Bizarre video concerning the Elisa Lam body found in water tank

There is a new element to this tragic news on Sott news :Body found in Los Angeles hotel water tank may be missing Canadian tourist

There is this strange CCTV footage of the victim acting bizarrely in the elevator of the hotel :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3TjVBpyTeZM#!

I don't know what to make of it, maybe a mental illness or a breakdown ?
This does not explain how she was found in the water tank though.

Unsettling nonetheless.

_http://www.inquisitr.com/533481/body-found-in-los-angeles-hotel-water-tank/

What struck me as odd was the elevator's failure to depart once she had gotten in and pushed the button. Of course, she could have pushed the wrong buttons, like the one to hold the door open. But it does appear, from the elevator's later operation, that she stood still long enough at the beginning for the elevator to depart. It didn't. Why?

Second, her behavior suggests that she thought someone was out there and possibly, the fact that the elevator was NOT departing added to the belief. So she looked. She tried again to get the elevator to move by pushing all the buttons. Nothing happened. Why?

The later actions with her holding her head, moving her hands about, suggests that she was perceiving something that was either not recorded by the camera or was not physically there. That suggests something like schizophrenia or drugs.

But still, there is that very odd fact that the elevator did not depart.

Laura said:

What struck me as odd was the elevator's failure to depart once she had gotten in and pushed the button. Of course, she could have pushed the wrong buttons, like the one to hold the door open. But it does appear, from the elevator's later operation, that she stood still long enough at the beginning for the elevator to depart. It didn't. Why?

Second, her behavior suggests that she thought someone was out there and possibly, the fact that the elevator was NOT departing added to the belief. So she looked. She tried again to get the elevator to move by pushing all the buttons. Nothing happened. Why?

The later actions with her holding her head, moving her hands about, suggests that she was perceiving something that was either not recorded by the camera or was not physically there. That suggests something like schizophrenia or drugs.

But still, there is that very odd fact that the elevator did not depart.

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Yeah the not departing of the elevator seems strange to me too, especially the second time where it appears that she is pushing several buttons, but still nothing happens.

Her behaviour suggest to me strongly that she was probably under the influence of some kind of drug.
Speaking from my own experiences with drugs in the past, you can do all sorts of crazy things while you are under the influence of them and often strange things like the not departing of elevators seem to be happening.

I had also some strange expiriences of that kind while I was under drugs where I thought to my self "is this really happening in reality or am I imagining it?".
You can get kind of paranoid in such situations.

Now the question seems to be, was she in fact under the influence of drugs and if so did she take them consciously by her self, or did somebody gave it to her without she noticing it?

It is entirely possible that you can get ideas like "jumping into a water tank" while you are under the influence of a drug.
Maybe she was feeling hot or that the trip was to much and thought to herself that "jumping into a water tank" would give her some relief.

I'm not kidding, while you are under the influence of drugs you can do all sorts of crazy things that seem logical to you in that moment, but are in fact, when viewed from the outside and some distance, totally crazy.

For anyone interested in studying exactly how such drug induced trips can play out, I recommend watching "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" with Johnny Depp. Probably one of the best movies that describes the utter insanity and paranoia that such drugs can induce in people.

Geez, that's weird.

What really jumped at me was the elevator itself. Normally, an elevator's door would close after five or ten seconds when no one's standing in between (it has that laser thing to detect any object to prevent hurting anyone). I've noticed that when she left the elevator later and it didn't close for another 25 seconds, then closed and open again and closed (which made me think that she was out in the hallway, pressing the button). I've spent a lot of time in the elevators at my job (even got trapped once) and whether you press the button or not, the elevator's door should always close.

To have that door open for so long, you'd need a maintenance key, osit.

I even thought, at 2:20, that she was talking to someone far out of sight in the hallway.

As suggested, drugs might be an answer for her strange behavior. The repetitive poses or body language might be a clue. No conclusive autopsy report has been made yet.

Can these elevators be remotely blocked from a main board or something ?

I'd be tempted to say that maybe she was the subject of a drug experiment of some sort then disposed of but that's just wild speculation on my part of course.

Edit: About her strange body language, it is weird, looks like she is speaking to someone, then checks if the door is still open, or touching/caressing something.

Meanwhile, the hotel itself, if these facts are correct, has a dark history :

The hotel, built in the 1920s but refurbished several years ago, was the once occasional home to 1980s serial killers Richard Ramirez - nicknamed the Night Stalker - and Jack Unterweger.

Ramirez was convicted of murdering 13 people and is currently waiting execution in California. Unterweger, an Australian journalist, was found to have killed 11 prostitutes across Europe and the United States.

...In the 1920s and 30s, several murders were committed in the hotel. In 1962, a 27-year-old woman leaped to her death from a window and killed a pedestrian on the street below when she landed on her.

Goldie Olsen, a well-known Los Angeles face known as the 'pigeon lady of Pershing Square,' was found strangled to death in her room at the hotel.

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_http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2282629/Elisa-Lam-Canadian-tourists-autopsy-inconclusive.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

It was revealed on Wednesday that guests at the Cecil drank, bathed in and brushed their teeth with water from a roof-top tank where a Canadian tourist's body floated, decomposing, for nearly three weeks.

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I'd also be very wary to drink or use any hotel tap water as some people have discovered recently

Laura said:

What struck me as odd was the elevator's failure to depart once she had gotten in and pushed the button. Of course, she could have pushed the wrong buttons, like the one to hold the door open. But it does appear, from the elevator's later operation, that she stood still long enough at the beginning for the elevator to depart. It didn't. Why?

Second, her behavior suggests that she thought someone was out there and possibly, the fact that the elevator was NOT departing added to the belief. So she looked. She tried again to get the elevator to move by pushing all the buttons. Nothing happened. Why?

The later actions with her holding her head, moving her hands about, suggests that she was perceiving something that was either not recorded by the camera or was not physically there. That suggests something like schizophrenia or drugs.

But still, there is that very odd fact that the elevator did not depart.

Click to expand...

I thought the same about the elevator. But it seems normal too when doors do close again, I guess it depends on the specific settings of the elevator. And when it was a hotel, and people arrive with lots of bags it would be good the doors stay longer open (it took the elevator about 45 seconds to close the doors, and her comings and goings where always under that time about 26 seconds). Our elevator closes also really fast, when nobody enters or leaves it. After someone did past the light barrier it takes much longer before the doors get closed again and the timing gets reset again every time a person passes the light barrier again, as she did. Also when about 40 seconds seem pretty long.

Tigersoap said:

Meanwhile, the hotel itself, if these facts are correct, has a dark history :

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VERY interesting. Of course, I naturally would think the hotel would be "haunted" plus the elevator could be faulty to some degree.

Tigersoap said:

It was revealed on Wednesday that guests at the Cecil drank, bathed in and brushed their teeth with water from a roof-top tank where a Canadian tourist's body floated, decomposing, for nearly three weeks.

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I'd also be very wary to drink or use any hotel tap water as some people have discovered recently

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Good grief. Maybe, it could be an experiment - if Lam was on drug of some kind and been decomposed in the water tank for three weeks, whoever was drinking the tap water or bathing in it could be affected by that same drug? Just a thought.

Needless to say, this is a bizarre case.

Zadius Sky said:

To have that door open for so long, you'd need a maintenance key, osit.

I even thought, at 2:20, that she was talking to someone far out of sight in the hallway.

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Now the above may be a clue: you'd have to have a maintenance key.

There really is something strange about the behavior of the elevator. She may have been drugged or just terrified because she was being stalked by someone with that maintenance key.

I don't think she got in the water tank on her own. Heck, she wouldn't have know of its existence or what it was. That also suggests someone with maintenance knowledge/key.

Laura said:

I don't think she got in the water tank on her own. Heck, she wouldn't have know of its existence or what it was. That also suggests someone with maintenance knowledge/key.

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From the link provided by Tigersoap, the body was discovered by a "maintenance worker" on Tuesday morning. That worker would surely have the knowledge of the hotel and have access to every door and elevator in the building. That's a strong possibility.

Zadius Sky said:

I even thought, at 2:20, that she was talking to someone far out of sight in the hallway.

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I thought it looked like she was talking to someone too. It looks like her hand movements are those of someone making emotional points with their hands. When she was grabbing the fingers of one hand with the other hand, it looked like she grabbed first one finger, then two, then three - like "one, two, three" explaining something, but bending her knees at the same time speaks to a lot of emotion, almost desperation - and pushing all the buttons when she got back in to make it move showed desperation as well. I'm not so sure it's drugs so much as desperation, but there's no way to know. Sad.

anart said:

Zadius Sky said:

I even thought, at 2:20, that she was talking to someone far out of sight in the hallway.

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I thought it looked like she was talking to someone too. It looks like her hand movements are those of someone making emotional points with their hands. When she was grabbing the fingers of one hand with the other hand, it looked like she grabbed first one finger, then two, then three - like "one, two, three" explaining something, but bending her knees at the same time speaks to a lot of emotion, almost desperation - and pushing all the buttons when she got back in to make it move showed desperation as well. I'm not so sure it's drugs so much as desperation, but there's no way to know. Sad.

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You're right. That also suggests that whoever she may have been talking to KNEW about the camera and knew how to stay OUT of its filming range.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the video itself. When Lam initially enters the elevator, she seems to press all, if not several of the buttons. Currently the only reason I can make out for this would be that perhaps she got into the elevator in order to get away from someone or something and therefore pushed as many buttons as she could.

After she exits the elevator and looks to her right, it then seems as though she doesn't have a clear indication of where whatever sound she's hearing is coming from. This also appears to be the case when she's gesturing - it looks as though she faces (or pivots) in at least 2 different directions - as one might do when speaking to several people.

Overall, I found the video to be creepy in a horror picture type fashion - particularly the part where the door keeps opening and closing revealing that the elevator finally moved.

I'm also wondering if the woman in the elevator is the same person shown in the pictures. I'm looking at several pictures online of her and although the ears seem to be the same, I'm not completely sure of the face. It may be that she, like many women, have different looks but just throwing it out there in case it means anything.

truth seeker said:

After she exits the elevator and looks to her right, it then seems as though she doesn't have a clear indication of where whatever sound she's hearing is coming from. This also appears to be the case when she's gesturing - it looks as though she faces (or pivots) in at least 2 different directions - as one might do when speaking to several people.

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Or looking for any sign of someone around?

I don't know, this story gave me the chills. I assume the CCTV camera didn't caught anyone messing up with the elevator before she went in.

This story is just puzzling. What is the motive?

Won't fancy doing lone trips in thrifty cool hotels for the foreseeable future.

truth seeker said:

I'm also wondering if the woman in the elevator is the same person shown in the pictures.

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That is a question that I was too thinking of. I'm searching around on the web, and apparently, there was a facebook page entitled "FindElisaLam" since her disappearance but it's now since been removed. There could have been some observations from the locals at the time being commented on there (I wished they hadn't removed it).

Here's an academia profile for Elisa Lam:

_http://ubc.academia.edu/ElisaLam

And, a Linkedin profile:

_ca.linkedin.com/pub/elisa-lam/59/3bb/230

Both shows only 1 connection/follower. From the former, "Elisa" was added to this site 11 months ago (I don't know about the Linkedin joinup).

Here are couple clippings:

_http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/06/elisa-lam-missing-vancouver-la-disappearance_n_2632632.html

02/06/13

Lam was travelling alone but had been in daily contact with her parents until she disappeared, said authorities at a news conference.

"It's been five days, six days now and as far as suspicious circumstances nothing than that, but there's been no communication at and that's worried us and worried the family," said LAPD Lt. Walter Teague. Lam's family stood behind Teague for the news conference but did not speak publicly.

Lam has no history of "any behaviour like this, or any problems like this," Teague added.

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_http://www.examiner.com/article/elisa-lam-canadian-tourist-missing-los-angeles

The authorities said that her disappearance is suspicious and may suggest foul play. Lam has no prior history of disappearing in the past.

"She was in contact with her parents daily up until the 31st," said LAPD Lt. Walter Teague during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

The staff at The Cecil Hotel on 640 S. Main Street were the last to see her, stated authorities.

The police are checking surveillance videos and if there has been any bank transactions. During the press conference, Teague was asked about Lam's cell phone.

"I don't want to talk about the cell phone, right now, very much, we have some of her property and she was in regular contact with her parents until 6 days ago," said Teague.

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Why did he said that he doesn't want to talk about Lam's cell phone?

Regarding to the water tanks, here's the picture (she was found in the far left tank, against the wall):



From: _http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Police-Activity-Focuses-Hotel-Where-Missing-Woman-Elisa-Lame-191886411.html

Lam had stayed at the Cecil Hotel during a visit to LA that began Jan. 26, but when it came time for her to check out, she could not be found. She was last seen Jan. 31.

The water tank was about three-quarters full when the body was found, according the Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD. He said the tank's metal latch could be easily opened but added that access to the hotel's roof is secured with an alarm and lock.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said the agency was investigating the four 4-foot-by-8-foot water tanks to determine whether the hotel's water supply had been contaminated.

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So, the tank wasn't locked, but the roof access was locked.

Here's an interesting observation from one of the tenants (32 years?!).

From:
_http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/residents-disgusted-after-womans-body-found-in-hotel-water-tank.html

Bernard Diaz, 89, a 32-year tenant of the Cecil, said he heard a "tremendous" noise the night before Lam was missing in the fourth floor above him.

He also said there was flooding on the fourth floor the day after Lam went missing.

"They said there was some obstruction to the drain between the third and fourth floor," Diaz said.

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I even thought about the elevator being a hoax, but after looking around, and found a picture of the hallway from the elevator is shown at Cecil Hotal:

_http://www.agoda.com/north_america/united_states/los_angeles_ca/cecil_hotel/reviews-page-4.html



The image could be reversed compared from the video (this is on 15th floor, where Lam could be on the 4th or above), judging the two white poles on the wall there.

And, here's the control panel in the elevator (where a visitor was commenting about the "no 13th floor"):

_http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cecil-hotel-los-angeles?select=0XWlhUYap81ZxsIiz5llZw#8WRRjdNxuSdkRLmwF7csdQ



My question is, why showing us only the elevator video? Where are the videos of the lobby or other locations that would tell us more about Lam's movements?

Here's a bit about Lam herself from someone else:

From: _http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/567832/vancouvers-elisa-lam-remembered-for-cheerful-and-charismatic-personality/

Yvonne Chung went to the same high school as Lam, who was a year older, and described her as “incredibly outgoing” and somebody who was friends with everybody.

“And really, she had the sweetest smile,” she told Metro Wednesday.

Teika Steins, manager of Planet Traveler, said Lam stayed at the Toronto hostel for about a week in early December and she never noticed any odd behaviour from the University of B.C. student.

“Her personality was very contagious,” she said. “She had a very charismatic personality and we were drawn towards it. She’d run down the stairs, bouncing up and down.”

“We have a lot of people come and go, but when you have people like Elisa who are cheerful all the time and very welcoming to people, you just remember them,” Steins said, adding Lam joined her and other hostel staff for dinner at one time.

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Also, I was thinking about a similar incident in recent times somewhere and found this...

From 2011 in Singapore:

_http://www.asiaone.com/print/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110518-279311.html

Discovery of maid's body in water tank puts spotlight on its access

Police removing the body of an Indonesian maid found in a water tank (right) on the roof of Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, on Monday.

ONLY "authorised personnel" are given the key to the roof-access door of Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, but this can mean a number of people, ranging from lift-rescue personnel to workers of conservancy sub-contractors.

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All of this reminded me of that movie about a girl being dead in a water tank on top of a run-down apartment building where that girl was haunting the place. It's called Dark Water (Japanese and American versions).

Thanks for the additional sleuthing, ZS. It does tend toward a hotel employee being involved because of the weird behavior of the elevator and the access to the water tanks, not to mention the racket heard and leaking that was obviously cleared up with no suspicion about the tanks. The similarity to another crime and a movie just makes it all that much more creepy.

Poor, poor girl. She must have been utterly terrified.