For three weeks, the body of 21-year-old Canadian student Elisa Lam sat in the water tank of the Hotel Cecil in Los Angeles. Guests complained of funny tasting water and faucets that "ran black", and yet no one ever thought a discovery as gruesome as this would happen.
There are so many creepy and horrifying aspects to this story, it's worse than any Japanese horror film with a bad American remake (Dark Water). Let's start with the video that has been widely circulated of a seemingly terrified Lam trying to press elevator buttons and failing, gesturing wildly to some unseen "person" or thing off-camera. What. The. Hell. And then there is the hotel itself.
The Hotel Cecil is a budget hotel in downtown Los Angeles where some people live. Always a bad sign in a hotel. But even worse, its history chills the bones.
In 1962, a woman jumped to her death from the top of the building and landed on a pedestrian passing by who she also killed. Rumor has it that the Black Dahlia -- the most famous unsolved murder in LA's history -- hung out there before her grisly murder. "Night Stalker" serial killer Richard Ramirez used to stay there.
Terrifyingly, Ramirez isn't the only serial killer to call the hotel "home" briefly. Johann "Jack" Unterweger, an Austrian serial killer, stayed at the Cecil Hotel for five weeks in 1991 while murdering prostitutes. He then killed himself just a few blocks away as the police closed in on him. Yes. Seriously.
The Lam death is scary, mysterious, and as yet unsolved. Was she murdered? Did she have a psychotic break and climb into the water tank on her own? Was she trying to hide from someone?
We don't know anything so far. The only thing I know is that I won't be staying at the Hotel Cecil the next time I am in Los Angeles. I am not sure if I believe in ghosts exactly, but I do believe in energy and the importance of it. A hotel with this many tragedies can't possibly have good energy. And if I did believe in ghosts, I would have to believe that some are in the Hotel Cecil.
Of course, none of this solves whatever happened to this poor girl. Whatever happened, her death is a horrible tragedy and I hope her family is able to get some kind of answer soon.
Would you stay in the Hotel Cecil?
Image via ericrichardson/Flickr
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Comments 24
Of course no one would stay there, unless you're of a certain element or a thrifty student. Alsomnmentioned in a previous comment, this hotel has a hostel within it, that has only slightly better accommodations, but shared access and common amenties to parts of the hotel. So it is prime predatory breeding grounds for picking off young, traveling students, like Elisa. Is that the kind of history you're looking for?
She wasn't down and out, she was a healthy vibrant person with family and a bright future who probably tried to save a few bucks in the hostel, believing she would be safe there, among her stops while touring the California coast. Her character and behavior should not be in question here.
Wow ummm such a sad story :(
If you click the link to watch the elevator footage, it says that they found her body in the water tank the next day. This article makes it sound like her body was in there decomposing for a very long time to make the water "run black".
It's still gross to think of drinking water with a dead body in it, even if it was only in there for a few minutes the thought is disgusting, but decomposition would have only been in the very early stages by the next day. Not enough to turn the water black. Something else was going on, my guess is whomever disposed of her remains also did something else to the water.
Well, Jane Doe, I invite you to view the myriad articles interviewing those that knew her best, what her business was there, and the very public information posted about the hotel, with descriptions and ratings by actual guests. OMG... I researched! What is YOUR connection here with such a unique name?... Besides you projecting onto Elisa about mental health and drug issues?
Laura Cook, she was last seen alive January 31st, was supposed to check out on Feb 1, but didn't and wasn't discovered until Feburary 19th. So yeah, she was there a good 2.5 weeks.
And I will have to agree with DebaLa. I don't think it's strange at all for a college student (do you remember those days? or did you not get to experience the total lack of wealth that comes with being a student?) to seek out "Budget" hotel accomidations, why wouldn't she try to save some cash to spend on other activites? Especially not being from the area or the country, I think it's crazy to try to say her choice of hotels (Which markets it's self as much better than it is) reflects her character in any way. I've stayed in a total hole in the wall, because the price was right and it was available - but most people think I'm a great person and don't even hold my choice in temporary housing against me!
*Maybe she's not from California. I just re-read the top part of the article. I saw Southern California in there somewhere, and I thought she was from here. (CA)