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What happened to Elisa Lam?


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Has anyone heard of the case of Elisa Lam? This thing is super creepy. There is video of this young lady in an elevator acting VERY strangely, shortly afterwards she disappears and is found 2 weeks later in the water tanks on the roof of her apartment building. What makes the story even more odd is that fact that the building she lived in was at one point home to serial killers, as well as several people who committed suicide.

You can find an interesting article HERE where you can also watch the elevator footage. Pay special attention around the 1:55 mark. Watch her hand movements.

For one more strange coincidence, how about this one, shortly after Elisa Lam's death there was an outbreak of tuberculosis near the site of her death. Any idea what the name of the test for tuberculosis is? The test is known as LAM-ELISA... which is VERY strange. Not saying its connected just saying it makes the hairs on my neck stand up.

This is my first post, I thought this would be an interesting topic to introduce myself with.

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Wow that is intriguing, so to be clear there are no leads or known lines of enquiry the police are pursuing to this apart from what was provided in the link?

The coincidences and synchronicities, while creepy, are not what interests me most. I would like to know:

How the police surmise she got into a water tank, closed a lid that then had to be cut open to get her out of?

Has it been established that the alarm for the roof door was actually working?

Did she use the door at all?

Is the use of the fire escape a feasible means of her reaching the roof instead?

If the police had previously been on the roof and searched (with dogs?) How in the heck was the smell of a body so totally disguised from them?

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I did some google image searching and there doesn't appear to be any type of access ladder to the roof. The building is very basic from the outside, and from what I can see there aren't even any buildings close enough that she could have gained access from a neighboring building. The whole thing creeps me out. That video is very unsettling to me for some reason.

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She looks like shes having some kind of nervous breakdown or somebody dosed her up with lsd

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She looks like shes having some kind of nervous breakdown or somebody dosed her up with lsd

Some people have said she may be suffering from Bi-Polar or some similar disorder. She appears to be excessively paranoid.

Yes, we've had a thread about her before which you might find interesting -

http://www.unexplain...owtopic=243410.

Thanks. Checking it out now.

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I'm SURE this question has been asked, but does anyone know if she came up the elevator alone to the 14th floor? I know we only have this video that's been released to the public to go by, but it seems like earlier recordings in the elevator would be relevant. Are we to assume they are unhelpful?

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I would assume that because to me, her behavior in the elevator correlates with the bizarre circumstances of her death.

Edit: Actually, I wouldn't use the word unhelpful...

Edited by regi
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I have probably just missed it but I didn't seem where anyone addressed the question of why the doors didn't close ? There could be a hold open button since it is a hotel but they are always timed. I believe I also see five buttons on the middle row that she seems to have pushed. Five, in a hotel that has 13 floors ? The top light does not go on, which would have been the 14th floor she was on.

Four light seem to be on when the elevator doors close for the first time. Then the top of those lights seems to go out just as the door opens, but to me after that there is an instant when the door closes again that there are again four lights lit.

When I look at that "connect the dots" carpeting in the initial hallway, it seems like I can pick a location of those rows of patterns in relationship to the lines of black dots to the open door. At one point, when she steps out of the elevator, her left foot is angled from the door with the toe of her foot resting on a black dot. I picked another row to watch and that is about in the middle and results in four dots from the door in a straight line to the wall and two dots to the back, laying close to wide molding and a doorway that seem to be off. There are two which look closer together and at more of an angle.

When that door opens again for what should have been its first stop down, those lines of carpet are in exactly the same position. I don't think there would be any way or any reason to lay that pattern twice down two different hallways and have it in the exact same position.

I believe I see the same thing in it's next and final stop. It looks different because the color of the paneling seems to change. Or does the just lighting change ???

I think that film has been edited and at least one of the stops duplicated.

Edited by Vincennes
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I would assume that because to me, her behavior in the elevator correlates with the bizarre circumstances of her death.

Edit: Actually, I wouldn't use the word unhelpful...

I know it's useless to discuss elevator video we won't ever see and that the only reason we got this is because she was missing at the time. I'm going to assume the lack of evidence that anyone else was involved plus the accidental death conclusion means de facto case closed. Also, if the agency conducting the investigation (the RMCP) at the time of her disappearance did not confiscate all of the tapes,, they were no doubt taped over shortly after. There may be no tapes. But hopefully someone reviewed them and I'll bet the motive for her being on the 14th floor could be deduced from that footage. I only bring it up because I hadn't seen the question raised anywhere, even in comments sections of all the articles I've read about the case (though I'm sure it's been asked many, many times). I think it needs to be asked although I'll wager there aren't any other intact tapes from that evening besides the one we've got.

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I know it's useless to discuss elevator video we won't ever see and that the only reason we got this is because she was missing at the time. I'm going to assume the lack of evidence that anyone else was involved plus the accidental death conclusion means de facto case closed. Also, if the agency conducting the investigation (the RMCP) at the time of her disappearance did not confiscate all of the tapes,, they were no doubt taped over shortly after. There may be no tapes. But hopefully someone reviewed them and I'll bet the motive for her being on the 14th floor could be deduced from that footage. I only bring it up because I hadn't seen the question raised anywhere, even in comments sections of all the articles I've read about the case (though I'm sure it's been asked many, many times). I think it needs to be asked although I'll wager there aren't any other intact tapes from that evening besides the one we've got.

I think it's a good question, and I actually never considered it, I guess because the video shown was the last known sighting, and to me, she appeared alone and clearly not in a right frame of mind.

Just FYI, when I first looked into the case, I went on google earth and street view and scouted out the building and roof and my impression was that it wouldn't have been difficult for her to have gotten to the roof and then into that water tank.

Edited by regi
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If you will just look, as you have to do with a magician, at what you are not expected to be looking at ~~ The carpet in the hallway. The first decent of that elevator is faked. Watch the carpet. The door opens at the same floor it was on when she first got in it.

I don't know why they would fake that decent and I don't know very much about film editing but I suspect they have clipped the fact that someone got on that elevator with her and descended perhaps one floor with her. There is also a difference in the length of time for the descents floor to floor. This was also noted in the previous thread. That makes me think they couldn't just cut the film that showed someone getting in with her, they needed to space out the time elapsed so that it wouldn't be as noticeable.

That would mean however did this had access to this film, probably a hotel employee, current or past. That would also explain how she managed to get up on the roof when it took a key and had an alarm system.

I also notice in all of these reports, I've found nothing from her family. One notation that the other employees in Canada didn't know her well and that's it. I've never seen a report of this type that at some point didn't include a family interview.

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Vin, the building is essentially in three sections and each section has fire escapes with ladders directly to the roof. The little rooftop building next to the water tanks also has a ladder directly to it's roof which provides access to the tops of the tanks.

https://maps.google....ed=0COABEPwSMBA

Edited by regi
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Vin, the building is essentially in three sections and each section has fire escapes with ladders directly to the roof. The little rooftop building next to the water tanks also has a ladder directly to it's roof which provides access to the tops of the tanks.

https://maps.google....ed=0COABEPwSMBA

For what it's worth, an Internet review of the "upscale hostel" on a travel site from before her death included a description of a window that would not lock with access to the fire escape, meaning anyone could get in or out and perhaps onto the roof via this window.

And I don't know if this aspect has been discussed in the other thread on this topic but it would have been easier for her to get herself into the tank than for another person to get her lifeless body into the tank. It seems to me it would have to have either been her idea or more than one other person was involved.

In my opinion, she only looks like she's hallucinating or having a mental breakdown if you assume that she's the only person. She looks to me as if she had a few drinks/doesn't have her glasses/is not sure whether to trust the other person who is outside of the elevator. The video is made 100 times more eerie and strange because we don't know what sounds were happening. Was there hotel/elevator music she was hearing? Did she hear footsteps? Did someone call out to her?

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Here is a site I found. LOL How is your Mandarin ? It is not a site I would have initially trusted as being on the level. However, watch past the film opening credits in Chinese to the film itself. Really good footage of the hallways and the elevator buttons - and he goes all the way up to the cisterns. The narrator indicates the film guy said there was no security stopping him at all. The hotel might be saying that there was to CYA because of lawsuits.

http://tieryas.wordp...sa-lam-updates/

I also see in this it's not carpet in the hallway, it's tile. Doesn't make much difference. Pattern would not be repeated in exactly the same places.

Peter, you mentioned her actions. Anyone else notice her steps are somewhat like a dancer, straight forward, then same length straight to the side and she does this repeatedly. Not the way I would normally step out and to the side under duress.

Edited by Vincennes
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not sure if it has been mentioned but the elevator video has 100% been edited. At 2:57 you clearly see a 'jump' when the doors close. Also, the numbers at the bottom which I assume is the time - when the video is still, notice how the number's dont change in pattern for the seconds/milliseconds, they sometimes stop and skip (watch from 2.30 and how the seconds count up, then at 2.50 it all changes and minutes are skipped)

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Here is a site I found. LOL How is your Mandarin ? It is not a site I would have initially trusted as being on the level. However, watch past the film opening credits in Chinese to the film itself. Really good footage of the hallways and the elevator buttons - and he goes all the way up to the cisterns. The narrator indicates the film guy said there was no security stopping him at all. The hotel might be saying that there was to CYA because of lawsuits.

http://tieryas.wordp...sa-lam-updates/

I also see in this it's not carpet in the hallway, it's tile. Doesn't make much difference. Pattern would not be repeated in exactly the same places.

Peter, you mentioned her actions. Anyone else notice her steps are somewhat like a dancer, straight forward, then same length straight to the side and she does this repeatedly. Not the way I would normally step out and to the side under duress.

That video is fascinating! Thanks!

In the original video, it looks to me like she is being playful to mask her fear (or maybe she had a few drinks; it was 2 AM). Then it looks like she could be dancing as you mentioned. It looks at one point like she is showing someone that the elevator door is not closing and then explaining the things she has tried in an attempt to get the door to close.

If she's hallucinating, anything is possible, including the accidental drowning. To me, it looks like she is clearly interacting with another person, perhaps a person (or people) diabolical enough to not be caught on the elevator camera.

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That video is fascinating! Thanks!

In the original video, it looks to me like she is being playful to mask her fear (or maybe she had a few drinks; it was 2 AM). Then it looks like she could be dancing as you mentioned. It looks at one point like she is showing someone that the elevator door is not closing and then explaining the things she has tried in an attempt to get the door to close.

If she's hallucinating, anything is possible, including the accidental drowning. To me, it looks like she is clearly interacting with another person, perhaps a person (or people) diabolical enough to not be caught on the elevator camera.

I never looked at it that she might be being playful but I think you might be right :tu: In fact, when I went back to look at it from that standpoint, I noticed something else. At :35 her eyes change a little, a smile ? At :36 when the smile might be developed there is a black square that you can see when at full screen that just covers her mouth. At l:14 she is outside the elevator and you can see one arm rising, a greeting ? Then when she reenters the elevator, she puts her hands to each side of the doors as if to steady herself. Was, as you mentioned, she playing a game of hide and seek after a few cocktails ?

There is another film included on the original posted site that has a close view of the buttons. They are numbered really oddly. They go across rather than up and down. So the row she pushed actually had selections for 14, 10, 7, 4, M. I had initially read she was not pushing a button for her floor (she was staying on the 4th floor) but this would mean that she was. She was pushing 10, 7, 4 and M (ain!)

Edited by Vincennes
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Okay, I see something else. At about 2:10 in the film her shoulder draws back then her hands. Is someone on the left handing her something because from there her hands begin really almost a wringing/twisting motion. If you stop the film at 2:19 is there a bottle in her hands? It's only there for an instant off and on when not entirely blacked out. As she does this her hands and arms go closer in towards her body like she's pulling it to her stomach for a better grip to twist it.

Edited by Vincennes
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For what it's worth, an Internet review of the "upscale hostel" on a travel site from before her death included a description of a window that would not lock with access to the fire escape, meaning anyone could get in or out and perhaps onto the roof via this window.

An emergency shouldn't ever be locked, should it? Now, there might be an alarm at an emergency exit and that might be the alarm we're reading about in this case, but who knows what happened with that? Maybe it wasn't working...or maybe it did, but by the time it was checked out, it wasn't checked out thoroughly.

In my opinion, she only looks like she's hallucinating or having a mental breakdown if you assume that she's the only person.

I would assume she was because she doesn't look afraid, yet she hid in the corner. Those two things plus the fact that we never see anyone else is enough for me to conclude that she was imagining things.

Btw, that she 'hid' before suggests to me that when she made it to the roof, that she might have decided to hide again, in that water tank.

Edited by regi
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obviously the video has been edited because there are "weird" or "strange" things going on.... just wish we knew what .

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An emergency shouldn't ever be locked, should it? Now, there might be an alarm at an emergency exit and that might be the alarm we're reading about in this case, but who knows what happened with that? Maybe it wasn't working...or maybe it did, but by the time it was checked out, it wasn't checked out thoroughly.

I would assume she was because she doesn't look afraid, yet she hid in the corner. Those two things plus the fact that we never see anyone else is enough for me to conclude that she was imagining things.

Btw, that she 'hid' before suggests to me that when she made it to the roof, that she might have decided to hide again, in that water tank.

never thought of that, maybe she thought the tank was empty or full of i dont know, say sand...she cimbed in , and drowned that way

BUT she was naked, so , she either de-clothed herself on the rooftop, chucked her clothes....... to the street below, or hid them somewhere, or SOMEONE de-cothed her and took them with them, what sounds more realistic, ill go with the someone else.....

Edited by CuriousLittleOne
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Okay, I see something else. At about 2:10 in the film her shoulder draws back then her hands. Is someone on the left handing her something because from there her hands begin really almost a wringing/twisting motion. If you stop the film at 2:19 is there a bottle in her hands? It's only there for an instant off and on when not entirely blacked out. As she does this her hands and arms go closer in towards her body like she's pulling it to her stomach for a better grip to twist it.

There was a point where it looked to me like she was counting on her fingers... :huh:

never thought of that, maybe she thought the tank was empty or full of i dont know, say sand...she cimbed in , and drowned that way

Your comment causes me to wonder if the tank might actually could have been empty....(at first, of course.)

I read a little bit about rooftop water tanks and the info. was very interesting! I'd never thought about their actual purpose and I didn't know it, but they're used so that there's water pressure on upper floors of tall buildings.

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There was a point where it looked to me like she was counting on her fingers... :huh:

Your comment causes me to wonder if the tank might actually could have been empty....(at first, of course.)

I read a little bit about rooftop water tanks and the info. was very interesting! I'd never thought about their actual purpose and I didn't know it, but they're used so that there's water pressure on upper floors of tall buildings.

ok , tank is almost empty, couple of inches full, knee hight, whatever......... slowly elisa looses her life, whilst the water fills back up .

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ok , tank is almost empty, couple of inches full, knee hight, whatever......... slowly elisa looses her life, whilst the water fills back up .

I feel sure about one thing; that she couldn't get out of that tank once she got in.

The tank was relatively small, I read it was 4 feet wide, but it was 8 feet tall and the hatch was a small. (Firefighters opted to cut a larger opening so they could retrieve her body.)

Anyway, I think once that hatch closed, it would have simply been too difficult to get out.

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