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Telly addicts

The vanishing at the Cecil Hotel Elisa Lam

87 replies

Tootshoots · 10/02/2021 18:03

Just out today in Netflix. I am halfway through but plan to be finished by tonight. Thought I'd set up a thread here to discuss. I am so intrigued by this case!

OP posts:
TheRogueApostrophe · 11/02/2021 12:20

What I don't understand is why the lift doesn't close when she's inside. Was there someone outside keeping it open? Or was it just a weird glitch?

Anyat212 · 11/02/2021 13:12

I've just finished watching this, don't want to go on too much if other people haven't finished. I'd never heard of it before watching this, it's so sad. I hope Elisa is at peace.

I think one of them internet sleuths said when you pressed the "hold" button in the lift, it held the door open for 2 minutes which they think Elisa wasn't aware the lift was doing that. As she was just pushing any button.

I found the couple from Plymouth a little odd, I couldn't stay in a room which had a sticky carpet, unwashed sheets and dust everywhere - even if it was cheap! I get the concept of cheap and cheerful but you'd still expect it to be clean. They only complained to the hotel after using the brown water for a few days by the sounds of it Shock and why did they even use the brown water anyway?!

TheRogueApostrophe · 11/02/2021 13:49

Thanks Anyay212, that makes sense. It always confused me. I never bought into the paranormal theories; I just wasn't sure what was going on with the lift. I don't know why I never considered there being a hold button.

StyledOnLordBath · 11/02/2021 17:43

I wondered if the couple from Plymouth were trying to be more involved in the story by claiming they drank the water... who would drink brown water in a hotel?

Pippin2028 · 11/02/2021 17:52

I think she may have had a physchotic break especially with the bi-polar. She was travelling on her own so she didn't have anyone around who knew her to keep an eye on her and ensuring she was taking the right medication with the bi polar.
Although the area is near skid row, lots of long term residents in the hotel so anything is possible

AndAllOurYesterdays · 11/02/2021 18:07

The couple from Plymouth seemed completely clueless about the holiday they'd booked 'oh we thought we'd have a lovely walk around downtown and suddenly we notice we are in Skid Row'. Did they not take a map or a guidebook??

BilboBercow · 11/02/2021 18:26

Elisa was mentally ill. She had a psychotic episode and sadly died by "misadventure". I wish people would let her rest now.

rosetylersbiggun · 11/02/2021 18:29

It's very sad but there's not the slightest bit of evidence to suggest anything spooky or unusual, except for the edited footage (the unedited footage doesn't look "spooky" or whatever).

She was seriously mentally ill (had documented her struggles with her mental illness in her blog) and had recently stopped taking some of her medication. She had been prescribed both anti-depressants and anti-psychotics but stopped taking the latter only. It's actually more dangerous for a person with a history of mania and psychosis to take anti-depressants alone than to take nothing as ADs are known to have an increased risk of mania in people with BPD.

Nobody saw Elisa with anyone and there are no suspects or reason to suspect anyone.

Elisa was known for liking to climb onto rooftops and enjoyed rooftop photography, and it's on the record that the door to the roof was unlocked and open, so it's not surprising or even unlikely for her to go out onto the roof. Even after her body was discovered the roof (which was a crime scene!!) was still unlocked and not alarmed.

The water tank was very easily accessible via the fire escape, and the lid to the tank was hinged meaning it would have been very easy to lift. (Internet Detective-types and YouTubers have visited the hotel and filmed themselves lifting the lid - it is not heavy and would not have been difficult for Elisa to lift alone.)

Stories differ as to whether the lid was open or closed when she was found, but the lid could easily have been closed either by the wind, or simply by the force of gravity (or she may likely have not opened the lid fully, but just opened it a crack to slip inside). Of course that doesn't apply if, as the maintenance man insists, the lid was open when she was found.

GooodMythicalMorning · 11/02/2021 18:54

I think they stretched it too far too. As soon as we saw the lift bit ds and I had a very good idea of what happened and what they agreed upon at the end. I think there was too much put upon it being something woo when in the end it wasn't.

Tootshoots · 11/02/2021 20:34

*Spoliers** there were things in there I didn't know, like she had s history of delusions. That she was leaving those notes for her roommates telling them to leave. Someone mentioned she had a thing for rooftop photography, that wasnt in the documentary was it? I wonder what on earth she thought she was doing getting in the tank though... what a horrible death. She must have been threading water until she was exhausted. Those tanks should have a ladder on the inside just incase.

OP posts:
Tootshoots · 11/02/2021 20:37

Forgot to add, the hotel manager was cold as! And why did she ring her mother before the police when the body was found Hmm I dont suspect her of anything by the way, just thought she came across very cold. And as for that death metal guy, he gave me the absolute creeps. Shock

OP posts:
GooodMythicalMorning · 12/02/2021 10:45

I thought she was super cold too. Didn't like her much

friendlyflicka · 12/02/2021 13:49

I thought it was absolutely exploitative and horrible. All the stuff where they are poring over this girl's posts in which she is asking for understanding and then steadfastly ignoring the obvious cause of her. She was allowed absolutely no dignity. How many times did we have to see a naked girl swirling around in the water?

And as for mixing it all up with ghosts and serial killers when she had her own very real problems....I suffer from bipolar disorder so maybe it is a bit too close to home for me. But if I ended up with a whole load of web sleuths examining my last hours and picking up on my weird behaviour and then finding their own meanings in my words: I can't imagine anything more intrusive.

And the fact that she was asking for empathy and understanding and yet she was left in a very inhospitable place where no one would share a room with her and she was chucked out of the events she wanted to attend. Just really painful to watch.

And even when they discovered she had bipolar disorder, was displaying all the usual symptoms and wasn't taking her meds...they refused to accept that as a legitimate reason for impulsive behaviour. And then they have to be filmed stroking her grave. Yuk

blossomhillx · 12/02/2021 14:43

I thought it could of been done in two episodes it was dragged out with so many conspiracies and I agree it was very intrusive when it was clearly an accident. Don't understand how it took so long for them to look at the cctv footage in the hotel and get the dogs in until like a week later either

Drawmelikeoneofyourfrenchgirls · 12/02/2021 15:24

I enjoyed this series for the information on the hotel and surrounding area, I found the history of the hotel really interesting. Agree tho that it was dragged out. I found it utterly bizarre some of the ‘web sleuths’ and their total obsession, going to the hotel and looking at the lift, roof and room Elisa stayed in. Then the one guy who got someone to video her grave for him to give him closure?! Wtf? Let the poor girl rest in peace

Pukkatea · 12/02/2021 15:48

My blood was absolutely boiling at the Internet wannabe detectives and their entitled attitudes, demanding access to autopsy reports and police files (who are you?) and hounding the musician based on nothing.

It was interesting but really ridiculous how they built up so many mysteries and conspiracies just for them to have really easy solutions. Spending ages on the mystery of the door not closing, just to find she pushed a button that keeps it open. All of these conspiracy theories ranging from horror film inspired murder to a bloody ghost, only to say oh yes BTW, she was bipolar, hadn't taken her medicine, had been acting strangely for days, and had similar episodes before.

Tragic story for that poor girl who just wanted to see the world. I felt so awful for her poor parents as well.

Snooks1971 · 12/02/2021 18:19

I’ve just finished this today! Came to see if there was a thread already.

The Elisa Lam case always pops up on Unexplained threads and like the OP’s later post it’s pretty clear that it is all wrapped up.

It’s very sad. What an awful hotel, and so terrible - I’m embarrassed to say that I never knew how fucking shit Skid Row was (is?) My God.

As an aside I wouldn’t have wanted to mess with the hotel manager! She’s one tough cookie, but I guess you’d have to be as a manager there.

I also didn’t realise that Richard Ramirez (the Night Stalker) lived there too for a while in the 80s.

Also agree it was too drawn out; typical Netflix padding. Could’ve been 3 episodes tops.

RIP Elisa and hope her poor family have found some peace.

queenofarles · 12/02/2021 20:00

Half way through, that couple though? Grin,
How can you book a holiday without a bit of research. Even more strange how on earth did they manage to stay there for 5 nights.

Trinacham · 12/02/2021 20:31

@Tootshoots

Forgot to add, the hotel manager was cold as! And why did she ring her mother before the police when the body was found Hmm I dont suspect her of anything by the way, just thought she came across very cold. And as for that death metal guy, he gave me the absolute creeps. Shock
She was cold and unfeeling! All she cared about was the hotels' reputation and hoping it would have another chance.. nothing to pay her respects to poor Elisa or her family. Weird.
OhWhyNot · 12/02/2021 22:22

It’s terrible sensationalism

She was several mentally unwell there is no mystery just people cashing in and getting their five minutes of fame. why they didn’t find her was down to negligence of not looking throughly nothing else

Poor Poor women and her family surely deserve to be listened to

That part of LA is horrible and seedy and really really run down (as many parts are far worse than anything you see in the UK)

stuckinatrap · 12/02/2021 23:18

I took it as quite a good way of showing how conspiracy theories and internet detectives tie themselves in knots to prove their own ridiculous theories, when the truth was so much more simple. They all looks like total dicks by the end. It's like a cautionary tale about not getting sucked into internet bollocks.

GooodMythicalMorning · 13/02/2021 13:37

yes exactly this!

rc22 · 13/02/2021 17:59

I didn't realise there were parts of LA like that. I live close to a British city with a reputation for being rough but there's no part of it as terrifying as Skid Row appears to be.

I think that the series did spend a long time sensationalising the case before presenting the fact there was a pretty reasonable, logical albeit extremely tragic explanation for what probably happened.

Although I agree that she had nothing to do with it, the hotel manager made me feel very uneasy. She seemed like an incredibly cold, hard woman but I suppose you would have to be to do a job like that!! Morbid on the other hand, when interviewed, came across as quite a warm, gentle, innocent young man. Felt quite sorry for him.

ImFree2doasiwant · 14/02/2021 12:02

I'm watching this now. I heard about us a Lam from MN threads, so had seen the footage. I had no idea about this awful hotel! The Nightstalker lived there .

As for the couple, bloody hell. Doesn't everyone Google these days? Google maps shows streets lined with tents.

ImFree2doasiwant · 14/02/2021 12:08

FML they were drinking water! Sad