The Mysterious Case of Elisa Lam
Planned or Unpredicted?
Ava Nirk
ENGL 1113.933
Fall 2023
:Introduction
In February of 2013, a college student named Elisa Lam became a huge mysterious case. Elisa was a twenty-one year old tourist and college student born in Vancouver, Canada. She booked a room for three nights at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The Cecil Hotel is known for its mysterious and scary past, with over eighty people who have died there; “General manager Amy Price says in the four-part series that 80 people died there between 2007 and 2017” (1). Elisa’s body was shockingly found at the top of the hotel in the roof's water tank; “There is video from inside one of the Cecil Hotel elevators showing a clearly agitated Lam jumping in and out of the elevator as if she thinks she’s being followed before she finally exits the elevator and disappears” (1). The video footage of Elisa has led to many conspiracy theories on how she ended up there:
1. Was Elisa held hostage and murdered?
2. Did Elisa take some type of drug to make her act peculiar and committ suicide?
3. Was there some type of paranormal activity guiding her to the water tank?
One of the most sensible and possible explanations is that she was on some type of drug leading her to jump into the water tank. The question that still leads up to today is: what happened to Elisa and what is the answer to her puzzling death?
Character Analysis:
Elisa was adventurous and wanted to venture out and explore new places, “Lam was a 21-year-old Canadian tourist who sought adventure. She traveled to Los Angeles in 2013 and rented a room in the Cecil Hotel” (Anderson 1). Los Angeles is a very popular and famous place, which makes sense to have the desire to go travel there. She checked in her room the 28th of January, and was supposed to stay there for only three nights; “Lam was on a solo trip at the time, and she planned to check out of the hotel on Feb. 1 following a four-day stay” (Rasmussen 1). The hotel manager of the hotel she stayed in didn’t have a good feeling about Elisa as if something was off.
Elisa seemed to be a mysterious person. Elisa had a Tumblr account where she shared her thoughts and current moments, which are very questionable. A post she wrote saying, “Arrived in Laland” and the “monstrosity” of a building next to the hotel she was last seen at” (Soen 1). She seemed to have a very creative mind, but a strange way to word certain things. Before her trip to Los Angeles, she seemed to be dealing with new battles. Elisa had posted on her Tumblr account stating, “It’s upsetting to find out that if you care enough for a person and see them in need, they don’t want your help and they get angry if you do help”. And things such as, “Having depression seems to mean that you’ve lost the ability to even help someone else in trouble. I don’t want to end up bitter and resentful and angry at everyone, much more judgmental?” (Punzalan 2). She also gave out that she was feeling very alone and down lately.
Elisa was bipolar, “Lam lived with a condition called bipolar disorder, which was cited by authorities as a significant factor in her death” (Palma 1). Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that contains panic and distress, “Bipolar spectrum disorder (BSD), previously known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that results in significant and severe changes in mood, energy, activity levels and ability to carry out routine tasks” (Amen 1). Elisa frequently talked openly about her mental struggles.
Conspiracy Theories:
There are many conspiracies surrounding Elisa’s death. Was it possible that the strange way she acted in the elevator was an episode? It was said that it was possible for Elisa to be playing some sort of “game” in the elevator, “Her strange behavior led to speculation Elisa was playing the elevator game, a Korean urban legend said to open doorways to other dimensions and conjure spirits” (Clute 3). It is still unclear what drew Elisa to the elevator and to act out in a strange procedure whether it was a bipolar episode, or a sort of game.
Shortly before Elisa was said missing, she was seen in the hotel’s lobby with two men who handed her something and left, “On the last day she was seen, security footage showed Lam entering the lobby of the Cecil Hotel with two men” (Fetzer 3). Was it feasible that Elisa was up to no good with these men? Or perhaps they were a part of her death. No drugs were reportedly found in Elisa’s system so that theory is less possible. Someone or something had to be involved because it is known for water tanks to be very heavy and intact, “It was also noted that the lid on the water tank was closed when detectives came to investigate the discovery of her body - something which would have been very unlikely the young woman could have done herself had she climbed in the tank, considering the distance between the water level and the lid” (Harvey-Jenner 1). The latch of the tank was apparently left unlocked, meaning that someone had to have opened it from the outside. It has been said that the public believes that someone else was involved, stating “As police began the slow process of investigating her disappearance, internet sleuths rallied in an attempt to solve the mystery themselves. Theories from paranormal events to conspiracies and police cover-ups were shared far and wide, but internet sleuths eventually settled on murder, believing Morbid (aka Pablo Vergara) killed Lam during his stay at the Cecil Hotel” (Hartmann 1). There are very many odd things that happened while she stayed there leading up. But the most likely theory to her death would possibly be someone that she interacted with, or the mental state she was in.
Conclusion:
Elisa Lam’s case is now over with and closed. The final conclusion of her death was accidental drowning due to bipolar disorder as an element. Although, there were so many mysterious events that lead up to her death, we may never know what the final truth of her death is. Mental illness is a serious and real thing that Elisa did struggle with.
Work Cited
Amen, Daniel. Amen Clinics: Bipolar Disorder. Amen Clinics. Web. 2023. Print.
Anderson, Lauren. Who Is Elisa Lam and What Is ‘Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel’ About? Endgame360 Inc. Web. 2021. Print.
Clute, Emily. Vanishing At Cecil Hotel: Elisa Lam Ghost Theory Explained. Screenrant Inc. Web. 2021. Print.
Fetzer, Mary. Top 10 Bizarre Elements Of The Elisa Lam Case. Listverse Ltd. Web. 2021. Print.
Hartmann, Graham. Morbid: The Metal Musician Falsely Blamed For Elisa Lam’s Death. Loudwire. Web. 2021. Print.
Harvey-Jenner, Catriona. All the conspiracy theories about the disappearance of Elisa Lam at the Cecil Hotel. Cosmopolitan, Hearst UK. Web. 2021. Print.
Miller, Korin. Women's Health: How Did Elisa Lam Die At The Cecil Hotel? All The Theories, Explained. Hearst Magazine Media Inc. Web. 2021. Print.
Palma, Bethania. Elisa Lam: The LA 'Mystery' That Wasn't. Snopes Media Group Inc. Web. 2021. Print.
Punzalan, Justine. 8 years after her mysterious death: Elisa Lam’s Tumblr blog is still viewable online. Philstar Life Inc. Web. 2021. Print.
Rasmussen, Aaron. Accident Or Something More Sinister? Inside The Death Of Elisa Lam At L.A.’s Cecil Hotel. Web. 2023. Print.
Soen, Hayley. The Tab: Elisa Lam Tumblr: Her blog is still online today and this is what it looks like. [Tumblr]. Web. 2020. Print.