I would like to share here some interesting Cases that were Closed and Unclosed both local and international. They are all facts and credit goes to mentioned sources.
Footage Reveals Tourist’s Final Moments Before Mysteriously Disappearing From Los Angeles Hotel (Unclosed)
Elisa Lam was traveling alone from her hometown in Vancouver, Canada, to Los Angeles, California. She stayed at the historic Cecil Hotel in downtown L.A. where, days later, she was reported missing. What happened to her was one of the most mysterious cases of disappearances. Even more mysterious are the events that took place leading up to her disappearance and to her eventual discovery.
Surveillance camera footage in an elevator – which is included in this story – shows Elisa behaving strangely in the moments leading up to her disappearance. Here’s an account of what happened:
The mystery began at the Cecil Hotel, which is now called Stay on Main hotel in Los Angeles, California. The hotel is historic and is widely known for the events that took place there since it began operating in 1927. For the purpose of this story, we’ll refer to the place as Cecil Hotel from this point forward.
It is in this hotel where 21-year-old Canadian Elisa Lam stayed. She traveled alone and checked in on January 26, 2013. Five days later, she went missing.
Then on February 19, in a shocking turn of events, her dead body was found naked and floating face up inside one of the water tanks on the hotel’s rooftop. Her body was discovered after the hotel’s guests complained about problems in the water pressure.
Reports mentioned about guests complaining that the water came out black and that it tasted a bit off. At first, they thought it was normal, being that they are in Los Angeles.
The water tanks provided water for the hotel’s taps. Guests used it for drinking and washing. It was also used in the hotel’s kitchen for cooking. One of the coffee shops in the hotel was closed down until all their food equipment were completely sanitized.
Access to the hotel’s water was closed until the water treatment specialist called in to disinfect the hotel’s plumbing had finished their job.
The hotel’s management had to relocate guests in some 27 rooms to a nearby hotel. However, guests from 11 rooms refused to go, but they were asked to sign a waiver to acknowledge that they had been informed of the health risks of staying behind. They were also provided with bottled water.
Elisa Lam checked into a shared room in the hotel. According to reports, she was asked to move to a solo room, because her roommates complained that she was showing odd behavior.
As days went by, she started to behave even more strangely. The last time she was seen was through a footage from one of the surveillance cameras inside one of the hotel’s elevators.
The video shows Elisa behaving very strangely. She can be seen going in and out of the elevator and pressing all the buttons.
And in one spine-chilling scene, she can be seen talking to someone in the hallway, although no one else except her was captured in the footage.
The video also shows that the elevator door remained open for too long. It’s as if someone or something may have been holding it open.
Many speculated on what went on in these events leading up to Elisa Lam’s death. Some theorized that she was into drugs. But the most likely explanation behind her strange behavior was her bipolar disorder.
Toxicology reports found no evidence of anything in her system that could have caused her odd behavior and her death.
Another theory that had been floating around was that she was murdered, but autopsy reports showed no sign of any trauma in her body. There was also no other evidence that showed she had been with another person before her body was found.
Then on June 2013, it was ruled that the cause of Elisa Lam’s death was an accident. The coroner’s office also confirmed that there was nothing that indicates any foul play due to the lack of any physical evidence in her body.
According to CBS Los Angeles, Elisa’s parents flew to L.A. to help in the investigation. However, they gave no public comment on the incident. But it was found out that Elisa had been in constant contact with her parents before she disappeared.
What could have caused Elisa to behave strangely in the days leading up to her death? Was it her disorder? Or was it something beyond explanation?
One of the things that was difficult to explain was how Elisa managed to go inside the water tank. To get up there, she would have to climb out the window to the fire escape. And opening the rooftop door would have tripped an alarm.
Not to mention that the 10-foot water tank’s lid weighed 20 pounds. How did she manage to shut it while inside? It took much of the day for workers to remove her body from the water tank.
In an interview, police spokeswoman Officer Sara Faden said that it had been a struggle to remove Elisa’s body from the water tank because its location is very small and configured in a very tight way.
The opening at the top of the tank is very small to allow the firefighters and the equipment to enter. They had to cut a hole in the tank to get the body out.
Another bizarre theory being offered to explain the strange cause of Elisa Lam’s death was that she was in contact with serial killer Richard Ramirez, who was convicted of 13 murders. He was known to stay in the hotel from 1984 to 1985. They speculated that it was he who Elisa was talking to in the hallway of the hotel just outside the elevator.
Richard Ramirez was nicknamed the Night Stalker. He was implicated in several burglary and homicide incidents in Los Angeles. At the height of his murderous career, he resided at the Cecil Hotel. He would often return to the hotel covered in blood. Ramirez would dump his soiled clothes in the dumpster at the back of the hotel and return to his room wearing only his underwear.
And that wasn’t the only bizarre thing that happened in Cecil Hotel. It was known for other strange things, including being the home to another serial killer Jack Unterweger. It was also the site of an unsolved murder which took place in 1964. And according to some accounts, the hotel was one of the last places where the Black Dahlia had been before her brutal murder.
Apart from all the strange circumstances surrounding the case, the condition around the location of the hotel was also considered at the time of Elisa Lam’s disappearance. Cecil Hotel is near Skid Row, notorious for being the den of criminals and drug traffickers.
The death of Elisa Lam was by no means new to the hotel. In the 1930s, just a few years after its opening, and with the Great Depression starting to make its impact felt, the hotel had been nicknamed “The Suicide” because of the several instances of suicide that took place here.
In 1931, the 46-year-old Manhattan Beach resident W.K. Norton committed suicide in his Cecil Hotel room right after checking in by overdosing on pills. More suicides took place afterwards.
And in 1962, after an argument with her husband, 27-year-old Pauline Otton jumped from the 9th-floor window of her room at the hotel. Just before she hit the ground, she landed on a 65-year-old passerby, George Gianinni. They both died instantly.
There is a video from the hotel elevator’s security camera where Elisa can be seen acting strangely. She looks scared as she hides in the corner. At one point, she can be seen as if she’s arguing with someone. She darts in and out of the elevator and presses all the buttons. Finally, she leaves.
We may never know what really happened to Elisa Lam. Her case may remain a cold one for a long time. One may choose to explain the incident with a paranormal twist, or we may have to wait until more evidences are put forward to shed light on her strange and unusual death.
Credits: True activist, photos from facebook and LAPD files
