Elisa Lam Case Study

Improved Essays
Built in 1927, the Cecil Hotel has a grim history of murders, suicides, and even serial killers, but no anomaly was perhaps more shocking than the mysterious death of Elisa Lam. Called an “accidental drowning” by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the college student’s death baffled and fascinated the public. Elisa was seen as a normal girl, but when she checked into the Cecil Hotel she went missing, and was later found in the hotel's water tank with no evidence to suggest how she got there. Elisa Lam was a seemingly usual girl. Loved by her family and friends, Elisa never showed any unusual behavior before the incident; she was a 21 year old Canadian college student studying at British Columbia University in Vancouver Canada. In January 2013, Elisa embarked on a tour of the U.S. west coast. Lam never showed any signs of unusual behavior until she checked into the Cecil Hotel. She was the daughter of Hong Kong migrants and lived in a Vancouver suburb for most of her life. Although Elisa was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she was a typical college student with many friends and her own Tumblr blog. None of Elisa’s friends or family were prepared for what was to come. …show more content…
The day of her disappearance, Lam was seen lively as ever, buying a book from a local bookstore. On the 16th of February, the LAPD released a video taken on February 1st of Elisa Lam, showing strange behavior in the hotel elevator. Behavior including pushing various elevator buttons at once, peeking in and out of the elevator, and making strange hand gestures as if talking to an invisible person. The video ends with Elisa exiting the elevator and the door opening and closing a number of times. The video, which was posted to YouTube, was shocking to many people, but not as shocking as what happened

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    R V Campbell (2010) NSWSC 995 Desmond Campbell was found guilty of pushing his wife, Janet Campbell, of six months off a cliff top in the Royal National Park. Desmond pushed Janet from the top of a sheer 50m cliff south of Burning Palms, resulting in her death as she had hit her head on a rick platform below, in March 2005. Elements Of The Offence Before a criminal act can be brought to trial, the police and prosecutors need to prove the elements of a particular offence are present. The elements are; actus reus, mens rea and causation.…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    MOne normal, ordinary day, Natalia Bennett and four others were on their way home from a party in Austin, Texas a little after 4:00 in the morning. Jacqui Saburido had been sitting in the passenger seat next to Natalia. Reggie Stephey had been on his way home as well, but had been drinking. Reggie, only a mile away from his driveway, hit Natalia’s car head on. Natalia and one other died on the spot.…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Discuss the ways in which Pete Earley utilizes logical, ethical, or emotional appeals in Crazy. Quote from the book to support your position. The bestselling book Crazy by Pete Earley showcases the mental health crisis in America. Earley discovered the crisis when his college-aged son, Mike, suffered a breakdown.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The topic of human trafficking in general is a huge issue in America. Human trafficking in California is an issue as well, although it isn’t as big of a problem. California has the most cases of human trafficking in the United States. Human trafficking as a whole is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in America. Human trafficking is the second largest profitable criminal enterprise.…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Autobiography Reflection: The Center Cannot Hold “The schizophrenic mind is not so much split as shattered. I like to say schizophrenia is like a waking nightmare.” – Elyn Saks The Center Cannot Hold, written by Elyn Saks, presents to readers the many challenges that come with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a potentially severe mental disorder that is frequently associated with hallucinations/delusions, social isolation, difficulties with hygiene, depression, and problems with concentration. People who suffer from this disorder are unable to differentiate between what is truly reality and the hallucinations that they are experiencing.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Houston, Texas, 48-year-old Mary Lou Morris, was found burnt to death in her car only three miles away from her home. Mary’s husband, Jay Morris, had not been able to reach her all day since she left for work earlier that morning. Jay soon found Mary had not made it to work after her supervisor called to see why Mary had not shown up. Mary had a successful career, lots of friends, and no known enemies, which made her death very confusing. Three days later, 39-year-old Mary McGinnis Morris was found dead in her car, not far from where Mary Lou was found.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jaycee Dugard was a regular 11 year old girl living in South Lake Tahoe, California. But, one day as she was outside of her home when two strangers asked her for directions on the side of a road. Seconds later she was shot with a stun gun. She instantly went numb and fell into the bushes. A man then rushed out of the car and abducted her.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The movie selected for the mental health analysis paper is ‘Silver Linings Playbook’. The main reason for choosing this movie is that it shows a good depiction of bipolar disorder. The entire movie is set in Philadelphia. The main character ‘Pat’ is suffering from a bipolar disorder, who has recently lost his job and was discharged from a mental institution. After getting out of the medical facility, he realizes that Nikki, his wife, has moved away and that his father doesn’t work anymore.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Hypocritical Taking of Lives It seemed like a normal February night for Wanda Lopez, a single mother, working behind the register of the Shamrock gas station convenience store. That is, until she noticed a man loitering outside the door in the parking lot of where she worked. She called the police to report the drunk who had just come from the bar next door and was told to call back if he came inside. A few minutes later, the man walked into the store holding a knife.…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Homicide in Sunrise, Florida Thirty-one year old Maria Nemeth was living with her 24 year old boyfriend, Fidel Lopez. On Sunday, September 20th, 2015 at 4:02 p.m. Maria Nemeth, was pronounced dead by Sunrise Fire Rescue (Roustan, 2015). It was her boyfriend Lopez, who called the police, telling operators “his girlfriend (Maria Nemeth) was having trouble breathing and was going to die” (Roustan, 2015, p. 1). Later in police questioning, Lopez recounts the gruesome events of the night before.…

    • 1089 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Black Dahlia Murder is one of the top 10 most famous unsolved crimes in the United States. Also one of the most famous in LA based on the awfulness of what happened. Elizabeth Short was an aspiring actress from Boston and she moved to Los Angeles to make sure her dreams came true, but ironically, it wasn’t until her death when she really became famous. Her body was found January 15th, 1947 in a lot near present day Leimert park. Her body was cut clean in half at the waistline with extensive mutilation with multiple other cuts all over the body.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder rarely appear “out of the blue.” Most often family, friends, teachers or individuals themselves begin to recognize small changes or a feeling that “something is not quite right” about their thinking, feelings or behavior before one of these illnesses appears in its full-blown form” (American). One sign is problems thinking, which is where there are problems with concentration, memory or logic thought and speech that is hard to explain. Along with mood changes, where there is a rapid or drastic shift in feelings. These are traits Catherine is exhibiting in her daily life and may be due to having a mental illness, where she can’t be…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Rose for Emily: It’s no secret that Emily Grierson seemed crazy, she may have even suffered from a mental illness. Having such an illness could be drastic for one’s self or for others around them. Her actions were bizarre, from denying that her father had died to buying poison from the pharmacy and everything in between. Everyone in the town had noticed this, but never said anything to Miss Emily.…

    • 1604 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Not-So-Silver Lining The stigma of mental illness is as follows: crazy eyes, a lot of violence, mood swings every two seconds, and not a lot of friends and family to help. But, there are multiple factors and explanations for why a person is the way they are, and why they developed the mental illness that they did. Pat Solitano, a middle-aged white man with a lot of great qualities, was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. He had a wife, a great job as a high school history teacher, and was living comfortably in the middle class.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rula Quawas wrote an article named “A New Woman’s Journey Into Insanity: Descent and Return in The Yellow Wall-Paper” where she argues that the mental illness…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays