The Elevator Video: What's your take?

[SplishSplash]

At this point, like many of you, I have watched this video a dozen or more times. The first time being fresh, or at least as fresh as "Body found in water tank at the Cecil Hotel" can leave you feeling (especially since I live just a few blocks away from the Cecil); the subsequent times came after reading more and more about EL's case from Googling, and from finding this helpful forum and reading through her Tumblr posts, etc.

We know nothing officially about her state of mind (whether she had any drugs in her system, whether there's any footage from a different camera of someone threatening her, etc.), so I have read all of your theories with great interest. I have my own take:

Let's say, in her requests for LA meetups or maybe just in the course of being an LA tourist, EL met someone who she was interested in. Somehow, either through exploring the hotel or because of where the person lived, EL and her love interest ended up on the floor where she's seen in this video (which is believed to be the 14th floor? But may be the 15th?). EL goes to the elevator to return to her room or to the lobby. She's all butterflies and nervous from her interaction with this stranger, possibly dangerous, possibly attractive, strange exciting city. She presses more than one floor to play a game of her own, but presses the elevator's DOOR HOLD button, waiting for him.

He doesn't come. Where is he? Should I be doing this? This is crazy! No it's not. Here are the reasons why you're not crazy. (When she's counting on her fingers. Or maybe she's counting the times she just did or said something she thinks is stupid.)

As someone who has been boy-obsessed in my past, I can definitely see EL's "symptoms" of arm waving and finger-counting and maybe slightly obsessive button-pressing as something I definitely would have done, and probably have done (though not in this exact order/manifestation). I'm sure if any security videos had been reviewed after I'd had an encounter with a guy who left me wondering exactly what was going on, people would speculate about me being bipolar/drugged too.

I think she presses DOOR HOLD on purpose. She's waiting for him, and freaking out. And then she pokes her head out of the door. She wants him to follow her, but she doesn't. Finally, after agonizing about whether to go downstairs or not, whether or not he will follow her, she either goes to his room or to where she last left him, OR he calls to her or waves to her from the hallway and she goes that direction instead of heading down in the elevator.

It's also possible she left her glasses behind because (as many women believe) she thought she was more attractive without them.

(My first post, and though it's based specifically on the elevator video, please feel free to move to the "theories" thread if it doesn't quite fit here!)

I have been in the "she absolutely was in danger, controlled fear, escalating due to a perp" camp without being moved by a single post to think differently until this one. I can see the boy crazy thing. I even watched the vid again and I can.

 

[tapu]

Ecstasy: See above post.
LSD/Mushrooms/Any varience therof: She would have gotten enraptured with the floor design, the reflective elevator walls, the mirror outside...pretty much everything she could not be SO still, her head SO still. She would have gotten lost in her own little world, she looks composed and sober to me.
Roofies: She would have looked absolutely blacked out drunk and severely inebriated.
Synthetic Marijuana: Makes most people lay down, or pass out. Ive seen both.
Crack: She is being too still.
Meth: Yes paranoia would come with it but she would be fiddling with her nails and not that still.

Good post! All along, I have gotten the feeling that many who say she is suffering from [list of 3 psych disorders] and/or on [list of 3 drugs] have never suffered nor been on any of those things, and have perhaps little or no 2nd hand knowledge either.

 

[tapu]

At this point, like many of you, I have watched this video a dozen or more times. The first time being fresh, or at least as fresh as "Body found in water tank at the Cecil Hotel" can leave you feeling (especially since I live just a few blocks away from the Cecil); the subsequent times came after reading more and more about EL's case from Googling, and from finding this helpful forum and reading through her Tumblr posts, etc.

We know nothing officially about her state of mind (whether she had any drugs in her system, whether there's any footage from a different camera of someone threatening her, etc.), so I have read all of your theories with great interest. I have my own take:

Let's say, in her requests for LA meetups or maybe just in the course of being an LA tourist, EL met someone who she was interested in. Somehow, either through exploring the hotel or because of where the person lived, EL and her love interest ended up on the floor where she's seen in this video (which is believed to be the 14th floor? But may be the 15th?). EL goes to the elevator to return to her room or to the lobby. She's all butterflies and nervous from her interaction with this stranger, possibly dangerous, possibly attractive, strange exciting city. She presses more than one floor to play a game of her own, but presses the elevator's DOOR HOLD button, waiting for him.

He doesn't come. Where is he? Should I be doing this? This is crazy! No it's not. Here are the reasons why you're not crazy. (When she's counting on her fingers. Or maybe she's counting the times she just did or said something she thinks is stupid.)

As someone who has been boy-obsessed in my past, I can definitely see EL's "symptoms" of arm waving and finger-counting and maybe slightly obsessive button-pressing as something I definitely would have done, and probably have done (though not in this exact order/manifestation). I'm sure if any security videos had been reviewed after I'd had an encounter with a guy who left me wondering exactly what was going on, people would speculate about me being bipolar/drugged too.

I think she presses DOOR HOLD on purpose. She's waiting for him, and freaking out. And then she pokes her head out of the door. She wants him to follow her, but she doesn't. Finally, after agonizing about whether to go downstairs or not, whether or not he will follow her, she either goes to his room or to where she last left him, OR he calls to her or waves to her from the hallway and she goes that direction instead of heading down in the elevator.

It's also possible she left her glasses behind because (as many women believe) she thought she was more attractive without them.

(My first post, and though it's based specifically on the elevator video, please feel free to move to the "theories" thread if it doesn't quite fit here!)

I see what you see. This is essentially the first reading I had of the video, too, and still do. This is a date or meet-up gone bad. It's just the first part where Elisa is still titillated but maybe feeling early uneasiness about the situation. Knowing what we do about the end, this may be the beginning.

 

[Xavier]

At first I thought she was high on something but the more I play the video, the more I think she is talking to someone and afraid. The little "dance" she does in and out of the elevator is not her acting crazy. She is trying to trip (or not) the elevator door. I have played it over and over and over to see her hand gestures and try to figure out what she is saying. She motions toward someone to her right as if to say, "Come on by, come on by." She presses her open hand against her breast as if to say, "Who me? or "Not me." After we see her hand over her head I swear there is something in her hand. It almost looks like she is peeling it. Maybe it is her key card since she must have had it with her. At this point she is reacting to her left and her right as if there are two people in the hallway with her. Would like to hear others thoughts.

Redbird, I really believe she was engaging with someone and her animated and "loopy" behavior could be she was on her meds or something else

I do think someone was creating anxiety in her..But with the animated bahavior and a hard time seeing straight - no eyewear - and an out of town traveller all alone, I'm afraid some perp took advantage of her, killed her, it was too easy an opportunity to pass up IMO

 

[Xavier]

I have been in the "she absolutely was in danger, controlled fear, escalating due to a perp" camp without being moved by a single post to think differently until this one. I can see the boy crazy thing. I even watched the vid again and I can.

Good post...Elisa spoke to her mom daily while travelling, so I have to think she had "girl talk " with her mom as two adults would do and possibly mentioned meeting some guys she was attracted to

Keep in mind, from my readings, the Lam family seems to be keeping the customary Asian tradition of being low key, not saying much about EL's death

But I'm sure LAPD has inquired, it's just that no intel is known to the public about what Mrs Lam knows about who Elisa may have met in LA

 

[Xavier]

IMO, I always thought there was someone on the left of the elevator.

Her odd gestures while standing on the left of the elevator was due to her being frisked or groped by a person.

I didn't notice her shorts moved down a bit while her arms were up until you pointed it out.

It does look to me her pants did come down couple inches.

IMO, after she stepped back in the elevator from dashing out to check the hallway, the person at the left may have appeared. Since she could see the person from the mirror from where she stood, she moved to the corner in order to stay out of the view of the person.

At first the person may have questioned her for being there during that time of the night. Later, she was ordered to step out of the elevator and move closer to him, all along the person deliberately stayed out of the lens of the CCTV. (Her playful attitude in hopping out and so was probably at the moment she still didn’t feel any serious threat.)

IMO, she was being asked to put her hands on her head, she probably explained to the person why she was there and the person frisked her and let her leave.

However the person may have changed his mind and kept the elevator door opened by pressing the button.

The elevator door wouldn’t close, she was being asked to step out from the elevator again.

At this point the person frisked her again and groped her, he may have asked her if she took anything or where is her cell phone, that is why she did the open handed gesture. (She turned her body to avoid the person but was talking and explaining to him at the same time.)

After that the person started to grope her more. That is why she had those “counting fingers” and knee bending gestures.

She was later being lead or pulled away.

Of course this is only my speculation.

It's also amazing how the Chinese news media seem to have regular in depth shows solely about Elisa's death

Here's one video and the TV hosts even have a replica of the water tank...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-umuvUtnls8&NR=1&feature=endscreen"]【關鍵時刻2300】每個房間都死過人的飯店 不是自殺不是他殺的藍可兒1020222 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[findinganatta]

Ecstasy: See above post.
LSD/Mushrooms/Any varience therof: She would have gotten enraptured with the floor design, the reflective elevator walls, the mirror outside...pretty much everything she could not be SO still, her head SO still. She would have gotten lost in her own little world, she looks composed and sober to me.
Roofies: She would have looked absolutely blacked out drunk and severely inebriated.
Synthetic Marijuana: Makes most people lay down, or pass out. Ive seen both.
Crack: She is being too still.
Meth: Yes paranoia would come with it but she would be fiddling with her nails and not that still.

No offense, but I think you're being unrealistically rigid in your description of how people behave on different drugs. There are no definite rules about it. Yes, there are sets of behaviors that are common to particular drugs, but some people exhibit varying degrees of those behavior. I've taken most of the drugs you listed, and your descriptions don't necessarily reflect how I acted.

For instance, with ecstasy, LSD, and mushrooms, you can be somewhat aware in one moment, then completely lost in hallucinations the next, and then fade back into being aware of your surroundings for a little while. These drugs aren't predictable enough to know how all people will behave on them. Plus, a person's own personality has some influence on their drug behavior.

Personally, I think EL definitely looks like she could be tripping on ecstasy. Remember, she might have been attempting to control some of her behaviors because she was in the middle of a hotel (albeit somewhat in vain). Also, we might be seeing the beginning of her trip, before it fully kicked in. She could have become much more messed up afterwards.

All I know is that from the moment I first saw the video, before I heard anyone else's opinions (other than it was "creepy"), I immediately suspected drugs, and specifically hallucinogens/psychedelic drugs.

 

[findinganatta]

Good post! All along, I have gotten the feeling that many who say she is suffering from [list of 3 psych disorders] and/or on [list of 3 drugs] have never suffered nor been on any of those things, and have perhaps little or no 2nd hand knowledge either.

I can't speak for anyone else, but my whole reason for theorizing about these things is precisely because I am familiar with them and recognize certain aspects in EL during the video.

 

[walklikeacat]

I wonder if it is mentioned. If you look at the video between 2:12 and 2:20 then you can see a dark (black) surface at her right waist, at that contour line. It is most visible at 2:15 and goes away as a movement to the left at 2:20. Anybody seen this and discussed it? If it does not belong to her, could someone with black gloves be holding her with one arm?

 

[sugarpooper]

Aagghhhhh I've been trying to keep my big mouth shut on this for a while but I can't on this one. The quality of ecstasy must have degraded vastly since 8-10 years ago if you think she is on it. I had my fill of the stuff too but come on!

There is no way she would not be feeling her sweater, dancing around constantly, twirling in those pants/skirt things I know that material its amazing NOT on ecstasy, feeling her clothes, she would not have just pressed the buttons furiously and moved on, she would be staring at them in wonder, she would have gotten preoccupied with all over her surroundings, the floor, the carpet, the walls, textures, she does the ONE move I could see related to ecstasy with her hand movements when she is facing right, yes it feels very nice on that chemical to move your body through the air, but she would not have been so incredibly still and composed the rest of the time...not to sound rude I just can NOT see it

Well didn't the Chinese media determine there was a mirror directly in front of where she was standing? Perhaps she was staring at the mirror with wonder. The way she went back into the Elevator with her hands on her hair right after possibly staring at herself in the mirror for a long while suggested to me someone who might be drug induced. I don't think its a certainty she was on anything, But given how shady Downtown Los Angeles & Cecil Hotel is, I think its important we keep an open mind of the Elevator footage. I should also note that I didn't specifically mean just MDMA, Guess the toxicology report will tell.

 

[Conductor71]

a
Good post...Elisa spoke to her mom daily while travelling, so I have to think she had "girl talk " with her mom as two adults would do and possibly mentioned meeting some guys she was attracted to

Keep in mind, from my readings, the Lam family seems to be keeping the customary Asian tradition of being low key, not saying much about EL's death

But I'm sure LAPD has inquired, it's just that no intel is known to the public about what Mrs Lam knows about who Elisa may have met in LA

From what I have read, Elisa and her family had been in Canada less than ten years having emigrated from China. Her parents speak little English; this might factor in to why so little info is released as well.

I read in EL's Tumblr that her parents did not know of her social media presence and it seemed like she thought they would not approve. I get the feeling she would definitely talk guys with her sister, but I don't even think that her parents knew why she was in LA.

 

[BlueShoe]

If you look at the video between 2:12 and 2:20 then you can see a dark (black) surface at her right waist, at that contour line. It is most visible at 2:15 and goes away as a movement to the left at 2:20. Anybody seen this and discussed it? If it does not belong to her, could someone with black gloves be holding her with one arm?

I definitely see the same thing. However, it is too indefinite to tell what it is. I do think there is someone or something visible there.

 

[walklikeacat]

I definitely see the same thing. However, it is too indefinite to tell what it is. I do think there is someone or something visible there.

It could be as simple as her sweater which crinkle. It is very blurry and the pixelation gives dark pixels through the contour lines. When something is pushed together - when she bends - then the contour line gets almost black.

 

[SmoothOperator]

So, what about the possibility of it being something like her being under the impression that she was experiencing something paranormal that was occurring.. IMO I actually see that as possibly what was taking place in this elevator video..again just a possibility, but without doubt anyone at all familiar with the Cecil Hotel is absolutely familiar with its highly active paranormal activity that is supposedly attached to it.. I'm not proposing that this is necessarily actual paranormal activity(while not stating as fact that its NOT either), but my point is that what if this is what Elisa was believing was happening in those moments during the video.. IMO there's absolutely no doubt at all that the workers of the hotel whether they honestly believe in it themselves, no doubt this is often a topic in telling of all of the activity whether true or not..

IMO I can definitely see her being convinced(again whether in reality it was actually occurring or not is not the point), its that in that state of mind she was convinced there was something paranormal happening.. just throwing out a possibility that's not necessarily a theory of there actually being paranorml activity at play, but that Elisa in that moment in time was possibly convinced that paranormal activity was occurring..this state of mind could be a combination of factors that led to her believing that in her being told about the high level of activity..possibly repeatedly ..possibly even told by some for the purpose of scaring her.. combine that with being in a state of mind that is somewhat altered due to meds, lack of meds, or alcohol.. and IMO I can definitely see a young woman easily coming to believe that she was in fact experiencing something paranormal...

Question regarding the actual footage..what are the opinions on the movements at the 1:57 minute mark where she is standing in elevator doorway literally maneuvering her hands in such a way as if she is feeling around for something if that makes sense...definitely something that is seen when people are either experiencing paranormal activity, believe they are experiemcing paranormal activity, or acting like they are experiencing paranormal activity...kwim?

Anyhow just some of my random thoughts and I definitely am quite unsure what to believe is the truth of what happened..

The main reason for my not believing she ended up in that tank completely of her own doing is that I don't believe she could have been able to maneuver and open the top lid to the tank, not to mention dive or crawl in from there... IMO it would be believable to me as *possible* in a severely altered state of mind if there was no latched lid that had to be opened.. and the square was just a open..atleast in that way I could believe it *possible* for her to have fallen into the tank..but the fact the lids are latched shut IMO truly discredits the possibility of her having done this all alone, completely unassisted...jmo, tho.

 

[sugarpooper]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YO4QbaNDjI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YO4QbaNDjI[/ame]

 

[Qrious]

But she wasn't

With respect, what makes you so certain she wasn't staying on the 14th floor? Correct me if I'm wrong, I read only one report that says she "reportedly" stayed on the 4th floor.

 

[Qrious]

Many of the strange things that some of us (including me) are seeing in the video could just be effects of the low-quality pixelation. One thing that cannot be a video effect is the way her shorts go down which is easily observed if you just watch the bottom of them and the way they move in respect to the edge of the elevator door between 1:20-1:25 of the video. I've seen no explanations regarding how this happens, since her hands are on her head, either by command or because she is primping in the mirror. I'd be open to any explanation of this. Otherwise, there must be someone out there who does this (probably checking out her pocket). Maybe taking her key.

To me, it was just the sway of her skirt caused by a slight twitch or turn of possibly her right leg (which is hidden from our view). That moment was when she was just about to re-enter the elevator.

 

[BlueShoe]

To me, it was just the sway of her skirt caused by a slight twitch or turn of possibly her right leg (which is hidden from our view). That moment was when she was just about to re-enter the elevator.

Possible, but it still looks to me like her skirt actually comes down, not just moves in a swaying motion. The rest of her body stays to still, it really looks like the skirt moving on its own, not a result of other body movement. Just what I'm seeing.

 

[Qrious]

I have been in the "she absolutely was in danger, controlled fear, escalating due to a perp" camp without being moved by a single post to think differently until this one. I can see the boy crazy thing. I even watched the vid again and I can.

The theory you referred to doesn't go with the fact that she came from the video left direction but poked her head out to see in the opposite direction, and later faced that opposite direction when she talked.

 

[BlueShoe]

Thanks for the real-time video, Sugarpooper. It does make the hand motions look more normal and less like invisible "petting." Also their duration is not as long. Also she looks less drugged or drunk.