I’m sure you all know the dark stories of the Cecil Hotel, and if not, the Cecil Hotel was a luxurious hotel in downtown Los Angeles. It opened on December 20, 1924. As I said it was initially a luxury hotel, but over the years it has become known for its troubled history and has built a horrible reputation. Ever since the hotel has opened, there has been numerous suicides, paranormal activities, and it was known as home to serial killers. The Cecil Hotel is still open to this day.
There have been many cases of suicides and deaths in the Cecil Hotel year after year, and some of these mysteries aren’t even solved. The hotel has also been linked with infamous figures like the serial killers Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger. But the most mysterious case is the death of 21 year old Elisa Lam who was a Canadian college student staying at the Cecil Hotel. She checked in on January 28, 2013. Elisa was last seen on January 31st. Her disappearance gave rise to a widespread search. The most uncertain aspect of the case is the elevator footage from the day she went missing. The footage is Elisa walking into the elevator and pressing a bunch of buttons without closing the elevator doors. She was recorded standing in the corner taking a peek outside the elevator and jumping out of the doors, then taking paused steps one by one to get back into the elevator. Next, according to the footage, she presses a bunch of buttons again as she smiles up to the elevator camera, and then she leaves the elevator again and starts doing weird hand gestures. Elisa finally leaves the elevator area, but still, no one knows if she was trying to scare off a stalker or if she was possessed.
About a couple weeks after Elisa’s disappearance, guests at the hotel started complaining about the water pressure, the taste of the water, and how the water was black. After getting all those complaints by different residents, on February 19, 2024 a maintenance worker of the Cecil Hotel checked the water tanks. As he was checking them there he found Elisa’s body. In conclusion, Elisa Lam’s case is still unsolved with detectives, residents, and hotel workers still trying to figure out if she did it herself with a bad spirit or if she was murdered by a night stalker.
