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Lam had been diagnosed with [[bipolar disorder]] and [[depression (mood)|depression]]. She had been prescribed several medications for her mental health issues: [[Wellbutrin]], [[lamotrigine]], [[quetiapine]],<ref name="Autopsy report 20">Autopsy report, [http://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/02/24/el-autopsy/preview/page/20/ 20] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905065125/https://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/02/24/el-autopsy/preview/page/20/ |date=September 5, 2020 }}</ref> [[Dextroamphetamine#Formulations|Dexedrine Spansule]], and [[venlafaxine]].<ref name="Autopsy report 22">Autopsy report, [http://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/02/24/el-autopsy/preview/page/22/ 22] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112004932/https://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/02/24/el-autopsy/preview/page/22/ |date=November 12, 2020}}</ref> According to her family, who reportedly kept her mental illness private,<ref name="Daily Maverick December 2014 article"/>{{better source needed |date= December 2021}} Lam had no history of [[suicidal ideation]]s or attempts,<ref name="Autopsy report 20" /> although one report claimed she had previously gone missing for a brief period.<ref name="Daily Maverick December 2014 article"/> Lam had a history of not taking her bipolar medications and, as a result, on several occasions suffered hallucinations that would cause her to hide under her bed for refuge; she was hospitalized at least once for one of these episodes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/02/10301000/who-killed-elisa-lam-cecil-hotel-death-drowning|title=The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel Ending Reveals What Happened To Elisa Lam — & Another Insidious Twist|last=Romero|first=Ariana|work=[[Refinery29]]|date=February 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127052152/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/02/10301000/who-killed-elisa-lam-cecil-hotel-death-drowning|url-status=live|archive-date=January 27, 2022|access-date=January 27, 2022}}</ref>
For her trip to [[California]], Lam traveled alone on [[Amtrak]] and intercity buses.<ref name="LAPD flyer" /> She visited the [[San Diego Zoo]] and posted photos taken there on social media.<ref name="IBT story">{{cite news|last=Nair|first=Drishya|title=Elisa Lam Death: Friends Call Her Caring and Conscientious, Autopsy Result Inconclusive|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/canadian-woman-elisa-lam-death-cecil-hotel-439535|newspaper=[[International Business Times]]|date=February 26, 2013|access-date=January 28, 2015|archive-date=April 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401002101/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/canadian-woman-elisa-lam-death-cecil-hotel-439535|url-status=live}}</ref> On January 26, she arrived in [[Los Angeles]]. After two days, she checked into the [[Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)|Cecil Hotel]],<ref name="Lams' summary judgement motion">{{Cite web|url = https://plexus-pi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Undisputed-Material-Facts.pdf|title=Motion for Summary Judgement|date=September 25, 2015|access-date=October 16, 2015|website=[[Google Sites]]|last=Hsu|first=Jeff|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304132304/https://plexus-pi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Undisputed-Material-Facts.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> near [[Downtown Los Angeles|Downtown]]'s [[Skid Row, Los Angeles|Skid Row]].<ref name="blankstein">{{cite news |last1=Blankstein |first1=Andrew |last2=Flores |first2=Adolfo |title=Woman's body found in hotel's water tank |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90532234/the-los-angeles-times/ |access-date=December 13, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=February 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214000613/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90532234/the-los-angeles-times/ |archive-date=December 14, 2021}}</ref> Lam was initially assigned a shared room on the hotel's fifth floor; however, her roommates complained about what the hotel's lawyer would later describe as "certain odd behavior" and Lam was moved to a room of her own after two days.<ref name="Lams' summary judgement motion" /> According to Amy Price, the manager of the Cecil Hotel and Stay on Main at the time of Lam's disappearance, Lam was leaving notes for her roommates that said "go home" and "go away," and would lock the door to the room and require a password for entry.<ref name="TheWrap">{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/crime-scene-vanishing-cecil-hotel-elisa-lam-most-shocking-details/|title='The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel:' 8 Most Shocking Details About the Elisa Lam Case|last=Verhoeven|first=Beatrice |work=[[TheWrap]]|date=February 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127043459/https://www.thewrap.com/crime-scene-vanishing-cecil-hotel-elisa-lam-most-shocking-details/|url-status=live|archive-date=January 27, 2022|access-date=January 26, 2022}}</ref> A few days before her disappearance, Lam attended a live taping of ''[[Conan (talk show)|Conan]]'' in Burbank, but was escorted off the premises by security due to disruptive behavior.<ref name="TheWrap"/><ref name="cbc-1.1384716">{{cite news |title=B.C. woman missing in L.A. described as caring, kind |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-woman-missing-in-l-a-described-as-caring-kind-1.1384716 |access-date=24 March 2022 |work=[[CBC.ca|CBC]] / [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|Radio-Canada]] |date=February 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a35461475/elisa-lam-true-story-death-elevator-crime-scene-netflix/|title=Netflix's Crime Scene Cuts Through the Paranormal For the True Story of Elisa Lam's Death|last=Kranc|first=Lauren|work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|date=February 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215183440/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a35461475/elisa-lam-true-story-death-elevator-crime-scene-netflix/|url-status=live|archive-date=February 15, 2021|access-date=January 26, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/02/12/what-show-did-elisa-lam-go-see-in-la/|title=What Show Did Elisa Lam Go See In LA? Cecil Hotel Documentary Explored|last=Weston|first=Christopher|work=HITC|date=February 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127043500/https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/02/12/what-show-did-elisa-lam-go-see-in-la/|url-status=live|archive-date=January 27, 2022|access-date=January 26, 2022}}</ref>
==Disappearance==
Lam contacted her parents in British Columbia daily while traveling up until the day she disappeared. On January 31, 2013, the day she was scheduled to check out of the Cecil and leave for [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]], her parents did not hear from her and called the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] (LAPD); her family flew to Los Angeles to help with the search.<ref name="CNN story">{{cite news|last=Duke|first=Alan|title=How did woman's body come to be in L.A. hotel water tank?|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/21/us/california-hotel-water-corpse/|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=February 23, 2013|access-date=January 29, 2015|archive-date=April 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401002432/https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/21/us/california-hotel-water-corpse/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Police-Activity-Focuses-Hotel-Where-Missing-Woman-Elisa-Lame-191886411.html|title=Body Found in Water Tank at Hotel is Missing Canadian Tourist: LAPD|publisher=[[KNBC]]|date=February 19, 2013|access-date=July 2, 2017|archive-date=August 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820061303/http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Police-Activity-Focuses-Hotel-Where-Missing-Woman-Elisa-Lame-191886411.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
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Other viewers argued that the video had been tampered with before being made public. Besides the obscuring of the timestamp, they claimed, parts had been slowed down and nearly a minute of footage had been removed. This could have been done to protect the identity of someone who otherwise would be in the video, either related or not to the disappearance.<ref name="Daily Maverick December 2014 article" />
==Discovery of
During the search for Lam, guests at the hotel began complaining about low water pressure. Some later claimed their water was colored black and had an unusual taste.<ref name="IBT body discovery story">{{cite news|last=Agomuoh|first=Fionna|title=Body Of Elisa Lam, Canadian Tourist. Found In Los Angeles Hotel's Water Tank|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/body-elisa-lam-canadian-tourist-found-los-angeles-hotels-water-tank-1100172|newspaper=International Business Times|date=February 21, 2013|access-date=January 31, 2015|archive-date=April 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422224554/https://www.ibtimes.com/body-elisa-lam-canadian-tourist-found-los-angeles-hotels-water-tank-1100172|url-status=live}}</ref> On the morning of February 19, Santiago Lopez, a hotel maintenance worker, found Lam's body in one of four 1,000-gallon (3,785 L) tanks located on the roof providing water to guest rooms, a kitchen, and a coffee shop.<ref name="CBS body discovery story">{{cite news|title=Elisa Lam Death: Officials analyze water in tank where missing Canadian woman was found dead|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elisa-lam-death-officials-analyze-water-in-tank-where-missing-canadian-woman-was-found-dead/|work=[[CBS News]]|date=February 21, 2013|access-date=January 31, 2015|archive-date=May 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504064922/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elisa-lam-death-officials-analyze-water-in-tank-where-missing-canadian-woman-was-found-dead/|url-status=live}}</ref> Through the open hatch he saw Lam lying face-up in the water.<ref name="LAist 2015 post on lawsuit">{{cite news|last=Rylah|first=Juliet Bennett|title=Cecil Hotel Employee Explains How He Found The Body Of Elisa Lam|url=http://laist.com/2015/10/01/elisa_lam_wrongful_death_suit.php|newspaper=LAist.com|date=October 1, 2015|access-date=October 16, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026145142/http://laist.com/2015/10/01/elisa_lam_wrongful_death_suit.php|archive-date=October 26, 2015}}</ref> The tank was drained and cut open since its maintenance hatch was too small to accommodate equipment needed to remove Lam's body.<ref name="Autopsy report 20" /><ref name="CBS body discovery story" />
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After her death, her [[Tumblr]] blog was updated, presumably through Tumblr's Queue option that allows posts to automatically publish themselves when the user is away. Her phone was not found either with her body or in her hotel room. Whether the continued updates to her blog were facilitated by the theft of her phone, the work of a hacker, or through the Queue is not known; nor is it known whether the updates are related to her death.<ref name="Daily Maverick December 2014 article" />
==Litigation==
In September 2013, Lam's parents filed a [[wrongful death]] suit, claiming the hotel failed to "inspect and seek out hazards in the hotel that presented an unreasonable risk of danger to (Lam) and other hotel guests" and seeking unspecified damages and burial costs.<ref name="Lam parents lawsuit story">{{cite news|title=Parents Of Woman Found Dead In Water Tank Sue Hotel For Wrongful Death|url=http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/09/20/parents-of-woman-found-dead-in-water-tank-sue-hotel-for-wrongful-death/|publisher=[[KCBS-TV]]|date=September 20, 2013|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-date=May 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518232813/https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/09/20/parents-of-woman-found-dead-in-water-tank-sue-hotel-for-wrongful-death/|url-status=live}}</ref> The hotel argued it could not have reasonably foreseen that Lam might have entered the water tanks and since it remained unknown how Lam
==In popular culture==
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In Hong Kong, from where Lam's family had originated, filmmakers were also inspired by the case. [[Nick Cheung]] made his directorial debut in 2014 with ''[[Hungry Ghost Ritual]]'', a horror thriller that includes a scene in which a ghost terrorizes a young woman in an elevator, shot to look like security-camera footage similar to the footage of Lam in the Stay on Main's elevator.<ref name="Hungry Ghost Ritual twitch review">{{cite web|last=Marsh|first=James|title=Review: ''Hungry Ghost Ritual'' Has No Appetite For Horror|url=http://twitchfilm.com/2014/07/review-hungry-ghost-ritual-has-no-appetite-for-horror.html|publisher=[[Twitchfilm.net]]|date=July 11, 2014|access-date=February 10, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210223114/http://twitchfilm.com/2014/07/review-hungry-ghost-ritual-has-no-appetite-for-horror.html|archive-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref> In [[mainland China]], director [[Liu Hao (director)|Liu Hao]] announced a year after Lam's death that he would be making a film based on it; he went to Los Angeles himself and stayed for a few days at the Cecil doing research.<ref name="Chinese movies story">{{cite news|last=Huan|first=Si|title=Elisa Lam's mysterious death to become horror movie|url=http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2014/03-07/103839.shtml|newspaper=[[China News Service]]|date=March 7, 2014|access-date=February 10, 2015|archive-date=February 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228180921/http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2014/03-07/103839.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Chinese media have reported that actress [[Gao Yuanyuan]] may be interested in playing Lam.<ref name="Gao Yuanyuan Chinese story">{{cite news|title=高圆圆可能演《蓝可儿》 经纪人：无定论|trans-title=Agent: Gao Yuanyuan may play Elisa Lam|url=http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2013-08-05/14403980332.shtml|publisher=[[Sina Corp]]|language=zh|date=August 5, 2013|access-date=February 10, 2015|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224122608/http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2013-08-05/14403980332.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
In March 2014
The 2014 [[music video|video]] for Vancouver pop duo [[The Zolas]]' "Ancient Mars" is meant to be an idealized representation of Lam's last day, showing a young woman exploring Los Angeles and taking in simple pleasures. "It bugged me how tidily people explained away her disappearance with drugs or mental illness," said singer Zach Gray, who attended UBC around the same time and had a friend who knew Lam. "Though it's mostly fiction, we wanted people to see it and feel like she was a real girl and a familiar girl and not just a police report."<ref name="Ancient Mars video">{{cite news|title=Elisa Lam Case Inspires The Zolas' 'Ancient Mars' Music Video|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/24/elisa-lam-the-zolas-music-video-ancient-mars_n_4654774.html|newspaper=[[HuffPost]]|date=January 24, 2014|access-date=August 18, 2015|archive-date=August 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809062025/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/24/elisa-lam-the-zolas-music-video-ancient-mars_n_4654774.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Later that year, the American [[post-hardcore]] band [[Hail the Sun]] wrote "Disappearing Syndrome," also inspired by Lam's story. "It's such a chilling and eerie case," said the band's guitarist, Aric Garcia, in a [[Reddit]] Ask Me Anything.<ref name="Hail the Sun Reddit AMA">{{cite web|last=Garcia|first=Aric|title=Hey guys, we are Hail the Sun. Ask us Anything!|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/PostHardcore/comments/2jwpdz/hey_guys_we_are_hail_the_sun_ask_us_anything/clfxj1d/|publisher=[[Reddit]]|date=October 21, 2014|access-date=December 24, 2016|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309051207/https://www.reddit.com/r/PostHardcore/comments/2jwpdz/hey_guys_we_are_hail_the_sun_ask_us_anything/clfxj1d/|url-status=live}}</ref>
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* [[List of Internet phenomena]]
* [[List of solved missing person cases]]
* [[List of unusual deaths in the 21st century]]
==References==
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