, she could have been in a very vulnerable state (especially when coupled with the sleeplessness). She may have simply trusted the wrong person .

Or she could have purchased a different type of sleep aid legitimately. If you take a sleeping pill that doesn't agree with you it can make you act very strange.

 

[SCHMAE]

Probably OT but this is curious . Sorry if it's been posted.

http://www.news1130.com/2013/02/22/chinese-tourists-go-missing-in-richmond/

RICHMOND (NEWS1130) – Mounties in Richmond say two Chinese nationals have walked away from tour groups visiting the Lower Mainland, bringing the total number to four since last summer.

 

[Darcyline]

I feel like the video would make more sense if I could see her as frustrated, agitated, afraid, angry, etc. However, she just doesn't look that way to me. She looks weird, but relaxed, not rushed, not angry/frustrated/screaming/running for her life. Very bizarre video.

 

[manlet]

I think it's safe to say the footage has been edited to make someone in it "disappear". Which explains her hand gestures and other oddities. This is why we can't make sense of it.

 

[Chorley8]

Anyone seen photos or video or reports or her body being removed from the hotel?

"Universal" youtube guy watch through his website roving video rooftop shots of Rosslyn hotel which I think at one time was a dump like the Cecil but has been split into two businesses (?) anyway both buildings are in the shot footage mostly of Grammys preparation Staple Centre etc. which I think were Feb. 10th - early shot of Or. woman arguably same "type" though older elevator Elisa - later footage of the Bishop-photographer on his bikes the one by pond older Or. woman with the dark frame glasses a bit like the Elisa dark frame glasses photo though this woman older - he claims Canadian Quebecois geneology. He is from San Diego all of this just his own account so grain of salt.

Do we have dates for her Toronto trip? And where she stayed which hostel? San Diego hotel which one? Did she travel by train, bus plane San Diego to LA?

 

[silsby]

The above pictures on this page indicate that the lid must be completely removed in order for the hole/entrance at the top of the cistern to be fully open. Therefore, in order for Elisa to go into the tank, it seems like the lid needs to be moved aside. In that case, to me, especially since it appears that couldn't touch bottom with her feet, there is no possible way she could have been in the tank and pulled the lid atop the hole. The lid appears to be more of a covering than anything else...not a hinged door-like covering. Somebody had to have closed that lid on her. I can't see it any other way. Even if, by chance, she willingly went into the tank, there must be someone else involved.

 

[Shlock Homes]

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.

One could also argue that one was the best one because it had pipes that one could lean against and not worry about falling off the side. The other tanks have plain tops. Someone moving a body onto those tanks might have found that main one easiest to navigate, bracing themselves (or the body) against the pipes, using them like railings.

There appears to be some kind of catwalk like structure beside the tanks along the edge of the roof, which also could have been used to carry the body. The ladder that one would have to use to climb to that adjacent rooftop looks like it would be very difficult to do so carrying a body.

This link has probably been posted before, you can see raw footage from a news helicopter encircling the rooftop to get a better idea of the layout. The the first one called Extended Video. Police Probe.... You can expand the video to view the image on a larger screen (you'd have to click on page 2 of the video links on the right of the article)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/autopsy-inconclusive-after-elisa-lam-found-dead-in-l-a-hotel-water-tank-1.1167287

 

[SCHMAE]

I think it's safe to say the footage has been edited to make someone in it "disappear". Which explains her hand gestures and other oddities. This is why we can't make sense of it.

Hmmm, could it be that someone who LE know is ' innocent' was in it and they cut them out to preserve their privacy ? Like someone who also gave a statement to police ' elisa told me she was being followed, etc' and then she walked down the hall and I never saw her again.
I was thinking something similar with the other cameras. There are so many cams everywhere that she has to be filmed elsewhere but in those other shots, say the entrance, would likely have other people in them, people that had nothing to do with this. But showing the vids with the other people in them might make those other people seem like suspects to the public, so they are not showing it. I wonder if that post made any sense outside of my mind........ :waitasec:

 

[dotr]

Some random thoughts..
Pre Oscar time must be a nightmare for the hotel and the "water scandal" although the scandal is really about how a young tourist ends up deceased, in a hotel water tank.
Would someone "foul" water in that way as revenge against the hotel, or possibly to sue them?




http://www.slate.com/articles/healt..._can_you_catch_from_water_that_s_touched.html
"People who drink or bathe with water that’s been contaminated by a corpse are more likely to experience psychological effects than physical illness. Learning that you’ve inadvertently been in such indirect yet intimate contact with a dead body could be traumatic, and it may cause anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, both of which are treatable with psychotherapy or antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication"

 

[jetsetsam]

I looked on youtube for "Cecil Hotel LA" and there is a video of the sunset from the roof of the Cecil Hotel from June 2012.

They are on the roof because they pan down a couple of times and you can see the parapet of the roof, and also the roof of the building next door to the hotel. The video is not through a hotel room window, or from the fire escape.

And then there was the video someone posted of the loogan walking on the beam between the wings of the hotel (totally wacked).

And the graffiti.

So it looks like it was common knowledge amongst hotel guests that you could go up to the roof without setting off an alarm.

A fairly busy place.

And occupants of other nearby buildings can look at the roof of the hotel, including the tanks.

So why put a body in the tank?

It would take a few minutes, during which time someone else could come up onto the roof, or someone in an adjacent building could observe and report.

Does that mean there was more than one person, and they had a spotter/helper?

And why the tank?

Most people wouldn't think of the tank as a place to put a body, and wouldn't even know about a removable lid. To most people, they are just an object that doesn't elicit any consideration.

You would have to be familiar with the roof, even have previously removed the lid and peered in.

You either wanted to buy some time before the body was found, thinking like most people that bodies float and don't plug up drains.

Or you were aware of another situation where a body was place in a roof top tank, and putting the body in the water tank had some meaning to you.

 

[SweetT]

It reminds me of the movie Black water.

 

[fringles]

I too have watched the video a bunch- tbh while I'm definitely on the fence and she could easily have been drugged, or talking to someone, it does to me look like a mental health issue- I've unfortunately seen someone in crisis and the body language is very familiar. The other thing that makes me think this is the reports that she was VERY friendly- to me that could indicate someone on the upswing of a manic episode, which then turns into a break with reality. as I said I'm by no means certain on this- its just how it looks to me.

In that state, the person I knew would interact with just about anybody and was EXTREMELY suggestible- they would go along with pretty much anyone, and it often seemed like they were just extremely friendly- it often took a while for people to realise they weren't functioning normally.

However I don't think she got in the tank by herself and I do think that there is someone else involved in what's going on in the video. When she peeks her head out of the lift the first time, it looks to me like she sees or hears someone coming from the right. She then moves into the corner before flattening herself against the wall and looking down the corridor to the left. To me it looks like she's waiting to see someone go past and hoping they don't notice her. I personally can't decide if she looks playful or scared in that part. But I think she then doesn't see them, and becomes confused- and possibly scared.

I do wonder if the second time she pushes all the buttons, and stays down low for longer, looking to be fiddling with something at the base of the panel, she is looking for an intercom or emergency alarm, and I also wonder if activating this alarm is the noise the other resident spoke of.

In short my current theory (though by no means set in stone) is that she was experiencing a mental health issue and unfortunately in that state got involved with someone she shouldn't have in the hotel.

 

[Shlock Homes]

I looked on youtube for "Cecil Hotel LA" and there is a video of the sunset from the roof of the Cecil Hotel from June 2012.

Here's the video. It's actually a sunrise (mislabeled as a sunset), and the person is standing facing East, but they're looking out a window, not on the actual roof. Perhaps she went up there early in the morning on her last day to watch the sunrise and that's when she was attacked?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgvFRWCH9Ig"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgvFRWCH9Ig[/ame]

 

[manlet]

Hmmm, could it be that someone who LE know is ' innocent' was in it and they cut them out to preserve their privacy ? Like someone who also gave a statement to police ' elisa told me she was being followed, etc' and then she walked down the hall and I never saw her again.
I was thinking something similar with the other cameras. There are so many cams everywhere that she has to be filmed elsewhere but in those other shots, say the entrance, would likely have other people in them, people that had nothing to do with this. But showing the vids with the other people in them might make those other people seem like suspects to the public, so they are not showing it. I wonder if that post made any sense outside of my mind........ :waitasec:

As far as I know they only released the video footage to get more information from people who were staying at the hotel at the time who might of saw her or heard/saw strange behavior from others. They of course will edit out "important people" in videos/photos to keep things underwrap to build a case.

 

[LaborDayRN]

The above pictures on this page indicate that the lid must be completely removed in order for the hole/entrance at the top of the cistern to be fully open. Therefore, in order for Elisa to go into the tank, it seems like the lid needs to be moved aside. In that case, to me, especially since it appears that couldn't touch bottom with her feet, there is no possible way she could have been in the tank and pulled the lid atop the hole. The lid appears to be more of a covering than anything else...not a hinged door-like covering. Somebody had to have closed that lid on her. I can't see it any other way. Even if, by chance, she willingly went into the tank, there must be someone else involved.

forgive me if I missed it, but do we have confirmation from LE or MSM that the lid was found closed, or even on the tank?

 

[matou]

If she was dropped onto the tank with the pipes on it from above or fell on the tank, her body would show bruising or damage whether she was already dead or not IMO. I'm just wondering about the loud noise that woke someone up in the middle of the night. JMO

 

[manlet]

Another bizarre coincidence is there was a Japanese movie made called 'Dark Water', where a mother and her toddler daughter move into a sleazy run-down hotel and the little girl ends up climbing into the hotel water tank. Throughout the movie they have elevator trouble with people having funny tasting water! Extremely strange coincidence. See the trailer of the movie here:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM_5hGBKqbE"]dark water japanese trailer.mp4 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[dotr]

Lost the post now, but someone had asked why that one particular tank may have been chosen from the four on the roof. It may have been chosen because it was the one most obscured by the brick elevation and the other 3 tanks.imo

 

[silsby]

forgive me if I missed it, but do we have confirmation from LE or MSM that the lid was found closed, or even on the tank?

That is true. No, I have not seen proof that the lid was on the tank. I guess I assumed (bad choice, I know). However, I have not seen proof that the lid was off the tank, either. If the lid was off, could that have been exposing the drinking water to other air contaminants that would need to be mentioned to the hotel guests? Could that have changed her level of decomposition? Could that have allowed for the cadaver dogs to pick up her scent? More importantly, could that have allowed for her potentially escape? I guess I don't know. I assumed. You make a very good point!:banghead:

 

[Cherry]

This case has really been bothering me. I felt that the news and reporters totally read her reactions in that elevator wrongly. I see a woman who is being followed. I think someone in maintenance or someone who knows that hotel well; possibly killed her; and was following her. There should be more surv camera's from where she got off that elevator.....it's truly scary to see her holding up her hands like STOP leave me alone....that's what her reaction in that enclosed space said to me! I don't know if this will be solved; but it has to be someone strong; a man; who knew about access to those tanks: IE a maintenance worker of some kind. Just a theory...my working theory so far.