Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

The Death of Elisa Lam

  • 05-10-2018 11:24am
    #1
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 12,236 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    This case is well known in internet circles and it's a strange one as officially there was no crime committed at all.

    Elisa Lam was found drowned in the Water Tank on the roof of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. What really drove the interest in this case is the CCTV footage from inside the hotel that was released showing Lam acting very strange. The footage is from the inside a lift. It shows Lam looking out of the lift as if she is being pursued by someone, it also shows her pressing buttons the lift but it's not responding. When Lam exits the lift it mysteriously starts to work.

    The case has been officially listed as a suicide but there are some issues with this as in how did Lam get into the Water Tank on her own accord considering it would be a difficult climb to get on top of the tank and the lid itself was extremely heavy.

    Her body was only discovered when guests of the hotel complained about the funny taste of their drinking water :eek:

    Here is a link to the CCTV footage. As with any footage like this, viewer discretion is advised.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeIrl3YVg2c

    What are peoples thoughts on this case? Suicide or something else?


Comments

  • Moderators, Music Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,717 Mod ✭✭✭✭Boom_Bap


    It's an odd one alright, lots of talks of paranormal, the occult and conspiracies around it.


    My own personal theory, mushrooms or some other hallucinogenics and she went on a bad trip. Was there any toxicology reports following her autopsy?


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 12,236 Mod ✭✭✭✭Kingp35


    Boom_Bap wrote: »
    It's an odd one alright, lots of talks of paranormal, the occult and conspiracies around it.

    I think we can safely rule those out!
    My own personal theory, mushrooms or some other hallucinogenics and she went on a bad trip. Was there any toxicology reports following her autopsy?

    From Wikipedia "Toxicology tests – incomplete because not enough of her blood was preserved – showed traces consistent with prescription medication found among her belongings, plus nonprescription drugs such as Sinutab and ibuprofen.[36] A very small quantity of alcohol (about 0.02 g%) was present, but no other recreational drugs."

    Seems as if she had no recreational drugs in her system. The coroners report listed Bipolar Disorder as a major contributing factor.

    She was found naked in the water tank, with her clothes floating beside her. I agree that it was probably a mental breakdown of some sort. How she physically got into the tank is an unanswered question though.


  • Moderators, Music Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,717 Mod ✭✭✭✭Boom_Bap


    In relation to pressing all the floor buttons on the lift, there is one of those rumours that if you do that it calls the emergency services.


    Could she have been doing that?


  • Registered Users Posts: 21,039 ✭✭✭✭retro:electro


    Really creepy


  • Registered Users Posts: 180 ✭✭Deiselurker


    I watched a programme on tv about this case and couldn't believe it was recorded by police as suicide or accident and not murder. Who gets on the roof of hotel which was hard to access and takes their clothes off and drowns themselves in a water tank? I looked up case online and Elisa Lam had psychiatric problems which wasn't mentioned on the programme so maybe it was suicide after she had some kind of breakdown? Very odd case either way.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 21,039 ✭✭✭✭retro:electro


    It’s also thought that she may have been suffering from TB as there was an outbreak in the city at the time of her death. And the test kit used for detecting TB is called LAM-ELISA.
    What kind of sorcery is this


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,375 ✭✭✭Sin City


    The theory goes she was suffering from schizophrenia and was , as shown on the CCTV, looking out of the elevator in the hotel in a way that it made it seem like she was hiding or trying to escape from someone , however no one else was in proximity

    Possible a psychotic break lead her to paranoia and she tried to escape to the roof and hide in the water tank where she drowned


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,035 ✭✭✭✭J Mysterio


    It’s also thought that she may have been suffering from TB as there was an outbreak in the city at the time of her death. And the test kit used for detecting TB is called LAM-ELISA.
    What kind of sorcery is this

    Do you have a source for that?


  • Registered Users Posts: 21,039 ✭✭✭✭retro:electro


    J Mysterio wrote: »
    Do you have a source for that?

    Yeah just google it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,574 ✭✭✭✭Mantis Toboggan


    What's the best podcast/doc on this?

    Free Palestine 🇵🇸



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 21,039 ✭✭✭✭retro:electro


    Sin City wrote: »
    The theory goes she was suffering from schizophrenia and was , as shown on the CCTV, looking out of the elevator in the hotel in a way that it made it seem like she was hiding or trying to escape from someone , however no one else was in proximity

    Possible a psychotic break lead her to paranoia and she tried to escape to the roof and hide in the water tank where she drowned

    Yeah I’m thinking the same, although it doesn’t explain why the elevator malfunctioned. Unless one of the buttons she pressed was the hold door button.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,375 ✭✭✭Sin City


    Yeah I’m thinking the same, although it doesn’t explain why the elevator malfunctioned. Unless one of the buttons she pressed was the hold door button.

    The hotel didnt look most maintained in the first place
    electronics can malfunction if not looked after


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,853 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    Bless her, but she looked high as a kite and off her head in that CCTV.

    Water tanks usually have some sort of ladder for access to it I thought.

    And this clip seems to show one. So she must have climbed the ladder and gone in.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCKOeRy2t0s


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,958 ✭✭✭✭Shefwedfan


    Bless her, but she looked high as a kite and off her head in that CCTV.

    Water tanks usually have some sort of ladder for access to it I thought.

    And this clip seems to show one. So she must have climbed the ladder and gone in.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCKOeRy2t0s

    How is it conspiracy? My 1 year old could get into that tank


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,853 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    Shefwedfan wrote: »
    How is it conspiracy? My 1 year old could get into that tank

    Agree, I don't think there was any conspiracy, but some have questioned her ability to access the roof and the water tank. Easy enough to do.

    As a PP said, meds, breakdown, bad trip whatever.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,958 ✭✭✭✭Shefwedfan


    Agree, I don't think there was any conspiracy, but some have questioned her ability to access the roof and the water tank. Easy enough to do.

    As a PP said, meds, breakdown, bad trip whatever.

    Full of drugs....course she would get access


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,574 ✭✭✭✭Mantis Toboggan


    Saw a documentary on this. Weird case. Think too much is made of the elavator clip, to me it just looks like she's trying to close the door and get it to work. Strange that the cctv footage was slowed down and altered. Surely other cctv footage is available? I find it hard to believe it was a suicide.

    Free Palestine 🇵🇸



  • Registered Users Posts: 434 ✭✭Lady Spangles


    Saw a documentary on this. Weird case. Think too much is made of the elavator clip, to me it just looks like she's trying to close the door and get it to work. Strange that the cctv footage was slowed down and altered. Surely other cctv footage is available? I find it hard to believe it was a suicide.


    I've been saying this for ages. In the elevator, she's clearly attempting to trigger a motion sensor to get the doors to close. It's why she's pressing all the random buttons and walking in and out of the doors. Most elevators do have those motion detectors/timed doors, but clearly that one was going a bit squiffy or whatever.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 542 ✭✭✭Bill Ponderosa


    Documentary on this coming to Netflix February 10th

    https://twitter.com/NetflixUK/status/1354111926306021378?s=19


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,740 ✭✭✭Foweva Awone


    Saw a documentary on this. Weird case. Think too much is made of the elavator clip, to me it just looks like she's trying to close the door and get it to work. Strange that the cctv footage was slowed down and altered. Surely other cctv footage is available? I find it hard to believe it was a suicide.

    I don't think it was a suicide, but it's very obvious she was having some sort of psychotic break. According to her family, she had a history of hallucinations etc when she went off her meds, which it seems she did while staying in the hotel. She was trying to escape from god knows what she was seeing or hearing, and tried to hide in the tank in desperation. Then obviously wasn't able to climb out.

    It's a very sad case... The new documentary on Netflix explores every possibly and conspiracy theory, but everything points to an accident linked to her mental illness.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 9,065 ✭✭✭Tipsy McSwagger


    Haven’t watch the documentary due to Netflix making it into 4 parts when 90 mins would do. I have read some reviews though and my god I am sick to death of documentaries featuring Facebook & YouTube web sleuths. I definitely will not be watching it now.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 542 ✭✭✭Bill Ponderosa


    Yeah having watched it it's clear she had serious mental issues which likely caused her death. Erratic behaviour beforehand certainly seems to indicate this.

    Would agree the sleuths on the doc are a pain, maybe include 1 but way to many, doc could have been done in 2 episodes.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 12,236 Mod ✭✭✭✭Kingp35


    Netflix like to drag out their documentaries. It seems as it 4-episodes is their new blueprint for cases like this.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,417 ✭✭✭Diemos


    Kingp35 wrote: »
    Netflix like to drag out their documentaries. It seems as it 4-episodes is their new blueprint for cases like this.

    The one case that needed multiple episodes (LISK) they made as a standalone movie. :mad:


Advertisement