CA/Canada - Elisa Lam - 21 years old - Los Angeles/Vancouver - 31-Jan-2013 - #3

[Fei]

Just want to throw in one more fact to help determine whether the tumblr account belongs to Elisa.

On the tumblr it was mentioned in a post dated Jan 22 that she had a catch-up reunion with high school/elementary people. LINK And according to a weibo (a twitter-like Chinese social media) post around Feb 15 from one of EL's high school classmates, EL did dine with some of her high school classmates before she headed to CA, and the translation of the original post goes like this (not sure if it's OK to copy and paste the original here)

"I just want to make one thing clear: the girl Elisa who went missing is my high school classmate, she invited us to dine together before she left Vancouver. As far as I know, she's going to the States to do some research for her coursework. Elisa has been very healthy, cheerful, kind-hearted, sporty, bright and with good academic performances ever since high school, and she dosen't have any bad 'hobbies'. We are all frightened by this video clip, but it is NOT a staged play, as some of you might have thought." (In response to some comments speculating that Elisa might be "performing/acting" in front of the camera)

(Tried my best to do the translation, hopefully I didn't distort anything...English is not my native language.)

 

[commspecialist]

Sorry if I misunderstand tumblr, but on the right of that post you snipped, there is a little button that says "nouvelle-nouveau reglogged this". Does that not mean she brought it over from someone else? Or does it mean she blogged it on her page and then copied it over someplace else?

IOW, are these her own sentiments or someone else's that she found interesting?

This particular post was definitely made by her, not reblogged.

edit: I see that it says "reblogged" when you hover over her icon, but she's listed as the source

 

[BuzzieCat]

I forgot to post about how confused I am regarding the conflicting reports about whether or not the LAPD says they think foul play was involved. One of the articles linked named a specific detective as saying they didn't think it was foul play, but then another article says that the LAPD has not ruled out foul play and that the claims that they did rule it out were just rumors. A specific detective is quoted but that is just rumor? Either the media is in error (probably more likely) or somebody spoke out of turn at LAPD.

 

[commspecialist]

Based on my own person experiences with pyschiatrists, they knew she had all these issues. Where they deeply failed her was in giving her two antidepressants and a stimulant. She was deeply medicated but the Adderrall and Wellbutrin probably squashed whatever the Lamictal (a mood stabilizer) was doing.

What is the website where her Facebook statuses and photos are posted? Would love to see that. It seems like her friends and family are being much friendlier to the Chinese media.

I wonder if it's possible that more than one doctor prescribed things to her? It could be that there was an unintended interaction between her meds.

 

[matou]

Also, I've seen early reports that she was "wedged" in the tank. I don't know if this makes a difference, but I'm noting it.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/national_world&id=8999754

"February 20, 2013 (LOS ANGELES) -- Police say the body of a woman found wedged in a water tank on the roof of a downtown hotel is that of a missing Canadian guest."

I can't theorize, nor guess about her mental state, her medications or anything like that so... I'll just go with what's in the media (faulty as it may be)

What is "wedged in the tank" supposed to mean, I wonder? Was she at the bottom and pressed up against a pipe outlet? Was she stuck somehow?

 

[anansie]

I'm thinking that Elisa Lam, being in a proper state of mind, would have been mindful and (hyper)sensitive to this possibility.

Here are some of her thoughts on men and being careful if you're a woman:
http://etherfields.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-being-no-name-blogger-using-her-real.html

Note that in the same blog posting, she implies that she was raped at age 17 "If I’d not been born at all–*advertiser censored*, if I’d only had the foresight not to be born at all, I wouldn’t have been raped when I was 17, either."
Thus, I think she would have have personal experience to stay away from shifty/charming men.

There are some other postings in her tumblr account, including one that mentions that if you're a young girl and an older, charming man shows interest in you, he's basically interested in sex. I'd have to find that posting reference, but not sure how to go back and do a find on a tumbler account.

That's interesting... She was raped at 17 eh? Isn't that the same age where she said in her blog (can't remember which one - the blogspot one or the Tumblr one - but I think it was the Tumblr one) that that was the age where she had "lost" herself or the start of her mental troubles?? And that she felt she had only "found" herself again last year or such? When she was 21 years old?

Sorry I wish I could link the exact posts in this or the previous thread which mentioned all these things she said... but I'm on a tablet now and its a bit of a b**ch to type on or cut and paste... sorry. Wonder if someone here knows or remembers the same as me while going through these threads about her?

 

[Sillybilly]

Note that in the same blog posting, she implies that she was raped at age 17 "If I’d not been born at all–****, if I’d only had the foresight not to be born at all, I wouldn’t have been raped when I was 17, either."

And in the very next paragraph she states:

My generation of women was taught to believe we could grow up to be anything we wanted to be. All I can ever remember wanting to be is a writer named Kate Harding. Not a firefighter or a cop or a soldier or an astronaut or a dogcatcher or anything anyone worried might be remotely dangerous. Just a writer named Kate Harding.

So that’s what I am, and will continue to be, because I love it and I don’t know how to be anything else. But it is ****ing dangerous, as it turns out. Dangerous because I use my real name and especially dangerous because it’s a female name.
But hey, that’s my problem to deal with. I should probably quit whining now.

<bbm>

from the link you posted:
http://etherfields.blogspot.ca/2011/11/on-being-no-name-blogger-using-her-real.html


??

 

[commspecialist]

That's interesting... She was raped at 17 eh? Isn't that the same age where she said in her blog (can't remember which one - the blogspot one or the Tumblr one - but I think it was the Tumblr one) that that was the age where she had "lost" herself or the start of her mental troubles?? And that she felt she had only "found" herself again last year or such? When she was 21 years old?

Sorry I wish I could link the exact posts in this or the previous thread which mentioned all these things she said... but I'm on a tablet now and its a bit of a b**ch to type on or cut and paste... sorry. Wonder if someone here knows or remembers the same as me while going through these threads about her?

That's tragic. It could very well be that she suffered from PTSD as well, poor Elisa

 

[fred&edna]

What is "wedged in the tank" supposed to mean, I wonder? Was she at the bottom and pressed up against a pipe outlet? Was she stuck somehow?

It seems odd to me, too.

I've been wondering if she was wedged soon after entering the tank or did it occur after some decomp. (Awful to think about that)

 

[anansie]

What is "wedged in the tank" supposed to mean, I wonder? Was she at the bottom and pressed up against a pipe outlet? Was she stuck somehow?

I think its more likely she was wedged as in... I dunno... blocking the pipes that drain water into the hotel for residential use. There are some reports saying this is what happened, that she was found at the bottom of the tanks, blocking the pipe or something, hence causing the low water pressure problem?

To be honest I don't really know how a water tank system in a hotel works. So... does the water in the tank go into a pipe hole at the *bottom* of the tank which transports the water downwards through all the levels of the hotel?

 

[ThinkHard]

I wonder if it's possible that more than one doctor prescribed things to her? It could be that there was an unintended interaction between her meds.

It does seem to be quite the assortment.

JMO but I think some psychiatrist way over prescribe meds....I've seen 9 year olds on a mix that included lithium.

Not even professionals all agree on proper treatment.

Also who's to say she was directed to take them all at once. They maybe were prescribed at intervals, and certain meds were directed to end, as others were introduced.

It is not uncommon for patients to self medicate with their own rx's feeling they know better.

 

[jon999]

Here are a few thoughts I had while reading the last few pages:

re: Accident/Suicide

I've traveled quite a bit and stayed in a ton of different hotels, and the presence of huge water tanks on the roof has never crossed my mind.

-How would Elisa know that there are huge tanks on the roof?
-How would Elisa know those are water tanks?
-How would Elisa know there's an unlocked lid on the top of the tank?
-If Elisa was drugged/psychotic and went to the roof by herself, would her brain have to know these details unconsciously?

---------

If I'm Eliza and I believe I'm in danger and if I can't make the elevator go down, opening the door to the roof would probably be my next step. Opening the door is supposed to trigger the alarm. It would make the bad guy flee. If there's no bad guy, I could just pretend I opened the door by mistake.

---------

re: Hide-and-seek

At the beginning, some people thought Elisa was playing a game of hide-and-seek with someone. Let's say it was the case. She's hiding in the elevator and is waiting for her friend to pass by her. She selects a few floors and push the "door hold button". She's planning on closing the door at the last second. Selecting multiple floors would make it hard to track her. She's waiting, waiting, coming in and out of the elevator, pushing the "hold door button" once more, waiting, dancing. Her friend doesn't appear. She gets bored. She leaves.

 

[Sillybilly]

I guess i've answered my own question regarding "reblogging". That reference to EL being raped at 17 has nothing to do with Elisa at all. It seems it is merely a post she brought in from another site that belongs to KH:

http://kateharding.net/2008/09/24/from-the-archives-on-being-a-no-name-blogger-using-her-real-name/

I guess it's really important that we go back to determine precisely what relates to EL herself compared to what she may have brought in from other sites that she found interesting merely because of her interest and studies in psychology.

JMO

 

[silsby]

HuffPo article in response to the no foul play rumor:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/25/elisa-lam-foul-play-autopsy_n_2760102.html?utm_hp_ref=canada

 

[AnonymousD]

Welcome to all the new members! I believe I've seen 3, possibly 4, in the past couple of pages.



:welcome5:

 

[summer_breeze]

On a somber note:

If anyone can find the details of a service (Family) for Elisa, we will post a tribute and close the thread during the scheduled service out of respect and honor for someone Gone Too Soon.

Just let myself or another moderator know!

~Summer

 

[Sillybilly]

This particular post was definitely made by her, not reblogged.

edit: I see that it says "reblogged" when you hover over her icon, but she's listed as the source

That's why it is all so confusing. If hovering over the icon of the "rape"/"Kate" post says reblogged and appears to be, then why is it that the post related to "Hypomania" says reblogged but you are saying it isn't?

Sorry to be a pain, but where on the "Hypomania" page does it list EL as the source?

 

[samevo8]

According to one of her Tumblr posts, it appears she was going to eventually go to Santa Cruz to work/volunteer on an organic farm. She also mentions taking intro computer science classes, possibly at University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) but complains that extension classes are conducted in the city of Santa Clara, which is is on the other side of the Santa Cruz mountains.

Just want to throw in one more fact to help determine whether the tumblr account belongs to Elisa.

On the tumblr it was mentioned in a post dated Jan 22 that she had a catch-up reunion with high school/elementary people. LINK And according to a weibo (a twitter-like Chinese social media) post around Feb 15 from one of EL's high school classmates, EL did dine with some of her high school classmates before she headed to CA, and the translation of the original post goes like this (not sure if it's OK to copy and paste the original here)

"I just want to make one thing clear: the girl Elisa who went missing is my high school classmate, she invited us to dine together before she left Vancouver. As far as I know, she's going to the States to do some research for her coursework. Elisa has been very healthy, cheerful, kind-hearted, sporty, bright and with good academic performances ever since high school, and she dosen't have any bad 'hobbies'. We are all frightened by this video clip, but it is NOT a staged play, as some of you might have thought." (In response to some comments speculating that Elisa might be "performing/acting" in front of the camera)

(Tried my best to do the translation, hopefully I didn't distort anything...English is not my native language.)

 

[Murakami]

Can anyone post a link to the Chinese news sites? It seems they are doing much more reporting than the MSM here. I don't read it, but have a friend who might be able to translate.

 

[jash]

I believe this is a post authored by EL in late 2011. Interesting because she mentions thoughts of killing herself, as well as the movie Drive (she compares love to the ending of the movie).

http://etherfields.blogspot.ca/2011/11/youth.html