time Elisa Lam was seen alive was on January 31, 2013, as footage was released of her acting
extremely strange and suspicious in the elevator of Hotel Cecil. “She remained missing for
several weeks after she failed to check out of the property as scheduled in February 2013,” ("The Strange Death of Elisa Lam"). There are still many questions regarding this young lady and her mysterious death. Theories have surfaced concerning Elisa Lam: the twenty-one-year-old killed herself due to her bipolar disorder, she was strategically murdered, or was it a case of a paranormal phenomenon? Let’s take a deeper look into these theories.
It was known that Elisa Lam had been suffering from depression for a while, and that she
was on different medications to help her get through it. She was taking Wellbutrin and Lamictil and it seemed that she was coping well with it (Swancer, et al). In her blog she also wrote about
the fact that she was raped and tried to talk about it with a dark sense of humor as if it isn’t
something serious that happened in her life (1). This could’ve very much affected her and he
personality in many negative ways. It was pretty obvious that she wasn’t in a right state of mind
at the time of the accident, but could’ve gotten to the point where she decided to end her life? The last time anybody saw her alive was in a surveillance video of her in an elevator
experiencing what some people call a breakdown due to her disorder. Then the video became
even more ominous when they found her body and realized that it was one of the biggest pieces
of evidence in this whole case (1). That video helps us realize that the most probable cause of
death was a severe mental breakdown in what ended in a suicide. It’s honestly tragic that a
bipolar disorder can push someone so far as to kill themselves, and not only kill themselves, but
drown themselves in a tank used to give water to a whole building. Many guests complained about funny taste in the water and not feeling well after drinking some (1). Among further inspection, they found Elisa Lam’s body in one of the hotel’s water tanks. What’s really strange is the fact that the ruling of her death was accidental drowning (1). If it was just that, why did it take four months, and many delays, to determine her cause of death? Accidental drowning is something that most times than not, is determined rather quickly, which is why people started becoming suspicious and believing that authority was hiding something from the public.
With the time it took to get the final results out, and the way she was found, it was a huge possibility that she could’ve been murdered. Elisa wasn’t the biggest person around, in fact she was really thin and somewhat scrawny. So to think that she climbed a ten foot ladder and pushed a twenty pound lid just to get in, then still close it once she was inside seems like a pretty absurd idea (“Questions Remain 3 Years After Woman’s Body Was Found Inside LA Hotel’s Rooftop Water Tank”). The fact that she was also completely naked gives off an eerie feeling to think about. Is it impossible to think that Elisa was potentially raped and then placed in the water tank, or is that somehow to absurd to even think of? The fact that we couldn’t see the other person that Elisa seemed to have been communicating with, and that there weren’t any cameras near the staircase headed to the roof, makes it even easier to have covered this murder up (Proctor 1).
Another possibility of Elisa Lam’s death, is something popular among reddit users called
“The Elevator Game”. The Elevator Game is a very popular game in Korea and it’s supposed to
be a ritual that takes you into a different world (James, et al). In the elevator surveillance film we can clearly see Elisa pressing buttons and communicating with an entity off camera. Who or
what was it? Nobody knows, which makes this theory even more chilling. They say a woman
appears once you’ve initiated the game and whoever is participating in the game isn’t allowed to
talk or look at her as she would take them away (1). Many people online believe Lam was
participating in this game and ultimately made the fatal decision of looking at the woman when she entered the elevator. The world may never truly find out if she participated in this evil game or not, but what is evident is that there is a really strong case for this being a possible conclusion to the solve the death of Elisa Lam.
extremely strange and suspicious in the elevator of Hotel Cecil. “She remained missing for
several weeks after she failed to check out of the property as scheduled in February 2013,” ("The Strange Death of Elisa Lam"). There are still many questions regarding this young lady and her mysterious death. Theories have surfaced concerning Elisa Lam: the twenty-one-year-old killed herself due to her bipolar disorder, she was strategically murdered, or was it a case of a paranormal phenomenon? Let’s take a deeper look into these theories.
It was known that Elisa Lam had been suffering from depression for a while, and that she
was on different medications to help her get through it. She was taking Wellbutrin and Lamictil and it seemed that she was coping well with it (Swancer, et al). In her blog she also wrote about
the fact that she was raped and tried to talk about it with a dark sense of humor as if it isn’t
something serious that happened in her life (1). This could’ve very much affected her and he
personality in many negative ways. It was pretty obvious that she wasn’t in a right state of mind
at the time of the accident, but could’ve gotten to the point where she decided to end her life? The last time anybody saw her alive was in a surveillance video of her in an elevator
experiencing what some people call a breakdown due to her disorder. Then the video became
even more ominous when they found her body and realized that it was one of the biggest pieces
of evidence in this whole case (1). That video helps us realize that the most probable cause of
death was a severe mental breakdown in what ended in a suicide. It’s honestly tragic that a
bipolar disorder can push someone so far as to kill themselves, and not only kill themselves, but
drown themselves in a tank used to give water to a whole building. Many guests complained about funny taste in the water and not feeling well after drinking some (1). Among further inspection, they found Elisa Lam’s body in one of the hotel’s water tanks. What’s really strange is the fact that the ruling of her death was accidental drowning (1). If it was just that, why did it take four months, and many delays, to determine her cause of death? Accidental drowning is something that most times than not, is determined rather quickly, which is why people started becoming suspicious and believing that authority was hiding something from the public.
With the time it took to get the final results out, and the way she was found, it was a huge possibility that she could’ve been murdered. Elisa wasn’t the biggest person around, in fact she was really thin and somewhat scrawny. So to think that she climbed a ten foot ladder and pushed a twenty pound lid just to get in, then still close it once she was inside seems like a pretty absurd idea (“Questions Remain 3 Years After Woman’s Body Was Found Inside LA Hotel’s Rooftop Water Tank”). The fact that she was also completely naked gives off an eerie feeling to think about. Is it impossible to think that Elisa was potentially raped and then placed in the water tank, or is that somehow to absurd to even think of? The fact that we couldn’t see the other person that Elisa seemed to have been communicating with, and that there weren’t any cameras near the staircase headed to the roof, makes it even easier to have covered this murder up (Proctor 1).
Another possibility of Elisa Lam’s death, is something popular among reddit users called
“The Elevator Game”. The Elevator Game is a very popular game in Korea and it’s supposed to
be a ritual that takes you into a different world (James, et al). In the elevator surveillance film we can clearly see Elisa pressing buttons and communicating with an entity off camera. Who or
what was it? Nobody knows, which makes this theory even more chilling. They say a woman
appears once you’ve initiated the game and whoever is participating in the game isn’t allowed to
talk or look at her as she would take them away (1). Many people online believe Lam was
participating in this game and ultimately made the fatal decision of looking at the woman when she entered the elevator. The world may never truly find out if she participated in this evil game or not, but what is evident is that there is a really strong case for this being a possible conclusion to the solve the death of Elisa Lam.
After the discovery of Elisa Lam many conspiracy theories regarding her death arose: she committed suicide, she was strategically murdered, or it was a case of paranormal phenomenon.
The first conspiracy theory, which is the most probable one, is that she committed suicide. Elisa was known to be bipolar and was on many different anti-depressants. Her autopsy revealed that she took Wellbutrin, Effexor, Lamictal, Seroquel, and Dexedrine ("The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam"). Anti-depressants are known to cause anxiety which can explain the behavior Elisa was exhibiting in the elevator surveillance video. The only reason she was found was due to other guests complaining about the water coming out a greenish color and having a funny taste. When they opened the water tank, the found Lam's body naked. It was a very terrifying find for the police department. The most reasonable explanation is that she committed suicide.
The second conspiracy theory is that she was strategically murdered by the government or some sort of organized crime. There was a test conducted for tuberculosis called "LAM-ELISA" (Lim, Jane). The test was only capable of identifying tuberculosis about fifty percent of the time (1). When Elisa Lam was found dead, many people speculated that there was a connection between the test and her death. Many people believe that she was one of the main test subjects that the government infected with tuberculosis to see how well the test worked. They believe she was infected to infect many more people to sell more tests which were in the range of $435-$600 (1). The government feared that she would be discovered and expose the government and their inhumane tactics. The best way for them to have covered up the murder was to kill her and place her in a compromised to position to make it seem as if she killed herself.
The third conspiracy theory is that she was playing a game that takes players to another dimension. It's called the Elevator Game, and it's a very popular game in Korea (James, James St). In the surveillance video, Lam is seen communicating with an unknown entity. To this day nobody knows who she was communicating or speaking with. Lam is seen pressing buttons in a weird pattern, which adds to the suspicion that she was playing the game. It is said that a mysterious woman appears, and the participant is not supposed to touch her, and in some cases even look at her. Lam was probably trying to hide from the mysterious woman (1). She probably made the tragic mistake of speaking to the woman and ended up believing she was completely trapped in a different dimension. She was probably so distressed that the mysterious woman was able to convince her of killing herself.
The most probable solution to this mysterious death is that Lam committed suicide due to her bipolar disorder. In a survey conducted at Dickinson High School, 17 out of 20 people believe that Lam committed suicide.
It's been four years since Elisa Lam was found in that water tank at the Cecil Hotel, and to this day, no one really knows what truly happened to her. Was Lam murdered, possessed into killing herself, or committed suicide due to her bipolar disorder? She was a very smart girl who had an extremely bright future ahead of her, but her life was ended in a very tragic manner. Sadly, we won't ever be able to see what Lam was capable of doing to this world.
Works Cited
James, James St., et al. “The Elevator Game and the
BONE-CHILLING DEATH of Elisa Lam.”The WOW Report, 19 Mar. 2014,
worldofwonder.net/disappearance-elisa-lam/.
Lim, Jane. “What Is the Connection between LAM-ELISA (Test
for ) and Elisa Lam (Canadian Tourist) Who Was Found Dead in a Water Tank in
the Cecil Hotel?” The
Most Common, The Most Deadly, 25 Feb.
2016, www.themostcommonthemostdeadly.com/single-post/2015/11/19/What-is-the- connection-
between-LAMELISA-Test-for-TB-and-Elisa-Lam-Canadian-Tourist-who-
was-found-dead-in-a-Water-Tank- in-the-Cecil-Hotel.
Proctor, Jason. “B.C. Student's Death in L.A. Water Tank a
Tragedy Turned Horror Story.”CBCnews, CBC/Radio
Canada, 31 Oct. 2015, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/elisa-lam-canadian-tragedy-turned-american-horror-story-1.3295239.
“Questions Remain 3 Years After Woman's Body Was Found
Inside LA Hotel's Rooftop Water Tank.” CBS Los Angeles, 31
Oct. 2016, losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/10/31/questions-remain-3-years-after-womans-body-was-found-inside-la-hotels-rooftop-water-tank/.
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/.
“The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam.” The Post-Mortem Post,
16 Jan. 2017, www.thepostmortempost.com/2017/01/11/the-mysterious-death-of-elisa-lam/.
No comments:
Post a Comment