in the Heart of Los Angeles the sisle hotel hides a myriad of Dark Secrets but none so chilling as the mysterious death of Alisa lamb in 2013 this Canadian student vanished only for her lifeless body to be discovered weeks later in a water tank at top the hotel what makes her story truly haunting are the elevator surveillance videos that surfaced Elisa's erratic Behavior pressing multiple buttons peeking out the doors and hiding in Corners was she evading an unseen pursuer or was something even more Sinister at play join us as we delve into the shadows of this Enigma and attempt to piece together the last haunting hours of Elisa lamb the sisle hotel in downtown Los Angeles was initially opened in 1924 as a luxurious destination for business Travelers and tourists however its fortunes declined with the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s worsened by its proximity to Skid Row an area notorious for homelessness and crime over time the hotel transformed from a symbol of Elegance into a lowbudget lodging facility often rented by the hour becoming a hot spot for illicit activities the Cecil hotel has been home to Notorious criminals including serial killers Richard Ramirez known as the nightstar in the mid 1980s Ramirez charged with a series of brutal murders and assaults allegedly resided on the top floor of the Cecil during his reign of terror it's said that after committing his heinous acts he would discard his blood stained clothes in the hotel's dumpster and walk through the lobby unnoticed a few years later in the early '90s another serial killer would call the sisle hotel home Jack unterer an Austrian journalist turned murderer stayed at the sisle seemingly inspired by its dark past over the years the hotel became synonymous with drug overdoses and even unexplained deaths as per one former police officer when I was on patrol there you could expect one to three calls a day from the sisle the constant police presence combined with Tales of Screams in the night and mysterious happenings only added to its notoriety for many Los Angeles residents the sisle became a place to avoid a dark spot on the city's landscape Tales of hauntings and Paranormal Activity began to circulate further fueling its reputation as a place where the line between the living and the dead was at best blurry deep in the heart of Vancouver British Columbia a story began to unfold long before it intersected with the notorious sisle hotel in the middle of 2010 21-year-old Alysa lamb initiated a blog spot blog called ether Fields lamb came from a close-knit Cantonese speaking family and was attending the University of British Columbia at the time over a span of 2 years she shared images of fashionably dressed models along with personal anecdotes focusing especially on her challenges with mental health in a blog post from January 2012 she wrote I feel I am wasting my time compared to my fellow peers I had a relapse at the start of the term and had to drop two of the three courses I was taking she was worried that the frequent course withdrawals would hinder her educational and career aspirations particularly regarding graduate school lamb titled her blog post with a quote from the novelist Chuck palanuk you're always haunted by the idea that you're wasting your life roughly 2 years after she began her etherfields blog lamb shifted her attention to a new Tumblr blog Nel Novo the content of this blog was primarily fashion photos inspirational quotes and occasional personal Reflections the same quote remained as the epigraph for this new blog as well throughout her blog there were subtle and sometimes overt references to her struggles with mental health Elisa had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and her posts often touched upon this references to her medications provided insight into her attempts to manage her condition shedding light on her day-to-day battles per her family who had generally kept her mental health struggles confidential lamb had never displayed Suicidal Tendencies or behaviors however there was one report suggesting she had briefly gone missing in the past lamb was also known for sometimes not adhering to her medication regimen for bipolar disorder leading to instances where she experienced hallucinations these episodes were so intense that once she had to take refuge under her bed and had to be hospitalized for it Elisa's solo journey across us was meant to be one of self-exploration she had mapped out a series of stops across California immersing herself in the culture history and vibrancy each location had to offer but among these destinations one stop stands out starkly the sisle hotel in Los Angeles it's unclear how Elisa learned of the sisle or what made her choose it as her place of stay perhaps it was its affordability or maybe its location in the heart of downtown Los Angeles however one could speculate that she might not have been fully aware of the hotel's Infamous past throughout her trip she regularly updated her family on her whereabouts and Adventures in these communications Elisa expressed excitement wonder and the occasional fatigue from her travels yet in retrospect her family could recall no overt indications of distress or any sign that might hint at the tragic events that were to follow Elisa checked into the Cecil Hotel on January 28th 2013 for the first 2 days she lived in a shared room on the fifth floor but was later moved to room 5006 a separate room of her own on January 31st 2013 the day she was scheduled to check out of the Cecil she disappeared Elisa was meticulous about staying connected with her family and her phone records indicated frequent calls back home Her Tumblr Nel Nuvo continued its stream of posts her last post was scheduled reblogs a feature on Tumblr that allows users to queue up content to post at specified times this further deepened the Enigma as her online presence continued even in her absence Alisa had promised her parents she would check in Daily when a day passed without a call on February 1st it caused a slight concern as more days went by that concern turned to alarm on February 4th her family finally reported her missing to the LAPD the Los Angeles Police Department familiar with the Cecil's Infamous history took the case with immediate seriousness initial searches were conducted within the hotel premises LAPD meticulously combed through her room and every other unoccupied room we didn't search every room Sergeant Rudy Lopez clarified later we could only do that if we had probable cause that a crime had taken place face the roof basement and other common areas were scoured for any sign or clue of Alisa sniffer dogs were brought in but they could not pick up her scent after moving through the building when interviewed the Cecil's receptionist remembered Alisa as a polite and somewhat reserved young lady the housekeeping staff who had cleaned her room mentioned it was usually tidy but there was an abundance of scattered paper perhaps journal entries or travel notes Hotel staff who saw lamb that day said she was alone outside the hotel Katie orphan the manager of the Last Bookstore was the only person who recalled seeing her that day she told investigators she was outgoing very Lively very friendly the cesil hotel surveillance system was relatively outdated but functional cameras were positioned at Main entrances exits and certain common areas including the elevators while the elevator footage would later gain notoriety initial reviews of other camera footages showed Alisa entering and exiting the hotel often with a cheerful wave to the doorman but the other videos when seen in retrospect showed nothing that hinted at the impending Enigma on February 6th the LAPD understanding the weight of public Outreach in such cases held press conferences presenting Alisa's photograph and detailing her last known whereabouts local news channels ran her story emphasizing her family's distress and the Mysterious circumstances of her disappearance Flyers with her face started appearing all over the city and her story was relayed over radio stations urging residents and visitors to come forward with any information almost immediately the digital realm became a buzz with theories and speculations online forums and social media platforms were flooded with discussions about Alisa amateur sleuths started piecing together her online activity analyzing her blog posts and even reaching out to her online friends for Clues investigators started retracing her steps before her mysterious disappearance and found that she had gone to a live taping of the famous TV show Conan and there she started acting strange she even sent a letter to the show's host that promptly had her removed from the building by by security hotel management informed investigators that she had been sharing a room with other girls in the hotel who complained about her behavior so the management had to move her to another room apparently she would lock the door and require a password for them to enter or would leave notes on their bed telling them to go away or go home Amy Price former Hotel manager of the Cecil recalled that Alisa came into the lobby one night and said something along the lines of I'm crazy but so is La the Cecil Hotel already shrouded in Tales of the missing guests now had one more mystery added to its enigmatic history the quest to find Alisa Lam was not just an Endeavor of law enforcement but of a global Community all United by the one simple yet haunting question where was she as days turned into weeks with no sign of Alisa the LAPD made a strategic decision they released a portion of the surveillance footage from the Cecil Hotel hoping it would trigger someone's memory or elicit new leads the video spanning just over 4 minutes showed Alisa's last confirmed sighting in one of the hotel's elevators this grainy timestamped footage from the Cecil hotel's elevator became the epicenter of countless theories discussions and debates the video begins with Alisa entering the elevator looking to her left and right as if ensuring she's alone she steps in and rather peculiarly presses multiple floor buttons the elevator doors remain open adding to the Oddity of the situation Alisa then retreats to the corner almost as if hiding moments later she steps out Peaks out and moves in and out of the elevator with her gestures becoming increasingly frantic and inexplicable able her hands move in bizarre patterns and her interactions with the space outside the elevator seem fraught with anxiety or fear one of the most striking anomalies in the footage was the elevator's refusal to shut its doors especially since multiple buttons were pressed technical experts weighed in some pointed out that if the hold door button was pressed the elevator doors would stay open for a longer duration but not as long as what was observed a mechanical inspection of the elevator post disappearance revealed no significant malfunctions soon after the foot's release the internet was Rife with theories one of which was the elevator game a supposed paranormal game originating from Korean online communities the game involves pressing elevator buttons in a specific sequence to allegedly transport oneself to another dimension Believers in this Theory asserted that Alisa's button pressing pattern and behavior seemed eerily reminiscent of someone attempting this game another prevailing theory was the possibility of an unseen presence perhaps another individual outside the range of the camera Elisa's Behavior resembled someone trying to hide or evade detection she peered outside cautiously and anxiously as though expecting or fearing someone's approach however no evidence corroborated the presence of another individual during those crucial moments for some especially those from Eastern cultures familiar with spiritual and paranormal stories her actions were an attempt at communication with unseen entities others particularly from a western perspective leaned towards clinical explanations referencing possible hallucinations or Mental Health crisis and yet some others saw her S as those of a young woman playing or being Whimsical several video forensic experts stepped forward offering to dissect the footage for anomalies frame by frame analysis were conducted to spot any inconsistencies or telltale signs of tampering while the video seemed largely uninterrupted some experts pointed out subtle jumps suggesting potential missing frames one of the most debated elements of the video was the time stamp parts of it appeared obscured or blurred making it challenging to see the exact time of the events this led to rampant speculations was it deliberately altered to hide specific details or merely a consequence of the video's compression or quality degradation a broader analysis encompassing other CCTV footages from the Cecil Hotel was initiated while some cameras had clear timestamps others mirrored the obscur seen in Alisa's footage hence ruling out any intentional tempering with the footage several psychiatrists and neurologists offered their insights some suggested that her movements resembled psychomotor agitation a state where individuals are compelled to move due to psychological unrest others pointed to potential hallucinations or paranoia driving her to respond to unseen stimuli Elisa's battle with bipolar disorder was well documented Ed if taken irregularly or mixed with other substances certain medications could induce Altered States or exacerbate symptoms questions arose had Elisa been diligently taking her medications were there potential drug interactions at play toxicology reports would later shed light on this but the possibility that medication or lack thereof influenced her State couldn't be dismissed outright [Music] a looming question was the Cecil's water tanks situated at top the hotel these four 4tx 8T water tanks were relatively accessible yet in the initial stages they were overlooked as days unfolded an unrelated but growing chorus of complaints began to emerge from the Cecil's guests according to Sabina and Michael B a British couple who was staying at the hotel at that time the shower was awful when you turned the tap on the water was coming black first for 2 seconds and then it was going back to normal the tap water tasted horrible boss said it had a very funny sweety disgusting taste it's a very strange taste I can barely describe it faced with these complaints the Cecil's management responded with initial measures they checked the hotel's Plumbing queried the Municipal Water Supply and even dispatched maintenance Crews to inspect the issue however the root cause remained elusive it was a routine day when Santiago Lopez a maintenance worker responding to the persistent water complaints decided to inspect the water tanks climbing at top the Cecil he unlocked the access to one of the tanks nothing could prepare him for the sight that greeted him floating serenely with the backdrop of LA's Skyline was the lifeless body of Elisa lamb forensic teams quickly ascended to the rooftop meticulously examining the water tanks each tank was cylindrical Rising several feet above the rooftop and featured a metal hatch and secured with a latch this hatch weighed 20 lb and although not overly large was big enough for a person to squeeze through while there was a latch on the hatch it wasn't always secured suggesting that anyone with determination could potentially access the Tank's interior forensic experts weighed in on the physical challenges of accessing the tank for someone of Alisa's petite build climbing up to and then opening the hatch especially if it was latched would be a Herculean task moreover once inside the sheer depth and the absence of internal fixtures would make exit almost impossible without assistance the status of the hatch specifically whether it was open or not not when Lopez discovered Elisa's body remains a subject of debate which we will cover later in the video with the Grim task of retrieving Elisa's body underway initial observations were cataloged her body floated near the top suggesting a relatively recent immersion oddly her clothing was found with her but not on her there weren't any overt signs of physical trauma or struggle but the conditions water time and the tanks environment could have massed subtler signs the Los Angeles County coroner's office tasked with performing the autopsy had a challenge at hand the immersion in water complicated determinations however after thorough examinations the cause of death was stated as accidental drowning toxicology reports eagerly awaited indicated no evidence of recreational drugs or alcohol but did reveal traces of her prescribed medication Elisa Lamb's tragic Discovery in the Cecil hotel's water tank posed as many questions as it answered like why and how did she end up there was this simply an accident or were there other unknown factors at play Lopez mentioned that on that particular day he hadn't observed any issues with the alarm on the rooftop door Pedro Tovar the chief engineer at the Cecil pointed out that there are four methods for accessing the Rooftop there are three fire escapes that can be reached through interior doors and One external staircase leading up to the roof from the 14th floor it's important to note that an alarm will be triggered if anyone tried to open the internal door to the roof without deactivating it first normally only Hotel staff would have the ability to deactivate this alarm in the event that the alarm does sound it can be heard by the front desk and occupants of the 14th and 15th floor [Music] according to Tova to access the water tanks first you'd need to ascend to the platform supporting the tanks navigating your way through the narrow space between them and other plumbing equipment you'd encounter an additional 10-ft ladder that can be used to ascend onto one of the four tanks it seems that Alisa Lam used external staircase to reach the roof of the hotel as no alarms were triggered and police dogs lost her scent trail near a window that connected to it the initial autopsy of Elisa lamb did not yield conclusive results coroners stated that they would require 6 to 8 weeks for additional toxicology tests to be conducted before establishing the cause of her death the report disclosed that there were no notable physical injuries on Alisa Lamb's body the only significant drugs detected in her system were the medications prescribed to manage her bipolar disorder although it was observed that she was taking smaller dos is then prescribed indicating potential underdosing importantly there was no evidence of Foul Play or abuse the report concluded that Elisa Lamb's death was due to Accidental drowning with her bipolar condition considered a significant contributing factor while generally accepted by critics there were some discrepancies noted in the report critics highlighted that the coroner altered the cause of death from could not be determined to accidental purportedly under pressure from his superiors to deter further investigation however as indicated in the report this can be attributed to a simple human error and dates were subsequently added to clarify the timeline of this mistake critics also questioned the source of the sand-like particles on her clothing however after a thorough review of the report I found nothing unusual I did however ident ify findings that support the hypothesis I've developed which we will address in the Final Chapter David and Yin Alam Lamb's parents filed a wrongful death suit against the Cecil hotel in September of 2013 in his argument before the judge Thomas Johnston the attorney for Lamb's parents said they should have secured that water tank Johnston said this was an accident waiting to happen however judge Howard har dismissed negligent lawsuit by stating that Elisa Lam's death was unforeseeable in his judgment ham wrote In fact the very nature of the water tank would make it unreasonable for lamb to assume that she was allowed to climb it and open the hatch the Sinister history of the Cecil Hotel fueled theories of Foul Play while the LAPD never publicly identified any suspects murmur within online communities spoke of unidentified guests past criminals who lodged there and even Hotel staff however most of these were based on conjecture rather than concrete evidence there were no confirmed reports of her being seen with any suspicious individuals despite thorough investigations the LAPD found no concrete evidence of Foul Play A widely discussed subject online was the unsettling parallels between the real life death of lamb and the 2005 horror movie Dark Water in this film Dalia and her daughter Cecilia move into a new apartment building shortly after Dalia encounters dark water dripping from her bathroom ceiling the source of this is eventually revealed to be due to a girl Natasha rimsky who had drowned in the rooftop water tank furthermore Dark Water concludes on a chilling note that resonates eerily with real events the building's elevator breaks down and the spirit of Cecilia's mother appears to braid her daughter's hair having reviewed all of the available evidence out there on this topic I've drawn the following conclusion Elisa was confirmed to be taking these four prescription medications to manage her bipolar disorder the presence of Venlafaxine an anti-depressant in her blood indicates that Elisa likely consumed this medication on the day of her death metabolites of bupropion another anti-depressant were detected in the blood pointing to Elisa having taken this medication recently though not on her last day since only its metabolites not bupropion itself were found it's noteworthy that bupropion has been known to occasionally induce manic episodes in individuals with bipolar disorder no trace of kopine and antipsychotic or its metabolites was found in the blood indicating that Alisa hadn't recently taken the medication lamotrin a mood stabilizer was present in such minuscule quantities in the blood that its presence is questionable however Trace Amounts of lrene were detected in her liver enzymes implying that Alisa had taken this medication in the days prior but likely not on the day she passed away to summarize these findings Alisa had consumed at least one type of anti-depressant on the day in question she had recently but not on that day taken her second anti-depressant and mood stabilizer her antis psychotic medication hadn't been used recently in the treatment of bipolar disorder it's crucial to note a significantly heightened risk of mania when anti-depressants are taken singularly without the concurrent use of an antis psychotic or mood stabilizers considering the video evidence and toxicology report it's plausible to deduce she was experiencing a manic episode at her time of death the National Institute of Mental Health highlights key symptoms of mania such as physical agitation delusions hallucinations and an inflated self-perception all potentially corroborating this conclusion in March 2013 2 weeks after the discovery of Alisa's body a Chinese tourist K visited the cesil hotel and posted a video the hotel's rooftop is accessible via three internal fire escapes typically locked and One external staircase from the 14th floor Elisa needed only to open this window climb out and Ascend this staircase to reach the rooftop with ease Kade demonstrated this by successfully using the external staircase to access the roof once on the rooftop she had two options to reach the water tanks she could either take the small stairs directly to the platform or use the red staircase to climb higher then cross to the tanks however given the Tank's proximity she likely chose the small stairs after reaching the platform all of the tanks could be accessed with this 10- ft ladder once she climbed to the top of the tanks two likely scenarios emerged the hatch was initially open and she was discovered deceased with the hatch remaining open Elisa managed to open the hatch herself but was found dead with the hatch subsequently closed addressing the first option K think video taken just 2 weeks after Lisa's body was found shows unsecured hatches on the tanks suggesting this was a common oversight at the Cil Hotel additionally according to the testimony of Santiago Lopez the first person to discover Alisa's body I noticed the hatch to the main water tank was open and looked inside and saw an Asian woman lying face up in the water approximately 12 in from the top of the tank there is high probability that hatch was open when accessed by a Lisa and stayed like that until her body was found now considering the second possibility some LAPD Representatives claimed in a video interview that the hatch was found closed this assertion is supported by the absence of insects on the body and no foul odors detected by police dogs during the rooftop search those who support this Theory argue that it would have been extremely difficult for Elisa lamb to close the hatch from the inside suggesting the possibility of another person's involvement in her death however I believe there is a simple explanation in researching this case I encountered numerous unsubstantiated claims about the tank lid being too heavy for Alisa to lift some online reports claimed the lid weighed around 20 lb however even if we dismiss these accounts as inaccurate it's known that the tanks were approximately 4.5 ft or 137.5 cm m in diameter analysis of the Tank's images reveals that the lid doesn't span the entire width residing instead in the far Corner making each of its side at most 2.25 ft or roughly 69 CM arguing generously if we assume each side of the lid measures 100 cm or 3.2 ft the total area would be approximately 100 s CM or 10.24 ft the heaviest steel typically used for such tanks is 10 gauge galvanized steel Weighing on average 5.78 1 lb per square ft this calculation gives us an estimated lid weight of about 60 lb or 27.2 kg considering the lid is hinged on one side the force required to lift it from the opposite end would be just half its total weight roughly 13.5 kg or 30 lb on top of this Elisa might have opened the lid just enough to enter with gravity pulling it closed behind her therefore even with the most generous assumptions about the lid's weight there's no need for the involvement of another person or any extraordinary explanation the lid often hyperbolically described as bank vault heavy was actually a manageable hinged cover it's uncertain what experiences or thoughts drove her to enter the tank a question we are not equipped to answer trying to to understand the motives of someone in a manic state is often futile we simply cannot grasp the nature of her potential hallucinations I also find it notable that she was completely undressed with her belongings thrown into the tank with her it's probable she struggled to stay afloat and realized removing her waterlogged clothes could help her float more effectively alternatively she may have removed her clothes before climbing in yet expecting logical actions from some someone in mental turmoil is unrealistic while the reason she removed her clothes remains unknown this uncertainty doesn't mean she did not do it herself in my opinion finding her fully clothed would be more unusual possibly indicating she was incapacitated before entering the water my conclusion May disappoint many internet sleuths but with no suspects no signs of Foul Play no evidence pointing towards a suicide and no other plausible explanations it's the inevitable conclusion I know that it is an uneasy resolution yet the only sensible one left what seems like a profound mystery initially when dissected reveals itself as nothing more than an unfortunate tragedy so what do you guys think really happened [Music]