Elisa Lam. What are your theories?

[DeJulez]

it seems kind of odd that someone would climb into a water tank and close any of the openings behind themselves.
Perhaps she climbed in, died. The next day a maintenance worker sees the lid open and closes it. Probably wouldn't register in his memory.

I put myself in the killers shoes. I snuff this girl. Where do I hide the body? The water tank doesn't cross my mind. it's work to get her in there. All I need it time to get away. Stuff her behind some ductwork. Call it night.

The issue would be that she wouldn't be able to get in and close it, unless it was the big lid, which she probably wouldn't be able to lift without someone else's help.
All maintenance workers maintain that the lid was always shut.
But for someone to kill her, it would seem a tedious task to get her in that water tank. Buts is also bizarre for her to go through all that work to get in the water tank, psychotic episode or not.
Look how erratic she was pushing the elevator buttons and the way she moved. It would seem more likely of her falling of the roof then having the concentration and determination and stability to get in that water tank.
Some body language experts say that it looks like shes on a party drug like ecstasy or possibly got the Pill Cosby treatment.
19 days would be enough for that stuff to leave your system and not show up during the autopsy.
Do they not have any other video of her throughout the hotel?

 

[MusclesMarinara]

If you were a maintenance worker and you left the lid open would you tell anyone? I wouldn't (whether I killed her or not). And if she was killed, why aren't there signs of foul play? I'd imagine it is quite difficult to kill someone without leaving a mark on their body (aside from poisoning).

 

[SingerAuto]

In situations like this, I just feel sorry for the victims and their families. I don't know what really happened, and in truth no one does. I read the big long blog post outlining the facts (from the writer's perspective. This is what so few people on the internet take into account. EVERY blog post, every news article, whether intentional or not, has some slant from the author. A news site like CNN tries to be completely impartial, while a site about hunting ghosts is more apt to see a paranormal twinge to an otherwise normal or abnormal situation.), and while I believe what the author believes, that this poor girl was mentally shaken up and went to the roof for some reason or another. Did she go up there out of curiosity, and fall into the tank? Was she truly manic and climb in trying to hide?

I don't have answers, and honestly no one needs answers. Its almost guaranteed not to be a serial killer (none of it fits in any motive for any serial killer. There is no ritual, there is too much work in disposing the body, the lack of ANY trauma on her body, etc... People point out something about possible excretions from the backside, but that could happen post-mortem and with no other signs of physical abuse is unlikely a precursor to something sinister.), so what should be done is try and educate people about mental illness, and hope that another poor girl in the same situation gets help instead of ending up in such distress.

 

[Kick Strickland]

Buts is also bizarre for her to go through all that work to get in the water tank, psychotic episode or not.

^ this. That's one thing that bugs me. I've known manic depressive people and crawling up into a water tank just doesn't track for me.

Look how erratic she was pushing the elevator buttons and the way she moved. It would seem more likely of her falling of the roof then having the concentration and determination and stability to get in that water tank.
Some body language experts say that it looks like shes on a party drug like ecstasy or possibly got the Pill Cosby treatment.

I read that she needed glasses to see, and she didn't have them on in the elevator video. So it makes sense she would have to lean in close to see which button she was pushing. The article I read also said that most of the buttons she was pushing were near the bottom, around the area of the door-close button. It looked to me like she was trying to get the elevator door to close.

But what's weird about that, is if you watch the end of the video after she got off the elevator, it keeps going to different floors. And the door seems to, at that point, close really quickly on every floor. Just not where she was. Strange.

19 days would be enough for that stuff to leave your system and not show up during the autopsy.

I'd imagine it would leave your system if your system was still working. Once you're dead, I think certain processes keep happening for a little while, but mostly your system just stops running and I imagine what's in your system, probably stays there. But I have no idea how being submerged in water for 2 weeks would effect that.

 

[DeJulez]

If you were a maintenance worker and you left the lid open would you tell anyone? I wouldn't (whether I killed her or not). And if she was killed, why aren't there signs of foul play? I'd imagine it is quite difficult to kill someone without leaving a mark on their body (aside from poisoning).

Yea i wouldn't tell anyone either and it seems unlikely for foul play but if she was drugged up, a simple follow me or holding of the hand could do the trick.
They have sometype of court hearing about this set for February 2016.
I also wondered why the rape kit results were never released.
Also the sand like particles on her clothes but not her shoes is weird as well.
If i remember correctly, they said that there was a sand like particle on the roof as well? I could be wrong, but wouldn't that indicate someone setting her down on the roof, lifting the lid, and throwing her in? Even thats very hard to do.
She did have bruising on her knees. Whatever that means.
Also, no scratches in the water tank, or no signs of escape ?

 

[Kick Strickland]

Yea i wouldn't tell anyone either and it seems unlikely for foul play but if she was drugged up, a simple follow me or holding of the hand could do the trick.
They have sometype of court hearing about this set for February 2016.
I also wondered why the rape kit results were never released.
Also the sand like particles on her clothes but not her shoes is weird as well.
If i remember correctly, they said that there was a sand like particle on the roof as well? I could be wrong, but wouldn't that indicate someone setting her down on the roof, lifting the lid, and throwing her in? Even thats very hard to do.
She did have bruising on her knees. Whatever that means.
Also, know scratches in the water tank, or no signs of escape ?

I wonder how they would even find sand particles on clothes that'd been submerged in water for weeks? That's weird.

And about scratches in the tank, who knows how high the water level was? Maybe if she was alive in there, she couldn't even reach the top.

I still say that if she was alive in the tank, she might've stripped off her clothes to plug the water up, hoping that if the water stopped, maintenance would come check on the tank and find her. That's probably what I would've done.

 

[DeJulez]

If you were a maintenance worker and you left the lid open would you tell anyone? I wouldn't (whether I killed her or not). And if she was killed, why aren't there signs of foul play? I'd imagine it is quite difficult to kill someone without leaving a mark on their body (aside from poisoning).

I wonder how they would even find sand particles on clothes that'd been submerged in water for weeks? That's weird.

And about scratches in the tank, who knows how high the water level was? Maybe if she was alive in there, she couldn't even reach the top.

I still say that if she was alive in the tank, she might've stripped off her clothes to plug the water up, hoping that if the water stopped, maintenance would come check on the tank and find her. That's probably what I would've done.

That's the thing.
Ppl said that she was probably treading water and was declothing to try to stay afloat as time progressed and it got harder and harder to do. I guess after a long time a simple shirt could get heavy while floating in a water tank.
But no bruising on her knuckles?
I would be banging the shit out of that tank for someone to hear.

 

[MusterX]

One of the things that bugs me the most about the Elisa Lam case is how the elevator just sits there, doors open, for the longest time and doesn't work until she leaves and then the doors close. WTF is up with that? How is that explainable?

 

[bosox32]

I like the illuminati theories.

 

[MusterX]

I like the illuminati theories.

How does that elevator not work for that length of time then when she walks away it resumes function? Elevator doors open and close every 10 seconds.

 

[MusclesMarinara]

regarding the sand particles; fabric is an open porous weave. Plenty of space to catch and trap particles. The rubber sole of your shoe is closed cell. Short exposure to water will free anything loosely clinging to the surface.

regarding banging on the tank; If you knew you were alone on the roof would even try to bang on the tank walls? I wouldn't waste my energy. I would try to stay afloat until the day and listen for workers before I started banging. Perhaps hypothermia took her before morning came.

As the other poster said; we can speculate all we'd like on how she got in there, but we'll never truly know. However it looks pretty clear that we can rule out foul play. I will read the story again.
Does anyone have a link that demonstrates any evidence of foul play?

 

[MusterX]

regarding the sand particles; fabric is an open porous weave. Plenty of space to catch and trap particles. The rubber sole of your shoe is closed cell. Short exposure to water will free anything loosely clinging to the surface.

regarding banging on the tank; If you knew you were alone on the roof would even try to bang on the tank walls? I wouldn't waste my energy. I would try to stay afloat until the day and listen for workers before I started banging. Perhaps hypothermia took her before morning came.

As the other poster said; we can speculate all we'd like on how she got in there, but we'll never truly know. However it looks pretty clear that we can rule out foul play. I will read the story again.
Does anyone have a link that demonstrates any evidence of foul play?

Explain that elevator in the post before yours.

 

[Kick Strickland]

That's the thing.
Ppl said that she was probably treading water and was declothing to try to stay afloat as time progressed and it got harder and harder to do. I guess after a long time a simple shirt could get heavy while floating in a water tank.
.

That's a good point. A very good point.

One of the things that bugs me the most about the Elisa Lam case is how the elevator just sits there, doors open, for the longest time and doesn't work until she leaves and then the doors close. WTF is up with that? How is that explainable?

Yeah that was pretty strange. Does anybody know if that elevator had an intercom? Could someone from the security area have been watching the camera and controlling the elevator? That would explain her odd gestures like she was speaking to someone, if someone was on intercom talking to or fucking around with her.

But I'm just spitballing. I doubt there is an intercom in that thing. Just trying to imagine every possibility that might've been overlooked.

 

[MusclesMarinara]

Explain that elevator in the post before yours.

Elevator have hold buttons and emergency buttons. Typically an emergency type button will have a loud bell associated with it. It's a pretty good deterrent to stop people from messing with them. There's no audio with the video so we don't know if there's a bell sounding or not. I'd imagine at a no-tell motel you keep your door closed and mind your own business. After a while I'm sure the elevator reset and resumed normal function.

 

[DeJulez]

regarding the sand particles; fabric is an open porous weave. Plenty of space to catch and trap particles. The rubber sole of your shoe is closed cell. Short exposure to water will free anything loosely clinging to the surface.

regarding banging on the tank; If you knew you were alone on the roof would even try to bang on the tank walls? I wouldn't waste my energy. I would try to stay afloat until the day and listen for workers before I started banging. Perhaps hypothermia took her before morning came.

As the other poster said; we can speculate all we'd like on how she got in there, but we'll never truly know. However it looks pretty clear that we can rule out foul play. I will read the story again.
Does anyone have a link that demonstrates any evidence of foul play?

We don't know what her shoe was made of. Couldve had velcro on her sandals. She couldve been at the beach. The sand isn't really an issue.
But theres alot of things that dont add up.
Why is the video slowed down, edited, and extended at some parts? Why did they pixel out her mouth when shes in the corner talking out loud?
They did alot of odd things on top of the already other odd things in this case.
When u watch the video in actual real time her behavior doesn't seem too odd.

 

[MusterX]

Elevator have hold buttons and emergency buttons. Typically an emergency type button will have a loud bell associated with it. It's a pretty good deterrent to stop people from messing with them. There's no audio with the video so we don't know if there's a bell sounding or not. I'd imagine at a no-tell motel you keep your door closed and mind your own business. After a while I'm sure the elevator reset and resumed normal function.

It was in the Cecil Hotel.

This about the hotel is interesting as well.

Built as a business hotel in the 1920s, the Cecil fell on hard times during the Great Depression of the 1930s and never recaptured its original market as downtown decayed around it in the late 20th century. Several of Los Angeles's more notable murders have happened at or have connections to the hotel: Elizabeth Short, victim of the Black Dahlia murder, the city's best-known unsolved killing, supposedly made the Cecil her last stop before her death, and in 1964 Goldie Osgood, the "Pigeon Lady of Pershing Square", was raped and murdered in her room at the Cecil, another crime that has never been solved.[15] Serial killers Jack Unterweger and Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker", both resided at the Cecil while active.[16] There have also been suicides, one of which also killed a pedestrian passing in the front of the hotel.[17] After recent renovations it has tried to market itself as a boutique hotel, but the reputation lingers.[18] "The Cecil will reveal to you whatever it is you're a fugitive from," says Steve Erickson.[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Elisa_Lam

 

[DeJulez]

regarding the sand particles; fabric is an open porous weave. Plenty of space to catch and trap particles. The rubber sole of your shoe is closed cell. Short exposure to water will free anything loosely clinging to the surface.

regarding banging on the tank; If you knew you were alone on the roof would even try to bang on the tank walls? I wouldn't waste my energy. I would try to stay afloat until the day and listen for workers before I started banging. Perhaps hypothermia took her before morning came.

As the other poster said; we can speculate all we'd like on how she got in there, but we'll never truly know. However it looks pretty clear that we can rule out foul play. I will read the story again.
Does anyone have a link that demonstrates any evidence of foul play?

Well in regards to the water tank, its hard to give her the credibility that she would know where she was at after suffering a manic episode.
I mean im suppose to believe that she was so crazy she went out of her way to climb a water tank to hide from imaginary predators but at the same time was sound body and mind of her exact location? I dont think so.
If you're talking and gesturing to entities that aren't there, i think there is no way she knew where she was when she was in that tank.
She would've came back to sanity in a completely dark water tank, and instantly started freaking out. For one she wouldn't even know she was on a roof so scratching and pounding on the tank wouldn't seem out of the question.

 

[MusterX]

Well in regards to the water tank, its hard to give her the credibility that she would know where she was at after suffering a manic episode.
I mean im suppose to believe that she was so crazy she went out of her way to climb a water tank to hide from imaginary predators but at the same time was sound body and mind of her exact location? I dont think so.
If you're talking and gesturing to entities that aren't there, i think there is no way she knew where she was when she was in that tank.
She would've came back to sanity in a completely dark water tank, and instantly started freaking out. For one she wouldn't even know she was on a roof so scratching and pounding on the tank wouldn't seem out of the question.

This from wiki if you want to read it. Its some of the unresolved issues. A girl of that size getting into the tank and replacing the lid from within would be really difficult, if not impossible. Just to look into the tanks the employees had to bring step ladders.

Unresolved issues

The investigation had determined how Lam died, but did not offer an explanation as to how she got into the tank in the first place. Doors and stairs that access the hotel's roof are locked, with only staff having the passcodes and keys, and any attempt to force them would supposedly have triggered an alarm.[46] However, the hotel's fire escape could have allowed her to bypass those security measures, if she (or someone who might have accompanied her there) had known.[17]

Apart from the question of how she got on the roof, others asked if she could have gotten into the tank by herself. All four tanks are 4-by-8-foot (1.2 by 2.4 m) cylinders propped up on concrete blocks;[47] there is no fixed access to them and hotel workers had to use a ladder to look at the water. They are protected by heavy lids that would be difficult to replace from within.[4] Police dogs that searched through the hotel for Lam, even on the roof, shortly after her disappearance was noted did not find any trace of her, it was recalled (although they had not searched the area near the water tanks).[14]

Theories about Lam's behavior in the elevator video did not stop with her death. Some argued that she was attempting to hide from a pursuer, perhaps someone ultimately responsible for her death, while others said she was merely frustrated with the elevator's apparent malfunction.[4] Some proponents of the theory that she was under the influence of club drugs are not dissuaded by their absence from the toxicology screen, suggesting that they might have broken down during the period of time her body decomposed in the tank, or that she might have taken rare cocktails of such drugs that a normal screen would not detect.[3]

The autopsy report and its conclusions have also been questioned. For instance, it does not say what the results of the rape and fingernail kits were, or even if they were processed.[3] It also records subcutaneous pooling of blood in Lam's anal area,[42] which some observers suggested was a sign of sexual abuse; however one pathologist has noted it could also have resulted from bloating in the course of the body's decomposition,[3] and her rectum was also prolapsed.[48]

Even Tovar and Wang appeared to be ambivalent about their conclusion that Lam's death was accidental.[3] One page of the report has a form with boxes to check as to whether the death was accidental, natural, homicide, suicide or undetermined, in large type and a sufficient distance from each other. The "accident" box is dated June 15; however three days later the "undetermined" box was checked instead. This was at some point in the three days before the report's release noted as an error, and crossed out and initialed.[6]

Since her death, her Tumblr blog was updated, presumably through tumblr's Queue option which allows posts to automatically publish themselves when the user is away. Her phone was not found either with her body or in her hotel room; it has been assumed to have been stolen at some time around her death. Whether the continued updates to her blog were facilitated by the theft of her phone, the work of a hacker, or through the Queue, is not known; nor is it known whether the updates are related to her death.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Elisa_Lam

 

[TrippleOG]

They should of investigated more, whats the deal with automatically assuming it was a suicide because of her behavior. They should of made sure every employees story added up, maybe alot of clue we probably dont even know about.

 

[Deleted member 453401]

https://medium.com/matter/haunted-947d642a6d59

Spoiler

Inside the elevator, I stood by the panel and pushed the “door hold” button. Nearly two minutes elapsed — 1:54 to be exact — before the heavy doors finally slid closed.