Web sleuths have been keen on this explanation, especially after watching the notorious elevator video. The footage led people to believe that a hotel employee or someone who had control over one held the elevator open. It even looked like Lam was talking to someone in the surveillance footage. At one point in the clip, it also appeared as though there was another foot. The distorted time code and apparent cuts in the videos only added to the panic — it made people suspicious that the police or hotel was trying to cover something up.
People believed that Lam may have had a stalker or a date gone wrong. The Cecil had a reputation for unsavory guests and residents, so she could have crossed paths with the wrong person. Online sleuths were eager to find the killer, even going so far as to target a Mexican death metal musician for her death. While there weren't signs of trauma on her body, some speculated that she could have been forced to climb up the water tank at gunpoint.
Other than the video, one major reason why people believed there was a killer was based on a miscommunication: that the water tank lid was closed. How could she have closed the lid on herself? The police initially informed people that it was closed, which fueled suspicions about foul play. However, the detectives on her case and the worker who discovered her confirmed that the lid was open when they discovered her body.
Lam's death also strangely shared similarities with the 2002 supernatural movie Dark Water, which also involved an elevator and a water tank. And, not to mention, some hotel guests said that the water was discolored, just like in the movie. It almost looked like someone was setting up an elaborate trap for Lam to replicate its plot — but more on the supernatural soon.
