To say that the last available footage of Elisa Lam is odd is an understatement. How the 21-year-old Canadian student ended up dead in a rooftop water tank at the infamous Cecil Hotel immediately created a frenzy on the Internet. Around the time of her mysterious 2013 death, the only piece of evidence widely available was a four-minute security video of Lam acting oddly in an elevator. The clip quickly fueled conspiracy theories and rumors of foul play, which are explored in Netflix's Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. While the case has an official finding of an "accidental drowning," people have treated it like an unsolved mystery.
After Lam went missing on Jan. 31, 2013, detectives discovered a surveillance clip of her on one of the elevators. Let's review what actually happens in the bizarre video. When Lam enters the elevator, she presses down on a column of buttons and moves to a corner. She peeks out of the elevator, looks both ways, and coils right back in. A few moments later, she steps out, strangely moving her feet in almost a square dance motion. Lam then goes back into the elevator and presses on the buttons again. Going out, she oddly waves her hands as though she's wading through water or conjuring a spell — it almost looks like she's gesticulating to someone outside. Eventually, Lam steps out of the frame permanently. Only after she leaves does the elevator close. A moment later, it opens and closes twice, but there's no one outside. It's very odd behavior, and it especially feels unsettling given that it's the last footage that we'll ever see of her.
On Feb. 13, the LAPD released the video to the public, hoping to gather relevant information. A swarm of internet sleuths shared their thoughts through posts on Reddit forums, published YouTube videos, and tips to the investigators. Here were the key observations that viewers from all over brought up:
Ultimately, Lam's toxicology report revealed that she was likely undertaking medication for her bipolar disorder, which possibly caused a psychotic episode that led to her strange behavior. Officials ultimately ruled that her death was due to an accidental drowning with her mental illness as a significant factor. It's clear, however, that the unsettling elevator video has played a critical role in sensationalizing the investigation among the online sleuth community.