The top 10 bizarre elements of the Elisa Lam saga continue to baffle both true‑crime aficionados and casual readers alike. From a haunted hotel in a notorious district to cryptic clues that seem ripped from a horror screenplay, each piece of the puzzle adds a fresh layer of intrigue to an already unsettling story.
top 10 bizarre Overview
Before we plunge into the details, remember that every fragment below is drawn from the official case file, eyewitness accounts, and the many documentaries that have tried to make sense of what happened. Buckle up, because the ride gets stranger with every numbered entry.
10 Skid Row
The tale of Elisa Lam begins in one of America’s most perilous neighborhoods: Los Angeles’ infamous Skid Row. This district, riddled with drug activity and rampant crime, houses the notorious Cecil Hotel—affectionately dubbed “The Suicide” by its long‑term residents. Known locally as Stay on Main, the budget hotel has long served as a temporary refuge for the homeless, sex workers, and addicts seeking a cheap night’s sleep.
Opened in 1924 with over 600 rooms spread across fifteen floors, the Cecil quickly earned a grim reputation for violence, suicide, and murder—at least thirteen suicides have been recorded there since 1927. Its low rates made it an attractive option for unsuspecting travelers like Elisa, who were hunting an affordable stay in downtown LA.
9 Unwanted Attention
Elisa was an avid Tumblr user, sharing every slice of her life online. In a post dated January 27, 2013, she confessed to feeling uneasy about unwanted male attention, writing, “I’m going out tonight… I really hope no creeper comes near me… seriously though… those Italian and Mexican guys go after you STRONG.”
Security footage from her final day captures her entering the Cecil lobby flanked by two men. They handed her a mysterious box before disappearing. The identity of those men, their motives, and the contents of that box remain a perplexing mystery.
8 Mental Health
Elisa’s Tumblr, Nouvelle‑Nouveau, provided a window into her inner turmoil. She posted openly about suicidal thoughts, and friends and family were aware of her fragile mental state. One entry read, “Depression sucks. Period. If someone says they have depression, don’t ask why. There is no why. Tell them every day you love them. Remind them every day it will get better.”
In another candid post, she admitted, “Today has been one of those blah days full of apathy. Really dangerous too; I can see myself feeling suicidal and it always scares me when I start feeling suicidal.”
The documentary “The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” revealed that Elisa had been prescribed at least four medications for bipolar disorder. Toxicology reports, however, detected only trace amounts, leading coroner Jason Tovar to note that “she was undertaking her medications.”
These revelations paint a portrait of a young woman battling severe mental health challenges while navigating an environment that amplified her vulnerability.
7 Hotel Manager
Amy Price, the manager of the Cecil at the time, interacted closely with Elisa and was among the last to see her alive. In her courtroom testimony, Price explained that Elisa was originally booked into a dorm‑style room shared with other women, but her “odd behavior” prompted a room change.
According to Price, Elisa left notes such as “get out” and “go home” on her roommates’ beds, locked them out, and demanded a password for re‑entry. While the Cecil regularly accommodates guests with eccentric habits, Price recounted that Elisa’s actions in the lobby the day before her disappearance were especially unsettling.
6 Television Taping
During her California vacation, Elisa attended a live television taping as part of the audience. She penned a rambling letter and became fixated on delivering it to the show’s host. However, security deemed her behavior disruptive and a potential danger to other audience members, escorting her out of the studio.
The contents of that enigmatic letter and the intensity of Elisa’s desire to hand it over remain unanswered, adding another layer of intrigue to her final days.
5 Dark Water
While investigators continued searching for Elisa, guests at the Cecil began reporting low water pressure and an odd taste. Maintenance worker Santiago Lopez climbed to the roof to inspect the water tanks. He discovered the main tank’s latch open—and, to his horror, Elisa’s lifeless body floating face‑up just twelve inches from the tank’s rim.
Initial reports claimed the tank’s latch had been closed, suggesting someone else must have opened it, as Elisa could not have done so herself while submerged. This discrepancy fueled speculation about foul play.
The macabre scene mirrors the plot of the 2005 horror film “Dark Water,” in which a young girl’s corpse is found in a building’s rooftop water tank.
4 Morbid Musician
Numerous theories swirled around Elisa’s death, with some alleging murder. One particularly sensational claim implicated a metal musician known as Morbid, who occasionally wore frightening makeup. Proponents pointed to a video he posted a year earlier showing him staying at the Cecil.
Closer scrutiny debunked this theory, revealing it was based solely on Morbid’s aesthetic and a single video. The dismissal prompted further questions about who might have fabricated the story, especially given the Cecil’s history of housing notorious figures like the Night Stalker and Jack Unterweger.
3 Tuberculosis Outbreak
Another outlandish theory suggested Elisa was a test subject for an experimental tuberculosis medication. Ghost Theory, a website dedicated to paranormal speculation, linked her strange behavior to potential side‑effects of anti‑TB drugs.
Elisa attended the University of British Columbia, home to a renowned TB research center. The theory posits that she “knew too much” and was silenced. Coincidentally, shortly after her body was discovered, a TB outbreak erupted on Skid Row, and the acronym LAM‑ELISA is the name of a TB diagnostic test.
2 The Last Bookstore
The final public sighting of Elisa occurred at The Last Bookstore in downtown LA, the same spot where the two men who carried the mysterious box originated. Supposedly, the box contained books she had purchased but couldn’t carry back to her room.
Adding a bizarre twist, the bookstore’s domain registration lists a postal code—V5G 4S2—that, when entered into Google Maps, points directly to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Canada, the location of Elisa’s burial site.
1 Elevator Footage
The crown jewel of this list is the chilling elevator surveillance video released to the public. The footage is riddled with a deliberately altered timestamp and a brief missing segment, leaving viewers with more questions than answers. Yet it’s Elisa’s erratic behavior that truly unsettles.
At the video’s start, Elisa steps into the elevator and begins pressing a series of buttons. After a pause, she appears visibly frightened, peeks out to see if anyone is watching, then retreats back inside, hiding in a corner. She repeats the process, moving in a seemingly choreographed pattern—first forming a square, then swaying side‑to‑side.
She briefly exits the frame, returns clutching her head and gripping the elevator rail as if unsteady. More button presses follow, and she steps out again. The footage abruptly cuts, the elevator doors close, and the next visual we receive is Elisa’s naked body discovered in the water tank atop the hotel.
The Los Angeles County Coroner ultimately ruled the death an accidental drowning, citing bipolar disorder as a significant contributing factor. Nonetheless, the eerie elevator clip remains the most unsettling artifact of the case.