Updated: The True Story Behind the Mysterious Case of Elisa Lam

I was browsing my Facebook newsfeed when I came across the mysterious case of Elisa Lam, a truly spine-tingling, eerie, true-to-life story.

In late February, 2003, the body of a 21-year old Chinese was found decomposing in a water tank in the rooftop of a hotel in Los Angeles. Along with her naked body, her clothes and watch was found in the tank with her.

The Canadian student tourist from the University of British Columbia has been missing for three weeks when her body was discovered in the tank in Cecil Hotel. According to reports, guests have complained about a "funny taste" in the water as well as trickling of "water that starts out as black" before gradually turning back to its natural color. When a maintenance worker came to check on the tank, it was then that Elisa's dead body was found. What's weird about the case is how Elisa could possibly had access to a high security area that is said to be protected by alarms. It was said that Elisa had stayed at the hotel for five days before she started to disappear. It was also reported that she was on her way to Santa Cruz, California when she checked in at the hotel.

What makes the case creepy is the CCTV footage of Elisa in the last minutes of her life before she died, as shown below:

Hide and Seek, anyone?

Elisa looking nervous

In the CCTV footage, although Elisa was clearly alone in the elevator, she made it appear as if someone else was in there with her, as she nervously hides and re-appears behind the elevator's panel, looking at something that is not visible to the human eye. She proceeds to press several buttons on the elevator while the elevator's doors remain open and won't close. She then steps out to study the elevator from the outside and then suddenly starts this very eerie motion of waving around and parting the air with her hands. She continues doing this slow, creepy hand dance movement until she walked away from the elevator and out of sight from the CCTV camera. It was presumed that she went upstairs to the roof top shortly after this, where she met her tragic fate of "drowning by accident".

Because Cecil Hotel had been popular for murders that occurred in 1985 and 1991 (by serial killers Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger respectively), and has also been one of the places that was rumoured to be visited by the brutally murdered Elizabeth Short before she was killed in 1947, most are speculating that Elisa may have been lured to her death by supernatural forces or spirits that haunt the hotel that had been known for murders.

However, a genius comment made by a guest on this site is the one that -to me- seemed to make the most sense of all the theories.

According to the guest, Elisa Lam was bipolar and that this was what caused her to hallucinate a lot, which tired her out and also caused her to decide to kill herself after finding out about the water tank on the rooftop. The elevator did not close even after Elisa had entered because she kept on pressing the buttons, which caused the elevator delays in functioning. Further more, the guest theorized that because Elisa continued pushing the button outside the elevator when she goes out of sight from the camera, this further prevented the elevators from closing.

The guest continued that the weird hand gestures Elisa had been doing was actually her way of practicing the swimming motions which she was about to make in the water tank in a few minutes' time. It was theorized that she reached the water tank by going out of the window on the first floor, taking the fire escape ladder towards the roof, and then getting on the stairs towards the second roof. This is what led her to the water tank, which she may have opened partially before jumping in. As the water level in the tank may have been too low, sadly, she may not have been able to climb out of the water as much as she may have wanted too because she cannot go back and reach the top anymore.

Although this may be the most logical explanation to what really happened, questions still can't stop filling my head about what happened:

What was she thinking when she took her life, if this was the case? Was she so depressed that she did it or was she just being delusional and was not aware that she was killing herself? Had she just wanted to go for a "swim"? What was her last thoughts? Did she try to call out for help or changed her mind once she found her whole body submerged in the dark waters? The fact that she was no longer wearing her clothes and watch but her possessions were seen in the tank with her may suggest that she tried to rise up from the water and removed her garments as it weighed her down and kept her from surviving. How long did she suffer before she drowned? 

I also found her three blogs which hint at the depression she may have been battling which led her to her demise:

http://etherfields.blogspot.hk/
http://afineview.blogspot.com/
http://nouvelle-nouveau.tumblr.com/

In etherfields, one of her last posts was about "spending 2 days in bed hating herself", and another one is about berating herself for being "too lazy to exercise".

Meanwhile, her other blog was not too bright and cheerful either. It was empty except for a quote from Chuck Palaniuk she used in describing herself, which was "being haunted by the idea of wasting one's life".

Additionally, in a post in her tumblr account, Elisa talked about how she has to take pills for her depression, bipolar disorder and ADHD, and how she hates having to take the 5 pills everyday:

I wonder what will happen when I take these things long term. Will I ever not need them? 

I call it the breakfast of champions and I hate that I have to take it everyday. I’m basically taking these pills because I can’t handle life. Life is hard and since I can’t handle hard things, I need pharmaceuticals. 

Part of me is still in denial that I’m not sick and this can be solved without pills. 

There is no physical manifestation of my “illness.” If I were to stop taking it, the worst thing would be a headache.

Would I become psychotic and want to off myself? I doubt that very much. For other people, yes there’s a huge risk that will happen but I know I wouldn’t do anything rash like actually jump off a bridge. I’m too much of a coward. Instead I’ll just lie in my bed and let the days pass by. That’s my physical manifestation, sleeping for days in bed.