Elisa Lam Conspiracy Theory By: Tyler Cruz

Tyler Cruz

Composition 1

Fall 2016

Final Project

The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam

Twenty-one year old Elisa Lam was a Canadian student at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Romero). Elisa left her home in January, 2013, to embark on a trip to Southern California (Romero). On January 26, Elisa arrived in Los Angeles, California. After touring around Los Angeles, Elisa checked into The Cecil Hotel, near downtown Los Angeles. After staying at the hotel for nearly five days, Elisa mysteriously disappeared (Romero). Word of her disappearance was widely reported throughout various news outlets. Suspicion of her disappearance increased when the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) released shocking footage of Elisa Lam’s last known sighting, before her body was discovered on top of The Cecil Hotel’s water tower (Romero).Many conspiracy theories have surfaced about what might happened to her, such as she killed herself, she was murdered, assassinated, and theories have even popped up that she might have been possessed by the paranormal. Now, the question remains, “What caused the mysterious death of Elisa Lam”?

Twenty-one year old Elisa Lam struggled with depression and a bipolar disorder, although she was depressed she was a very outgoing person. In order to deal with her condition Lam had been prescribed four types of drugs: Wellbutrin, Lamictal, Seroquel, and Effexor (Nair). Even though she suffered from these conditions, Elisa had no history of suicidal ideation or attempts according to her parents who supposedly kept her condition a secret (Van Der Merwe). Although, one report, has claimed that Elisa had in fact, briefly gone missing at an earlier time in her life (Van Der Merwe).

            Elisa was an avid blogger; she began a blog on Blogspot under the name, Ether Fields (Lam). Over the course of the next two years, Lam posted pictures of notable models in fashionable clothing, as well as posted pictures accounting her life, particularly with her struggle of her disorders (Van Der Merwe). Two years later, Lam announced that she would be deleting her blog in order to maintain her new blog that she started on Tumblr in March 2011 (Lam). Her content and posts on her new blog were heavier on newly found photos, mostly of clothes, quotes, and even a few posts in Lam’s own words (Van Der Merwe).

Much like any other person, coiled up deep inside of Elisa was her internal conflicts that no one knew about. Her depression and bipolar really took a toll on her life, and in January, 2012, Elisa posted quote on her Tumblr page titled: "You're always haunted by the idea you're wasting your life" after a quotation from novelist Chuck Palahni (Lam). Elisa used the quote as an epigraph for her blog. Elisa rued that a “relapse” at the start of her current school year had forced her to drop several of her classes, leaving her to feel as she said on her blog, “so utterly directionless and lost.”(Lam). This created both an external and internal conflict within her. The internal conflict within her was her constant worry and stress that her transcript would look very suspicious with so many withdrawals and dropped classes. The external conflict of the situation was her various withdrawals and dropped classes on her transcript and how it could affect her ability to continue her academic career and attend a graduate school (Van Der Merwe).

Elisa Lam’s depression and bipolar disorder have been blamed for many things that have gone wrong in her life, such as her struggles in school and even her death. Elisa's condition had a big impact on her ability to learn in school. Her struggles with depression caused her to miss more classes than she attended in college (Nair). Lam’s condition has also been linked to her death (Van Der Merwe). Conspiracy theorists believe that her bipolar disorder may have caused Elisa to act the way she did in the viral elevator video of her (Young). The video shows Elisa exiting and re-entering the elevator, talking and gesturing towards the hallway outside, and sometimes hiding within the elevator (Van Der Merwe). There is no known reason that caused Elisa to act as she did in the video, but her disorder is the strongest cause. Elisa's life was sadly cut short. Five days after the LAPD released the chilling the video, her body was found inside of one of the water tanks on top of The Cecil Hotel. Sadly, there was no closure given to her family as to how she died.

Those who knew Elisa Lam said she will be remembered for her sweet smile and her cheerful and charismatic personality, even though she bipolar and depressed. Elisa’s friends, described her as a very caring and conscientious person, High school classmate, Alex Ristea, described her as “one of the friendliest people he knew (Nair).” Yvonne Chung attended the same high school as Lam and described her as “incredibly outgoing and really, she had the sweetest smile,” and somebody who was friends with everybody (Nair). Katie Orphan, a manager of a bookstore near the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, California, was one of the only people who ever recalled seeing Elisa Lam on the day of her unfortunate disappearance. She described her as “very outgoing, very lively, and very friendly,” while Elisa was getting gifts to take home to her family (Nair). Elisa was one of those people who left a mark on you, she was the kind of person who would cheer you up with her cheerful personality and her sweet smile. Teika Steins, manager of Planet Traveler, said Lam stayed at the Toronto hotel for about a week in early December and she went on to say “We have a lot of people come and go, but when you have people like Elisa who are cheerful all the time and very welcoming to people, you just remember them” (Nair).

There has been numerous conspiracy theories that have surfaced about what truly caused Elisa Lam’s death. These conspiracy theories lead us to believe that Elisa Lam could have potentially killed herself, or that she could have been murdered, assassinated, and some theories have even surfaced suggesting that she could have been possessed by a paranormal being. Now, the question remains, “What caused the mysterious death of Elisa Lam”?

The conspiracy theory about Elisa Lam that seems the most plausible is the theory that she committed suicide. Elisa suffered from both depression and bi-polarity for her whole life (Van Der Merwe). Many believe that Elisa’s bipolarity had pushed her over the edge and caused her to have a psychotic episode that influenced her to act out the way she did in the surveillance video released by the LAPD (Van Der Merwe). The bipolar disorder has driven over 75% of men with the disorder to commit suicide, and nearly twice as many females have attempted suicide as well (Van Der Merwe). Elisa Lam also suffered from depression which is scarcely linked to suicide with just about 15% of people who are clinically depressed die due to suicide (Van Der Merwe). With the two disorders put together the chance of suicide is increased drastically, thus concluding that suicide might be one of the most plausible theories as to how Elisa Lam died.

            Another plausible theory as to what caused Elisa Lam's death, is the theory that she could have potentially been murdered. To this day there has been no conclusive evidence that could eliminate or validate the possibility of homicide being the cause of Elisa's death (Smashing Life). In Elisa's Tumblr blog, she talked about how she was having issues with ‘creepers’ within the hotel, thus suggesting that she could have had a stalker following her around town (Lam). There has been talk suggesting that Elisa could have been killed by one of the numerous workers or even a fellow guest at the Cecil Hotel. The theory that a hotel worker killed Elisa Lam's seems very plausible; having help would be the only way she could have gotten through a door that sets off an alarm when opened, up a tall latter, and hop inside a water tank with no fixed access (Smashing Life). The biggest evidence suggesting that she was murdered by a hotel worker is the fact that the doors and stairs that access the roof are locked and only employees have the password and keys to go to the roof, and any blunt force to try to gain access to the door will sound an alarm (Smashing Life). With all of these various factors tied together, homicide is a very plausible theory as to what might have caused Elisa Lam's unfortunate death.

The last theory is a rather bizarre theory that suggests that Elisa Lam was possessed by a paranormal being. This theory is linked to the Cecil Hotel’s dark and gruesome past. The hotel has been home to one of the world’s most notorious serial killers, Richard Ramirez (Smashing Life). The hotel has also been the sight of many unsolved murders as well as countless suicides. This all suggests that while she was pressing randoms buttons inside of the elevator she could have been possessed by a dark spirit that could have prompted her to commit suicide. This hotel is rumored to be haunted by the many spirits that have died within its walls. Many people have claimed to have mysteriously been choked by thin air, and even an account of woman being mysteriously choked to death, but her supposed ‘killer’ was never found (Van Der Merwe). The hotel is supposedly consumed with spirits that contains dark energy with evil intentions. With the new knowledge of the hotel’s past, the theory that Elisa was possessed seems like an actual possibility as to what caused her death.

In a survey conducted by myself I asked my fellow peers and family whether they believe Elisa Lam killed herself or not. Nearly half of the responses that I received from my survey were a definite yes, they believe Elisa Lam did in fact commit suicide. The responses were very positive in the way that I expected them to be. Elisa Lam committing suicide seems like one of the most accurate and plausible theory as to what truly happened to Elisa Lam.

As a result of the many theory's that have been discussed in this paper, I feel a sense of being tied between each and every conspiracy theory within this heartbreaking story. Each one seems accurate in their own little way. Suicide seems plausible due to the fact that Elisa suffered from a bipolar disorder and also suffered from depression, both of which is linked to suicide.The theory that she could have been murdered by hotel worker also seems very plausible because how else would Elisa be able to sneak past locked and alarmed doors without a worker opening it for her. Lastly, the theory that she was possessed by a paranormal being that might have influenced her to commit suicide seems plausible due to the Cecil Hotel’s dark and gruesome past. Due to the various theories and their good defense against one another, I remain neutral and tied as to what theory I believe is the cause of Elisa Lam’s death. But which ever is true, this whole predicament is a very sad situation for Elisa Lam’s family who has yet to receive any closure as to what caused her unfortunate death.

Elisa Lam’s mysterious death remains unsolved to this day. Her unusual and bizarre death led to the development of three interesting conspiracy theories:

1.      Did Elisa Commit Suicide?

2.      Was Elisa murdered?

3.      Was Elisa possessed by a paranormal being?

Although all of these theories are plausible in their own way, the mystery remains unsolved as to what truly happened to Elisa Lam on January 31^st, 2013.

Work Cited

Lam, Elisa. "Nouvelle-nouveau." Nouvelle/nouveau. N.p., 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Lam, Elisa. ""You." Ether Fields: “You’re Always Haunted by the Idea You’re Wasting Your

Life.” N.p., 27 Jan. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Nair, Drishya. "Elisa Lam Death: Friends Call Her Caring and Conscientious, Autopsy Result

Inconclusive." International Business Times RSS. International Business Times, 01 July 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Romero, Dennis. "Surveillance Video of Elisa Lam in the Elevator." YouTube.

YouTube, 13 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

Smashing Life. "4 Theories: What Was Elisa Lam Doing Just before She Died in This Video?"

Smashing Life, 31 Oct. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Van Der Merwe, Marelise. "Elisa Lam: The Mystery You Should Care about." Home. Daily

Maverick, 12 Dec. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Young, Ian. "Disgust at Plan to Turn Elisa Lam's Water Tank Death into Horror Movie." South

China Morning Post. South China Morning Post, 5 Mar. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.