34°02′40″N 118°15′04″W / 34.0444°N 118.2510°W
Elisa Lam | |
---|---|
藍可兒 | |
Born | Lam Ho-yi April 30, 1991[1] Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
Disappeared | January 31, 2013 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Died | c. February 1, 2013 (aged 21) |
Cause of death | Accidental drowning |
Body discovered | February 19, 2013 Stay on Main, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Education | University of British Columbia |
Occupation | Student |
Chinese name | |
Traditional Chinese | 藍可兒 |
Simplified Chinese | 蓝可儿 |
Hanyu Pinyin | Lán Kě'ér |
Yale Romanization | Làahm Hó-yìh |
Jyutping | Laam4 Ho2ji4 |
On February 19, 2013, the body of Canadian tourist Elisa Lam (born as Lam Ho-yi; Chinese: 藍可兒) was recovered from a large cistern atop the Stay on Main hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, where she had been a guest. She was last seen alive on January 31 and was reported missing by her parents on February 8. Her body was discovered by a hotel maintenance worker investigating complaints of flooding and low water pressure.[2][3]
Interest in Lam's disappearance increased on February 13 when the Los Angeles Police Department released security camera footage of her behaving erratically in a hotel elevator on the day she was last seen alive. The video went viral.[4][5] While an autopsy performed on February 21 was inconclusive in determining the manner of Lam's death,[6] the Los Angeles County Coroner's office subsequently ruled the death an accident with bipolar disorder being a significant contributing factor.[7]
Guests at the Stay on Main sued the hotel over the incident and Lam's parents filed a separate suit later that year; the latter was dismissed in 2015. Some of the early Internet interest noted what were considered to be unusual similarities between Lam's death and the 2005 horror film Dark Water.[3] The case has since been referenced in international popular culture and been the subject of several creative works.
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