Elisa Lam was a 21-year-old Chinese-Canadian tourist/student who, while on a vacation, went missing from Los Angeles Cecil Hotel on January 31, 2013. Later, on February 19, her body was discovered by a hotel maintenance staff, in one of the rooftop tanks, while looking into guests’ complaint of low water pressure and murky water. Her case attracted much attention from media and public after LAPD released a security camera footage in which she was seen behaving strangely in a hotel elevator. The footage went viral and gave rise to numerous theories and explanations about her actions. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office later ruled her death an accident with bipolar disorder being a significant contributing factor. It has been pointed out that her case bears an uncanny resemblance to the 2002 horror film Dark Water. Her case has also inspired various documentaries and songs including the 2021 Netflix docuseries Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel and a two-hour special in Discovery+ show Ghost Adventures.
