Paranormal Collab – Elisa Lam

Normally, I write out the entire episode for you to be able to read, or listen, but today’s episode is a collab with our good friend Sarah down at Weird Horizon’s Podcast. Just click on their name and you can find her Paranormal Podcast. 

In today’s episode, we are talking about the death of Elisa Lam. We discuss it from a stand point of mental health issues, true crime, and/or paranormal. 

Get a cup of tea, a blanket, and sit back and listen to the collaboration between Sara, Ky, and Char.

The tragic 2013 disappearance and death of 21 year old Canadian student Elisa Lam has been called ‘one of the most obsessively followed true crime cases of the century’.

As the details of the case, and the perplexing security footage of her last recorded moments were shared with the public for information, it became one of the most publicized man hunts of the modern age, catching the attention of web sleuths and individuals alike.

Hundreds threw themselves into solving the case, combing the Elevator footage for clues. Through the poor quality and artifacting, Eliza’s erratic movements and the elevator eerily frozen with a view of the hallway, they felt as if they looked close enough they would see someone step into frame…

But, where this case seems to shout foul play, constantly seeming to hint at a nefarious third party, frustratingly just out of shot, and as the search for evidence comes up frustratingly lacking, that vacuum comes to be populated by the spectre that is the Cecil Hotel.

A turn of the century behemoth, housing young travelers and long-term tenants alike, the fate of the hotel and Elisa have become so intertwined as to be indivisible.

The hotel would be the last place Elisa was seen alive. It was intended as one stop on her travels, in her documented desire to see it all, experience a little more of the world and it became her last stop.

Is the hotel a ‘nexus of darkness’, or a struggling business with a specifically dangerous set of socioeconomic factors? Can a place itself be evil? Is there something to be said about certain violent crimes that leaves behind a mark?

One thing for sure is that this case brings up a lot of questions about how we approach this intersection between the paranormal and occult and true crime…

Here’s the timeline of Elisa Lam:

• Jan. 26, 2013
• Elisa Lam arrived in LA from Vancouver BC where she was going to school at the University of British Columbia
• Checked into the Cecil hotel
• She came by train
• This was going to be a solo summer trip on the west coast
• Her parents didn’t want her to go by herself but she compromised with them and told them she would check in daily
• Jan 31 
• she was scheduled to check out of the Cecil, but didn’t check in with family
• Parents called police to do a well person check
• LAPD couldn’t find Elisa
• February 1 
• family reported her missing
• February 14
• Police released a surveillance video on their site
• Video was taken from the cameras at the Cecil Hotel
• Video
• Pixelated footage
• Elevator opens and Elisa steps in and pushes all the buttons
• Stands to the back of the elevator and looks out into the hallway
• Creeps to elevator entrance and quickly looks left and right and goes back into elevator
• Appears to be hiding – pushes herself to the wall of the elevator where the buttons are
• After awhile slowly, cautiously looks out
• Cautiously walks out, looks left and right, and steps back in
• Cautiously steps out and inches to the left of the elevator and stands there (you can see only part of her)
• She looks like she’s speaking with someone 
• Goes back into elevator and presses all buttons
• Steps back out of elevator and appears to be speaking with someone – gesturing
• Then calmly walks away
• Last time you see her
• Video is 4 minutes long
• Feb. 19
• Hotel maintenance worker, Santiago Lopez found Elisa’s body floating in one of the hotel water tanks
• Took elevator to the 15th floor
• Took a stair case to the roof
• Turned off rooftop alarm
• Climb a platform to the water tanks
• Climbed another ladder to get to the top of the main tank
• Reason for looking in water tanks
• Guests complaining of low water pressure
• Guests complaining of weird taste coming from the tap water
• Guests complaining of weird smells and colors coming from water
• Autopsy
• She had medicine in her system
• 1 antidepressant
• Another antidepressant and mood stabilizer (not on the day of disappearance)
• No anti-psychotics in her system (which she should have been taking)
• No drugs or alcohol
• Was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression – might not have been taking her meds properly
• Who saw her before death
• Katie Orphan – owner of The Last Bookstore
• Said Elisa was buying books and music for her family back home
• “It seemed like [Lam] had plans to return home, plans to give things to her family members and reconnect with them,”

Don’t forget to visit Weird Horizon Podcast linktr.ee/WeirdHorizon to hear our paranormal stories and to listen to their show.

What did you think about our take on the case of Elisa Lam? Do you think it was true crime, paranormal, mental health, or a mix?

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