The Death of Elisa Lam by Jonessa Eustaquio

Ever wonder what goes on in a haunted hotel? A body mysteriously found in a water tank at the rooftop occurred at the infamous Cecil Hotel. On February 19, 2013, the body of Elisa Lam was found floating in a water tank after claims from hotel guests that the water appeared and tasted unusual (Swann). The only evidence found from the night she disappeared was elevator footage displaying her odd behavior, leading to the many people still speculating her death and the creation of several conspiracy theories: her depression led to suicide, the elevator game, or she was killed by a hotel employee. Further evaluating these theories might give us more insight into the cause of her death (1).

Character Analysis

Elisa Lam was a student at the University of British Columbia in Canada, known as a friendly gal, although had several mental hardships mostly controlled by her bipolar disorder (“What happened to Elisa Lam?”). Lam commenced her trip to San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco (Swancer). She travelled alone through public transportation and constantly called her family daily to update her whereabouts. The thrilling “west coast tour” called for updates to her social media, especially to her own blog, displaying the many pictures of her exciting journey.

            Elisa was a friendly and outgoing lady, stated by the hotel manager, Teika Steins, after interacting with Elisa for a week in December, in a 2013 CNN article (Duke). In addition, Tanya Grohmann, a employee that worked near the Lam family restaurant told CNN “They were a hard-working family. They immigrated here. They’ve been in the neighborhood nine years working…. They’re honest people” (Duke). Elisa’s tumblr blog painted a picture of her character, sharing her feelings of anxiety and depression to the world. “She gave so much information about herself through social media. She’s sweet and she’s funny and she’s creative and she’s caring, and she’s so messed up you know?” said Kim cooper (Swann). A close friend of Elisa’s, Alex Ristea, found her death shocking, explaining that “she was one of friendliest people he knew” and had least expected anything like this to  happen to her.

            Elisa aspired to diverge in the world of fashion, and seemingly looked like the typical college student. Although did her battle with bipolar disorder lead to the cause of her death, or the belief of paranormal activity come into play? Whatever the case maybe, this solo trip were her last days.

            Diagnosed with bipolar disorder most of her life, she constantly posted episodes of and about her bipolar. Her blog depicted her struggles with depression and isolation.  A post on her blog called “Graffiti Dreams” in December 2011 displays her dampened mood, explaining the reason for dropping 2 classes she was enrolled in feeling disappointing herself and feeling “so utterly directionless and lost” (L.L). Furthermore she claims she cannot fall asleep at night knowing that she feels alone, useless, and empty. In another post, she expresses her hatred for depression, having no control for her emotions, “I will be angry for two minutes and then sad again. I will be happy for half an hour and then emotional again” (1) describing her severe bipolar.

            Bipolar disorder consists of two phases which are mania and depression. Depression is the sense of feeling useless. It is characterized as a loss of interest in doing all activities and sorrow, being unable to control any emotion. Mania is being restless, hyperactive, and emotional. These phases shift one after the other, especially in Elisa’s case. Manic describes the erratic hand gestures and odd behavior she displayed where she was last seen in the elevator footage of the cecil hotel (“What happened to Elisa Lam?”). In attempt to control her disorder, she took several medications, perhaps leading to hallucinations or mental breakdowns, which she occasionally had.

            Could a possible murder be cause to her death? This is one of the top conspiracy theories believed to be true by many, although many family and friends cannot fathom another human being could harm the friendly and caring British Columbia student (“Vancouver's Elisa Lam remembered for cheerful and charismatic personality”). “She was incredibly outgoing, and really has the sweetest smile,” Yvonne Chung, former classmate of the high school Elisa attended exclaimed. She was a person that was friends with everyone (“Vancouver's Elisa Lam remembered for cheerful and charismatic personality”).  Elisa Lam’s death is still yet to be determined.

Conspiracy Descriptions

            After the haunting account of events that led to discovering Elisa Lam’s body trapped in a water tank above the Cecil Hotel, many conspiracy theories arose from her spine shivering death including, Elisa was playing the elevator game, she committed suicide, and she was killed by a hotel employee. Evaluating facts can lead to a clearer explanation.
           The first conspiracy theory states that Elisa was playing the elevator game in the hotel elevator. The elevator game claims to take you to the “other world” by following a set of rules and instructions in which many people believe that Elisa was performing the ritual in order to get to another world. The game requires you to enter an elevator with at least ten floors and press multiple floor buttons in a certain sequence just as she was in the elevator the last time she was seen through recorded CCTV footage (“Elevator Ritual: How to Play & Scary Real Life Experiences”). Many people have tried this creepy ritual claiming they experienced strange and terrifying things saying, “My friend actually tried the elevator game last year. He even took a photograph of the destination floor; it was pitch black and the only visible thing was a reddish/orangish light in front of him. It looked like a light at the end of a tunnel; no distinct shape at all. He mentioned that the air was stuffy and so it was rather difficult to breathe there” (1). In the footage seen of Elisa in the elevator, she enters in and starts to press all the elevator buttons. The door fails to close. She then peeks her head out of the elevator as if she is hiding from someone and then quickly gets back in, hiding in the corner. She then steps out, making unusual and odd hand gestures. She then walks off into the hallway, and the elevator doors finally close (Swancer). Although the elevator game could explain her highly bizarre behavior, there is no evidence that the elevator game or paranormal activity is real.
           The second conspiracy theory offers that her long-term depression led to suicide. Her depression stems from her severe bipolar disorder, as previously mentioned, her blog gives big insight into her life struggles. “You’re always haunted by the idea you’re wasting your life” (Swancer), she states as a theme in her blog. Her depression often caused her to feel alone posting “I am misunderstood! Forever alone! No one understands me” (L.L.). She took many medications to treat her bipolar disorder, including various antidepressants. It has been rumored that she may have decided to end her life due to all the pain and mania she induced from bipolar disorder. Although many of her friends and family claim that Elisa seemed to bring a happy and positive atmosphere around them, doubting Elisa would do anything as to harm herself (Swancer). Furthermore, it is impossible for Elisa to arrive at the water tank unattended, as the lid is heavy and she is incapable of accomplishing the task alone; therefore, this theory is invalid.

           The last conspiracy theory is that she may have been killed by a hotel employee. The Cecil Hotel is known for haunting incidents and believed to be cursed. The hotel had many suicides occur and was home to serial killers, Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger, who killed several men, women, and children (Dean). Since the Cecil Hotel is famous for its serial killers, it would not be a surprise if Elisa had a killer. Due to the fact Elisa was constantly uploading her whereabouts on her blog, she could have been easily tracked, and a hotel employee could easily access her room. The video that reveals Elisa pushing all the floor buttons may be the cause of “throwing off her attacker” so that the killer would not know her destination (Radford).
           There is no real evidence but the most plausible solution to the horrifying tragedy of Elisa Lam is being murdered by a hotel employee. In a recent poll at Dickinson High School, 85% of people argued that Elisa’s death was caused by a murder of a hotel employee. Elisa even confessed that she felt a sense of fear in the hotel on her blog (L.L.). Although medical examiners say Elisa’s bipolar disorder had a contributing factor in her death, they cannot say it is the direct link to her death (Swann). Her absurd and chilling death intrigued many, including show creators of American Horror Story, stating that the fifth season was “inspired by a surveillance video that showed a woman acting erratically in an elevator” (Ferreras). Many assumed that video was the footage of Elisa on the elevator, believing the season was based on her incident. Today, we hear about her story causing many interesting suspicions  and mind-boggling theories, but for now, it still remains a mystery.

Conclusion

On February 19, 2013, the body of Elisa Lam was found floating in a water tank after claims from hotel guests that the water appeared and tasted unusual (Swann). As of this day, various conspiracy theories are contemplated:

1.      She played the elevator game

2.      She committed suicide

3.      She was murdered by a hotel employee

            Although this case is closed, numerous still speculate the death of Elisa Lam. Bountiful questions are still left unanswered causing the fascination of many making her story a one to remember.

Works Cited

Dean, Josh. “The Serial Killers Who Haunted The Cecil Hotel – Josh Dean – Medium.” Medium, Medium, 27 Oct. 2015, medium.com/@jddean/the-serial-killers-who-haunted-the-cecil-hotel-5586e6f7d2d1.

Duke, Alan. “How did woman's body come to be in L.A. hotel water tank?” CNN, Cable News Network, 23 Feb. 2013, www.cnn.com/2013/02/21/us/california-hotel-water-corpse/index.html.

        “Elevator Ritual: How to Play & Scary Real Life Experiences.” ClassyWish, 8 Aug. 2017,      www.classywish.com/elevator-ritual-game/.

 L.L.  “Ether Fields.” Ether Fields, 27 July 2012, etherfields.blogspot.ca/.

         Radford, Lyra. “Plausible And Out-There Theories That Might Explain What Happened To Elisa Lam.” Ranker, www.ranker.com/list/elisa-lam-theories/lyra-radford.

         Swancer, Brent, et al. “The Truly Bizarre Unexplained Death of Elisa Lam.” Mysterious Universe, 8 Aug. 2016, mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/08/the-truly-bizarre-unexplained-death-of-elisa-lam/.

         Swann, Jennifer. “Elisa Lam Drowned in a Water Tank Three Years Ago, but the Obsession with Her Death Lives On.” Vice, 27 Oct. 2015, www.vice.com/en_us/article/3bkmg3/elisa-lam-drowned-in-a-water-tank-two-years-ago-but-the-obsession-with-her-death-lives-on-511.

         “Vancouver's Elisa Lam remembered for cheerful and charismatic personality.” Metronews.ca,   MetroNews Canada, 20 Feb. 2013, www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2013/02/20/vancouvers-elisa-lam-remembered-for-cheerful-and-charismatic-personality.html.

         “What happened to Elisa Lam?” What Happened to ELISA LAM, sites.gsu.edu/finalproject-waltzhao/bipolar-disorder/.Dean, Josh.