CA/Canada - Elisa Lam - 21 years old - Los Angeles/Vancouver - 31-Jan-2013 - #2

[matou]

What are the openings on top of the water tanks for? Testing water quality? Are these tanks meant for anyone entering into them at all? If one of the tanks did not have its lid closed or on, does this mean that the water could become contaminated by pollution, animals, rain, etc?

 

[CuriousB]

A couple of points.

The first point relates to whether the watertank lid would have been open or close. Suppose EL was already in the tank the first time the police went up top. I think they would have checked the top of the elevator utility room thing. Would it have been reasonable for them to actually step on top to say survey the whole roof? Because if they did and the watertank lid were open, then they probably would have checked it out. Therefore I think either

- they did not actually step atop the roof of that utility room thing. Maybe just just took a peek at the roof and saw that it was empty; or
- the lid was closed; or
- they checked the tanks and EL wasn't there

But I wonder. There wasn't much on the roof that I can tell. If they took dogs up there and did a search, the water tanks would have been one of the "interesting" places to search.

Second point relates to the floor EL was on. I was very puzzled by what somebody pointed out -- that the color of floor 14 in one of the youtube videos (green) did not match what was in the elevator video (darkish). My first theory was that the elevator camera was calibrated to be more sensitive to red so it can function better in low light. But the video on the whole didn't feel like the green was taken out -- the walls and floor did look white enough... Though it's true that I don't see any green green throughout the video.

So assuming that Cecil did not repaint the floor, and the video's colors were accurate enough that she couldn't have been on floor 14, then I have this theory:

EL WAS ON EITHER FLOOR 11 or 12. She pressed the DOWN button and the elevator was in Down mode. I know some elevators do not allow you to press a floor that's not in the direction that it's expecting to go in. I think this was the case here. When the elevator finally got moving it clearly went to floors 10 and 7. (I use "clearly" in a somewhat loose sense.)

 

[PopeReal]

I'm starting to think that maybe we are reading too much into the video. Obviously it was released for a reason, but I think it's distracting us from the main issue: how did she get into the water tank and how long was she there?

After looking at all the photos on the board (thanks for posting, those were helpful), I doubt she made it up there alone. There are easier ways to commit suicide (including simply jumping off the roof if she had gotten up there) especially with someone who has access to psych meds.

What I truly want to know is what did she do while in LA? Did she post to Facebook that she was sightseeing? It looked like she did when she was in San Diego. When I travel, I tend to check out local restaurants and chat up bartenders, baristas, etc. Did anyone see her around the neighborhood other than the bookstore employee? If she was so outgoing, someone must have remembered talking to her. The hotel has free breakfast, did any of the other guests meet her?

So many unanswered questions to this case. I'm hoping someone comes forward with some information soon.

As I have said the video might end up meaning nothing at all, so you are exactly right in saying the important thing is to figure out how she got into the water tank.

So far any examples of similar cases that I have seen discussed so far were all murder, not suicide or accidental. I believe she was placed there. It would take a lot of effort on her part to access the roof and then climb up and into the water tank and close the cover while inside. Just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[MsFacetious]

This case is just SO weird. :waitasec:

 

[skyfitsheaven]

So far any examples of similar cases that I have seen discussed so far were all murder, not suicide or accidental. I believe she was placed there. It would take a lot of effort on her part to access the roof and then climb up and into the water tank and close the cover while inside. Just doesn't make sense to me.

100% agree! It does not make sense that she would go up there and climb in, and none of the other cases that have been brought up have been accidents. It's just too weird.

Other thoughts: if there is video in the elevators and in the lobby, Elisa had to have taken them at other points through out the trip. Could they have caught her with another guest? Could an ATM camera have caught her?

 

[necco]

OK I'm going to try and summarize the possible explanations for her behavior in the elevator by category:

Organic:
-schizophrenia
-manic cycle
-seizure disorder
-hallucinations/delusions not rooted in the above causes
-sleepwalking
-head injury

Chemical:
-Ambien
-Street drugs
-Bad reaction to some other medication

Situational:
-Goofing around
-Hiding from someone
-Perplexed by elevator being strangely
-Having a supernatural/preternatural/paranormal experience

Anything I missed?

 

[Davania]

""They didn't find any bullet holes, they didn't find any stab wounds to my knowledge. So then you've got to go to the next step," Los Angeles County Coroner's spokesman Ed Winter said."

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/i...ng-woman-found-dead-in-haunted-hotel&Itemid=4

 

[luckycat7]

In regards to the Tumblr, does anybody think it's interesting that it continued to update after she was missing, however stopped updating the day before her body was found? I know you can schedule posts, but Im not sure that you can schedule reblogs? Anyone know about that?

Is it confirmed to be her tumblr?

 

[silsby]

My reply was related to cistern, not elevator :/

 

[manlet]

I found this FB page and assumed it was hers due to the photo being used in media reports.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lam-Elisa/100005340091237

<modsnip>

She has only one friend on there, and in the background of his profile picture is the face of an asian girl? Could it be her? It startled me. I realize some sick people will make profiles up to bring attention to themselves for some reason, but this is just really odd.

 

[bessie]

:seeya: I finally caught up on this case last night, and now I'm hooked. Extremely unusual circumstances, and the conundrum of the water tank make this case a sleuther's dream. However, it's also terribly tragic and sad. I can't imagine what her loved ones are going through as they try to sort this out. Maybe we can help them with some of the answers.


A couple of things to note.

1. It's fine to link to the Twitter and Tumbler pages you've been reading.

2. The threads are 800 pixels wide. If you try to post an image larger than the boundaries of the thread, it blows out the margins. So, when posting images, please limit them to no more than about 750 pixels wide. 640 pixels is optimum for viewing on all screen sizes.

:tyou:

 

[matou]

I found a type of resource for roof top water tanks. Apparently, people can enter the tanks to clean them.

http://cooperator.com/articles/202/1/Rooftop-Water-Tanks/Page1.html

 

[kunibob]

In regards to the Tumblr, does anybody think it's interesting that it continued to update after she was missing, however stopped updating the day before her body was found? I know you can schedule posts, but Im not sure that you can schedule reblogs? Anyone know about that?

Is it confirmed to be her tumblr?

I'm an avid Tumblr user. Her Tumblr looks like normal queue-emptying behaviour to me, with the exception of one post, but that could be easily explained by a manual queue date.

 

[skyfitsheaven]

I found this FB page and assumed it was hers due to the photo being used in media reports.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lam-Elisa/100005340091237

<modsnip>

She has only one friend on there, and in the background of his profile picture is the face of an asian girl? Could it be her? It startled me. I realize some sick people will make profiles up to bring attention to themselves for some reason, but this is just really odd.

That's not her Facebook page. If you look on the old thread, her real Facebook page is linked. The username is the same as her Twitter name, it seems like she uses the same usernames across social accounts. That seems to be a weird prank. That guy who is her one friend also seems to be posting from Seoul.

 

[luckycat7]

What does that mean, it had all of those re-blogs queued? Can you schedule them or something? I had a tumblr for an actual blog and didn't used to post tons of pictures and gifs, does that happen when you post so often like that?

 

[luckycat7]

Can you post the page of the first thread? I really want to take a look if the page is still up. The FB just posted is def. fake.

 

[kunibob]

I found this FB page and assumed it was hers due to the photo being used in media reports.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lam-Elisa/100005340091237

<modsnip>

She has only one friend on there, and in the background of his profile picture is the face of an asian girl? Could it be her? It startled me. I realize some sick people will make profiles up to bring attention to themselves for some reason, but this is just really odd.

So, that Elisa Lam profile was started on Thursday, and it's so weird that it links to one friend. But given that that friend is in South Korea (and appears to have been when that profile photo was taken), I don't know what to make of it all. Maybe he's an old friend who created it out of grief, as a way of "keeping touch with her" or something, or is looking for some sort of attention.

 

[Sillybilly]

Can you post the page of the first thread? I really want to take a look if the page is still up. The FB just posted is def. fake.

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198048"]Found Deceased CA/Canada - Elisa Lam - 21 years old - Los Angeles/Vancouver - 31-Jan-2013 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community[/ame]


For future reference ... when a new thread is started, the very first post on Pg 1 will usually contain a link to all previous threads, or at least to the thread that was just closed off.

hth

 

[kunibob]

What does that mean, it had all of those re-blogs queued? Can you schedule them or something? I had a tumblr for an actual blog and didn't used to post tons of pictures and gifs, does that happen when you post so often like that?

A lot of Tumblr users dump posts into their queue for future reblogging. You can set up your queue to auto-empty throughout regular intervals each day until it runs out. Many people carry hundreds of reblogs in their queue and let it sort of trickle out over time, randomly throwing things in there when they catch their fancy. There are a couple of her posts that don't fit the regular posting interval that would be indicative of the queue function, but those could be explained by her manually queuing up the posts. (Sometimes, I'll schedule something for a specific day where the post might have meaning...or sometimes, I'll throw an arbitrary future date on it because I want to refer back to it later, and then forget I had assigned that date until it publishes. )

 

[Davania]

"There was a man in a wheel chair, hanging about the lobby at check in (and slso throughout my stay) who lived there at the hotel, harrassing the staff and other guests."

www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g3...cil_Hotel-Los_Angeles_California.html#REVIEWS

a few also mention Vietnam vets staying there also "Bathrooms AND showers are communal located near elevators."

"Each floor has to share 2 showers and 2 toilets so that's about 30 rooms sharing"

" Its a horrible horrible place. I honeslty felt like I was going to be murdered or attacked."

"There wasnt even a bathroom in our room! we had to share 1 dirty toilet and 1 vile shower/bath with a hallway of 10-15 other rooms. we even bought flip flops to use in the shower because we didnt want any part of our bodies touching the grimy surfaces in that room."

"I went back to my room to pack and found that a hotel person had entered the room and went through my things. I reported to the clerk and security - still no refund!"

"The first day I arrived, there were LAPD outside the hotel and lots of media due to the fact that a madman was running around on the 5th floor (which I was staying on) and had stabbed someone. "

granted some of these are not the most recent of reviews and i was only looking at negative ones.

perhaps she was going from floor to floor looking to use a communal toilet/shower? perhaps the "stay" floors are located on seperate floors which is why she pressed particular numbers?