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Missing Canadian woman's body found


glorybebe

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The body found in a water tank atop a Los Angeles hotel has been identified as that of a missing 21-year-old Vancouver woman, local police say.

Los Angeles Police Department Officer Diana Figueroa confirmed to CBC News late Tuesday that Elisa Lam was found in the Cecil Hotel's rooftop water tank around 10 a.m. local time. Police said body markings led to the identification......

....Los Angeles Fire Dept. Capt. Jamie Moore had previously said the body had posed "no biohazard concerns," though one hotel guest told reporters gathered outside they were disgusted by the idea they were possibly drinking water from that tank...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/19/missing-woman-body-found.html

That is so sad for her family. In the article it says that the roof is locked and needs a key to get up there. It sure sounds fishy to me.

And those poor other guests who were ingesting the water! :cry:

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I feel so sad for her family, and this is truly a tragedy I don't mean to ignore, but I gagged and gagged while reading this last night. If I had been a hotel guest and found this out I'd be barfing for days.

And I'm sure she was a very nice clean lady...

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*GAK* I read a CNN article today that a British couple were staying there that week. They said that when they turned on the shower the water was brackish at first and the water had a strange 'sweet' taste. They didn't know any better and thought that that, there, "it might be normal". *GAK*

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Do we know how naby missing Canadian women there are ? Or was this the only one ?

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I feel so sad for her family, and this is truly a tragedy I don't mean to ignore, but I gagged and gagged while reading this last night. If I had been a hotel guest and found this out I'd be barfing for days.

And I'm sure she was a very nice clean lady...

I know, I gagged, too. Not to detract from her death, but....the really sad thing is someone intentionally put her in there

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So sad, I hope they find out whoever did this and bring justice and closure for the family.

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Staying in downtown LA hotels even if your a tourist is not very smart. Ive lived near there and I wouldnt ever stay. But to each there own. If you dont do your homework before you visit a place like Mumbai then who can say much.

But yes the drinking water is a bad idea..and icky showers....poor lady.

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Staying in downtown LA hotels even if your a tourist is not very smart. Ive lived near there and I wouldnt ever stay. But to each there own. If you dont do your homework before you visit a place like Mumbai then who can say much.

But yes the drinking water is a bad idea..and icky showers....poor lady.

I read that it was not a great part of town, and then she went down there by herself. No one should travel by themselves, female or male. Too many bad things can and sometimes do when travelling.

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From the video of her in the elevator, she wasn't acting right, her mind wasn't completely there. She seemed to be tripping to put it in bold words. Doesn't rule out that she could have been lured by someone who worked there up to the roof, then they kill her and dumped her body into the water containers.

Edited by Uncle Sam
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Yes in the video at first she looked like she was hiding from someone, but then it looked like she was either on some mind tripping drugs or she even suffered a mental breakdown. She didn't look normal. I wouldn't be surprised if she got on the roof herself somehow and fell in to one of the tanks.

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Yes in the video at first she looked like she was hiding from someone, but then it looked like she was either on some mind tripping drugs or she even suffered a mental breakdown. She didn't look normal. I wouldn't be surprised if she got on the roof herself somehow and fell in to one of the tanks.

If you check out the pictures of the tanks, there is no way for her to fall in, they had lids. Also, she would have to have a key and would need to have the code to open the door. Too fishy IMO, how would she be able to get through that to drown herself in the tank.

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Wow, I thought there'd be more 'craze' about this incident considering the strange surveillance video, body found in a water tank, and the fact that the Cecil Hotel is well-known for it's shady past. :/

In my opinion, the video is somewhat useless... because it seems edited in some parts and clearly (from my perspective) she's just confused/frightened that the door isn't closing. I think it was proven that she pressed the 'hold open' button and that's why the door wouldn't close.

I say somewhat because I'm not sure that this video can help solve a potential murder. It's my personal opinion that she was murdered because 1) Place of death is weird. 2) She stopped calling home, which is circumstantially strange/odd behavior. 3) Cecil is known for housing serial killers. I wouldn't be surprised if other bodies start to surface. 4) I recall that on some news channel that her body was 'nude,' which says potential sexual abuse. 5) She never checked out of hotel, even though her destination was Santa Cruz. However, going back to the video, it helps establish a time frame and where she was.

My speculations from the video...

1) This video shows that she was on the 14th floor as the first button she presses doesn't light up.

2) I think the video was edited because when the door closes, the frame jumps halfway.

3) But at :12 the door clearly starts to move towards closing (right after she presses the last button.) And clearly backs open.

4) She's only presses the middle row buttons which is really strange... but can be contributed to the fact that she's nearsighted and without glasses. But she knows that she's staying on the 4th floor( according to my findings that she was staying between 4-6 floors)

5) I think her actions are a bit weird, but she could be just freaking out that the door isn't moving. Why? Maybe because someone is holding the button outside? Thus she decks her head out and proceeds to peek from the corner. Afterwards, I think her strange hand movements could be from the fact that she had no idea what's going on. She raises her hands a lot from the stress. And that's it.

* Superstitions I've noticed/found.

1) This hotel has no supposed 13th floor.

2) Elisa was on the 14th floor which is bad luck in Chinese culture, which means 'will die.'

3) Elisa was supposedly staying on the 4th floor, and the number 4 pronounced in Chinese is a pun for 'death.' But also considered bad luck.

4) Cecil is a supposedly 'haunted' hotel because of past events.

What can be concluded from this video?

1) She's on the 14th floor. Which begs the question of what the heck was she doing on the 14th floor?

2) She leaves in a state of distress and doesn't stay long enough to see that elevator closes (possibly).

3) Her apparel was red jacket, white blouse(?), black shorts, and sandals(?)

My theory:

1) I think the poor girl was noticed since her first check-in by someone who lives or works at the Cecil hotel.

2) Perp definitely knows his way around the hotel. I speculate that he lives on the upper part of the building where the roof is more accessible and easier to get to by the fire escape. Or someone that has a non-questionable reason to be near/on the roof.

3) The perp could have easily approached her during her confused state, or saw her possibly taking the stairs.

Overall, this case needs to consider more thorough policing and needs to help bring closure to Elisa's family and friends because she didn't deserve to die in this manner. While International cases can be a bit tricky, I think law enforcement is doing an OK job so far. <.<

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  • 3 months later...

Woman's water tank death ruled accidental

From Sonya Hamasaki, CNN

June 21, 2013 -- Updated 1451 GMT (2251 HKT)

(CNN) -- A 21-year-old woman whose body was found in a water tank of a Los Angeles hotel in February was the victim of an accidental drowning, medical examiners reported Thursday.

The decomposing body of Elisa Lam floated inside a water tank on the roof of the Cecil Hotel while guests brushed their teeth, bathed and drank water from it for as long as 19 days. A maintenance worker, checking on complaints about the hotel's water, found the Canadian tourist inside one of four water cisterns.

Tests conducted by the city Health Department found no harmful bacteria in the tank or the pipes, which had to be drained, flushed and sanitized after the discovery.

link

Hmmmmm .... don't seems right ...

Death of woman found in hotel water tank ruled accidental

6:36 PM, June 20, 2013

LOS ANGELES — The mysterious death of the young woman whose body was found in a water tank on the roof of a cheap downtown hotel has been ruled accidental.

The Los Angeles County Coroner's office issued the ruling Thursday in the case of Elisa Lam, Lt. Fred Corral of the coroner's investigations division said.

The cause of death was listed as accidental due to drowning, with bipolar disorder listed as a significant condition, he said.

Lam, 21, of Vancouver, Canada, was last seen at the Cecil Hotel near skid row in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 31.

.....Those test results were initially expected to take six to eight weeks to complete, but coroner's spokesman Ed Winter said earlier this month in response to queries that they were still awaiting complete testing results.

..... Police searching for Lam before the discovery of her body released the surveillance video showing her inside a hotel elevator, pushing buttons for multiple floors and at various times waving her arms and stepping out of the elevator. Internet forums and blogs were filled with speculation about her death, and some amateur detectives had gone to the hotel and posted video reports on how difficult it would be to climb to the roof and into the tank – or to carry a body to the roof and into a water tank.

link

Definitely doesn't sound right ...

`

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But how could she have accessed the roof and water tank without somebody else? It would be plausible without the fact that there was a key needed to get up and in there.

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But how could she have accessed the roof and water tank without somebody else? It would be plausible without the fact that there was a key needed to get up and in there.

I don't believe that's a fact because there's a fire escape to the roof.

Apparently, it didn't take a key to open the tank lid. If it did, then it must not have been locked.

There's no reason to think otherwise.

Edited by regi
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Oh, okay--thank you for clarifying that, I had read that it was suspicious (her death, this was before it was ruled accidental) due to the fact that you needed a key to access the roof.

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Oh, okay--thank you for clarifying that, I had read that it was suspicious (her death, this was before it was ruled accidental) due to the fact that you needed a key to access the roof.

That has not yet been ascertained nor has yet is there sufficient evidence to say for certain that that is so in the course of the investigations ...thus far that is pure speculation.

"Accidental" does not mean not suspicious ....

We still have no idea how this "accident" came to be or happened.

`

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You're welcome.

I did a little research, and I didn't find that those tanks have locks. I read about a latch, but nothing about a latch locking.

The lid on top is called a hatch, and I read that the opening is curbed to prevent contamination.

I think she got in the tank and couldn't get out for some reason.

(While researching, I came across a trivial fact I had a chuckle over. You know those three sisters from Petticoat Junction? They weren't really in that water tank like they appeared to be at the start of every episode. (Even as a little girl, I suspected that wasn't a real scene!)

But, yes, it's confirmed. The tank existed, but the tank in that scene is just a Hollywood prop. :td:

As a little girl inspired by that scene, I had a sort of yearning to swim in a water tank and whenever I saw similar water tanks, I would wonder if they'd be good for swimming. :lol: )

Edited by regi
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That has not yet been ascertained nor has yet is there sufficient evidence to say for certain that that is so in the course of the investigations ...thus far that is pure speculation.

I did see it in at least one article about the case that the Police Sgt. stated that the tank didn't lock. Also, it's an aspect the coroner would have learned from police and considered as part of the circumstances of the death. Just sayin'.

With that ruling, I would think the investigation is essentially over at this point.

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I did see it in at least one article about the case that the Police Sgt. stated that the tank didn't lock. Also, it's an aspect the coroner would have learned from police and considered as part of the circumstances of the death. Just sayin'.

With that ruling, I would think the investigation is essentially over at this point.

case closed ?

Just on account of the tanks have no locks ?

Doesn't sound right ... what I gather from the reports is the investigation has reached a dead end ... not necessary case closed ...

`

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case closed ?

Just on account of the tanks have no locks ?

Doesn't sound right ... what I gather from the reports is the investigation has reached a dead end ... not necessary case closed ...

`

Maybe it's not, but I would think it would be because of the coroner's ruling that it was an accidental drowning.

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Maybe it's not, but I would think it would be because of the coroner's ruling that it was an accidental drowning.

there are still too many questions unanswered ... there is no possible way for her to get in the tank and replaced the cover ... that alone should be enough to presuppose she was not alone up there ...

the coroner's ruling is too hasty .. something doesn't smell right

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there are still too many questions unanswered ... there is no possible way for her to get in the tank and replaced the cover ... that alone should be enough to presuppose she was not alone up there ...

the coroner's ruling is too hasty .. something doesn't smell right

How do you know "there's no possible way"?

What unanswered questions?

I don't know what would make you think the coroner's ruling was hasty.

(I just learned of this case yesterday. When I read this thread, I thought it just happened.)

I know it's a bizarre death, but the last sighting of Lam in that elevator showed her to be delusional.

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