Cecil Hotel could have been a tight, concise mystery. It puts me at ease to know that ultimately, I get more enjoyment from learning about the good (the survivors and those who solve the cases) than the bad (the killers and the crimes themselves). People creeped out by the footage online have suggested various spooky theories including connections to the movie Dark Water, based on the story published in 1996 and the movie released in 2002 (they are eerily similar) and the elevator game a sort of urban legend where pressing various keys in sequence is supposed to give the player access to another dimension (heres a good explanation of the game and its heritage). But there's no documentation or visual evidence to confirm, nor did he kill any victims there, as tall tales might suggest. What blood was still there, however, showed traces of the prescription medication she was taking along with non-prescription drugs, including Sinutab and ibuprofen. Both were killed instantly. Unterweger basically convinced everyone who mattered that he had changed. Was she murdered? Feb. 10, 2021 11:21 AM PT The chilling death of Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian tourist whose body was discovered in the water tank of a Los Angeles hotel, Its a very famous case with many theories posited across the internet, which captured peoples imaginations after some very odd footage of Lam was released by the LAPD, hoping to find out what happened to her. All Rights Reserved. Ahead, we've put together a timeline of Elisa Lam's disappearance and death to straighten out the facts. The most recent death was of a 21-year-old college student, Elisa Lam, who disappeared on January 31, 2013. }); The documentary leans into the verdict that it was an accident that Lam was having an episode brought on by not taking her medication for bipolar, that she climbed out of the fire escape, climbed up the outside of the building, got into the water tank, removed her own clothing, was unable to get out (assuming she tried) and drowned. Management even rebranded part of the Cecil as a trendy youth hostel called "Stay on Main" to distance away from its unsettling background. Theres even a discussion of serial killer Richard Ramirezhang on, didnt I just watch Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer on Netflix only a month ago? 22 hours ago, by Yerin Kim } The four-episode docuseries is already facingcriticism (opens in new tab)for approaching the tragedy in a way that often feels disrespectful and exploitative, but one undeniably compelling part of the story is its setting, as the Cecil Hotel has a long history of popping up in some of the country's most gruesome crimes. Elisa Lam's roommates at Cecil Hotel had complained of 'odd behavior' in the days leading up to her death. In January 2013, 21-year-old Elisa Lam was staying at the Cecil when she suddenly vanished, igniting a total media frenzy. It goes into intricate detail about their methods, taking us with them on the journey of how they track down the killer to an astonishingly exact location. 'gtm.start': Yes, Scream VI Marketing Is Behind the Creepy Ghostface Sightings Causing Scares Across the U.S. David Oyelowo, Taylor Sheridan's 'Bass Reeves' Series at Paramount+ Casts King Richard Star Demi Singleton (EXCLUSIVE), Star Trek: Discovery to End With Season 5, Paramount+ Pushes Premiere to 2024. Send me updates about Slate special offers. } else { Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel - The Elevator Game Explained, the details surrounding the Elisa Lam case, American Horror Story Explains Why So Much Crime Happens At The Cecil Hotel, The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel Reveals The Danger Of Online Sleuths, How Long Grogu Trained With Luke Skywalker Before Mandalorian Season 3, Abby's Mother Reveal In Night Court Resolves The Harry/Christine Romance, Young Sheldon Has No Excuse For Failing Missy After Paige's Return. After traveling to the fifth floor amysteriouswoman will enter the elevator, thoughplayers must not look at or speak to her. The footage circulated widely online, it just went absolutely viral. Some of these facts wouldn't add much to the story, but they are interesting to know nonetheless. Elisa Lam in the elevator. The Cecil Hotel. 1. display: none !important; oldonload(); if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. ga('ads.send', { Since it opened in the 1920s, the Cecil has been an epicenter of crimes such as robbery, assault, rape, and more. Netflix documentary Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel explores the strange case of Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian woman who disappeared in January 2013 while she was staying at the Cecil Hotel in downtown LA. Spending half your documentary suggesting this man, pushed to the brink by an online mob, could have been responsible for Lam's death is senseless and potentially damaging. Unfortunately for the hotel's owners, within just a few years of the Cecil's opening, the Great Depression sunk in, which not only limited the number of travelers looking for a fancy place to stay, but also turned the area surrounding the hotel into what is now known as Skid Row. },false) Mark Serrels is an award-winning Senior Editorial Director focused on all things culture. Lam, also known by her Cantonese name, Lam Ho Yi, was the daughter of Hong Kong immigrants and had been staying at the hotel for less than a week by then. Its possible that perhaps Lams odd behavior is her trying to activate a motion sensor in the lift, trying to get the doors to close and not realising that shed pressed the door hold button. It's irresponsible and dishonest, indulging conspiracy theories that put already vulnerable victims at further risk. Shows like Criminal Minds base episodes on real casesall the time. Among the list of medicines prescribed to her were those for ADHD and bipolar disorder (which she was diagnosed with), mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and antidepressants. NEXT: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel Reveals The Danger Of Online Sleuths. Ever since Netflix released the trailer for its upcoming true crime series,Crime Scene: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel, I cant stop thinking about it. From director Joe Berlinger, previously of Netflixs Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, Crime Scene introduces several narrative threads without tying them together until its too late. }); He regularly had sex workers in his room at the Cecil, but no one knew that he was a convicted killer. With the help of Serial and its podcast descendants, a love of true crime became a respectable pastime, an accomplishment that Netflixs recent productions risk undoing with their emphasis on dramatization and flare. It's an overly long mess of a documentary that disrespects its audience and the story it's trying to tell but, worst of all, disrespects the victims. ga('ads.send', { According to a newspaper clipping, Purcell didnt want to wake up Levine, so she went to the hotel bathroom on the same floor and delivered the baby alone. }) Elisa Lam, whose Cantonese name is Lam Ho Yi, was a 21-year-old Canadian former student born to parents from Hong Kong. window.dm.AjaxEvent = function(et, d, ssid, ad){ Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel is a 2021 American docu-series you want to skip. In addition to its notoriety as ground zero for countless crimes, the Cecil also has a curious habit of popping up in some of the country's most heinous criminal cases, even if they didn't actually take place at the hotel. change_link = false; } change_link = true; } Making true crime fans the subject of a true crime documentary isnt necessarily a fatal flaw. The Hotel itself which is situated on Skid Row (an area rife with drugs, crime, poverty, and homelessness) has a long established reputation for weirdness. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotOnload', function(event) { Robyn function external_links_in_new_windows_loop() { Lam was a student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, though she was not registered at the beginning of 2013. Given that the Cecil has been riddled with death and crime, many web sleuths were convinced by theories of ghosts and foul play. Cecil Hotel, or Hotel Death as its otherwise known as, was my first foray into true crime history. When he was released, women started disappearing and dying near him, even though he presented himself as a reformed man. This further solidified for some people the stories over the decades that the hotel is actually haunted by spirits. Photos via Netflix. // Load While on parole, Unterweger strangled nine sex workers to death in both Austria and Los Angeles. She landed on a 65-year-old pedestrian named George Gianinni, and both were instantly killed. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel is bloated, dull and confusing. Its an intriguing mystery, but, at least based on Crime Scene, not enough to be the centerpiece of a four-hour series. 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' will premiere on Netflix on February 10, at 12 AM PST. She called her family every day until January 31, when her parents reported her missing. Some people think its part of a cover up a plot perhaps between the police and the Cecil but the officers who worked the case insist its not that. After three episodes of unpacking the mysterious disappearance of Elisa Lam, the infamous Cecil Hotel in which she was last seen, the fraught history of downtown Los Angeles, and even several truly confusing web sleuth theories about what might have happened, the new Netflix series reaches a perhaps unsatisfying conclusion: that the simplest explanation is almost definitely the right one. One particular piece of information, deliberately withheld near the beginning, is used to create mystery and debate around the nature of Lam's death for the entirety of the show, only to be resolved almost casually near the end of the final episode. In the middle of the day, somebody raped, stabbed, and strangled Osgood, leaving her on her bed. Strangely, among all the belongings that Lam left in her hotel room, her phone was reportedly never found. All rights reserved. Vancouver pop duo The Zolas created a music video for their song "Ancient Mars" in 2014 that is set up to look like the last day of Lam's life,humanizing her as a regular young woman versus just someone suffering from mental illness. 21 hours ago, by Njera Perkins While the coroner was able to deliver toxicology results, they were actually incomplete since not enough of Lam's blood was preserved after being submerged in water for 19 days. It's definitely possible that it's true since the night clerk, who reported that Ramirez smoked marijuana in his room and played rock 'n' roll music, would have no reason to lie. // forced Heres how it works. For nearly a century the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles has been linked to some of the citys most notorious activity, from untimely deaths to housing serial killers, the synopsis reads. The unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short is easily one of the most shocking cases in Los Angeles history. There are all sort of theories about whats going on here that she might be hiding from someone in the corridor, or even playing a game with them, that shes trying to escape from someone who is holding the lift doors open or that she might have been experiencing hallucinations. But its worrying that Netflix feels the need to enable such questionable methods. Whilst staying at the Cecil Hotel in downtown L.A. Elisa went missing, only to be found dead days later in one of the water tanks located on the hotels roof. She is also a contributor to High on Films & Fansided, and an editor at Digital Mafia Talkies. } ()); Crime Scene: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel is the latest obsession from Netflix for true crime fans. if(document.links[t].hasAttribute('onClick') == false) { While she was initially assigned a hostel-style shared room on the hotel's fifth floor, when her roommates complained about "certain odd behavior" according to the hotel's lawyer, she was moved to a room of her own for two days. American Murder: The Family Next Door: How Far is Too Far for True Crime? This is an unsatisfying conclusion for many internet detectives but with absolutely no suspects, no evidence of injury to her body, no reason to think it was suicide and no other logical explanation, this is where we find ourselves. One such occurrence that made headlines in 1964 was the sexual assault and brutal murder of "Pigeon Goldie" Osgood, who had earned her nickname from her habit of feeding the pigeons in nearby Pershing Square, and whose death remains unsolved, according toCNN (opens in new tab). Instead, we are taken on winding tangents about Skid Row, downtown Los Angeles, and the supposedly creepy history of the Cecil Hotel. He covers TV, movies, anime, video games and whatever weird things are happening on the internet. Committing the bulk of his attacks in 1985, Ramirez entered homes through unlocked doors and windows. The series follows the story of Elisa Lam, a young Canadian woman who mysteriously disappeared from a Los Angeles hotel, only to turn up dead in the hotels water tank two weeks later. Unfortunately, Lams death isnt the only shocking occurrence connected to the Cecil Hotel, here are six more. Only to reveal -- in the final 10 minutes -- that almost everything they said was complete horseshit. Purcell was arrested for murder, but she was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The Cecil is located right next to downtown Los Angeles's Skid Row, an area systemically impacted by homelessness, mental illness, and drug abuse. Cecil Hotel has a long history with criminal activity. True crime fandom is rife with ethical quandaries, but most fans are attracted to the subject because of their fascination in the why, rather than the how. WATCH: Do Uni Students Have Skin Care Routines? Another summary showed that she had taken at least one antidepressant that day, had taken her second antidepressant and mood stabilizer recently, but not that day, and that she had not taken her antipsychotic recently. So, what were the unspeakable crimes at the Cecil? eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), But not for the reasons you might expect. 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel': Release date, plot and all you need to know about Netflix show on LA's 'deadliest hotel', Rebecca Zahau was found hanging naked with arms and legs bound but her family are certain it was not suicide. But in feeding, and stoking, that appetite, Netflixs true crime tsunami risks sweeping away the frameworks that true crime authors and fans have spent decades building, and stripping away a layer of respectability that the long-disreputable genre has only recently acquired. window.dm = window.dm ||{ AjaxData:[]}; eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), 1. I Cannot Stop Laughing at This Prince Harry Book Display, Netflixs Smuttiest Show Has Some Very Peculiar Ideas About the Male Anatomy, After 50 Years of Hip-Hop, Its Time to Legalize the Idea at Its Core. Crime Scenes diversions, on the other hand, feel like an effort to ramp up the spookiness of the story and stretch out the mystery to fill out Netflixs multipart templatethe creators of Making a Murderer, which laid the groundwork for the services true crime boom, initially pitched an eight-hour series, and Netflix suggested 10. Tried-and-True Tips for Women Business Owners, From a Trusted Small Business Banker, The 75 Best K-Dramas You'll Be Completely Hooked On, Selena Gomez Revealed Meryl Streep Is Joining 'Only Murders in the Building' Season 3, The 56 Best Musical Movies of All Time: Iconic Movie Musicals, Sophia Brown on Joining the World of The Witcher: Blood Origin, 'Ginny & Georgia' Season 2: Everything We Know, The Cast of 'The Crown' Season 5: Your Guide. The toxicology report on Lam showed that she had consumed a number of medical drugs. window.onload = func; document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ She resides in Toronto, Ontario in Canada with her husband and young son.