1 00:00:10,322 --> 00:00:12,408 [tense music playing] 2 00:00:18,622 --> 00:00:20,332 [man] I find beauty in darkness. 3 00:00:23,294 --> 00:00:24,962 It just resonates with my soul. 4 00:00:28,215 --> 00:00:31,510 The music that I do is called black metal. 5 00:00:33,804 --> 00:00:37,391 It's perdition and doom. 6 00:00:40,603 --> 00:00:42,897 Morbid, it's, uh, my stage name. 7 00:00:44,940 --> 00:00:48,360 It's the physical representation of my dark subconscious. 8 00:00:50,738 --> 00:00:52,364 Everyone has a shadow self. 9 00:00:52,448 --> 00:00:56,285 Everyone has a secret self that they hide from others. 10 00:00:58,329 --> 00:01:01,874 I believe in, uh, embracing the monster in me. 11 00:01:03,584 --> 00:01:06,337 You know, I can do whatever I want when I'm "Morbid." 12 00:01:07,296 --> 00:01:09,048 Like, I can get away with anything. 13 00:01:09,131 --> 00:01:10,716 [black metal playing] 14 00:01:12,802 --> 00:01:14,512 If it's bloody, then it's bloody. 15 00:01:15,429 --> 00:01:19,183 And sometimes I take it too far. 16 00:01:33,197 --> 00:01:35,699 [woman] This guy Morbid must have killed Elisa Lam. 17 00:01:37,243 --> 00:01:39,161 [woman 2] He was staying at the hotel. 18 00:01:39,703 --> 00:01:43,541 [man] She was a sitting duck and was easily manipulated by this perp punk. 19 00:01:43,624 --> 00:01:45,417 [man 2] Everyone suspects him. 20 00:01:46,252 --> 00:01:48,712 [Harlowe] People thought that all the connections 21 00:01:48,796 --> 00:01:51,257 between this Morbid person… 22 00:01:51,340 --> 00:01:53,384 [Morbid] I'm here in the Cecil Hotel. 23 00:01:53,467 --> 00:01:54,552 …and Elisa Lam 24 00:01:55,719 --> 00:01:57,930 could not be just some random coincidence. 25 00:01:59,557 --> 00:02:05,563 So it became this call to action to do something about Morbid. 26 00:02:06,272 --> 00:02:07,982 [man] We need to find him. 27 00:02:08,065 --> 00:02:10,276 [woman] Who is this guy? 28 00:02:10,359 --> 00:02:14,905 [Harlowe] They discover that his real name is Pablo Vergara. 29 00:02:16,282 --> 00:02:18,659 And they started writing to him. 30 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,495 [woman] You killed Elisa Lam, didn't you? 31 00:02:22,079 --> 00:02:23,497 [woman 2] Fucking murderer. 32 00:02:23,581 --> 00:02:25,166 [man] Just tell the truth! 33 00:02:27,209 --> 00:02:31,130 [Harlowe] To their surprise, he responded by posting a video. 34 00:02:31,213 --> 00:02:32,464 [black metal playing] 35 00:02:33,507 --> 00:02:35,176 [distorted voice] This is Morbid. 36 00:02:36,051 --> 00:02:40,347 I wanted to inform you, I am innocent. 37 00:02:43,184 --> 00:02:44,476 [uneasy music playing] 38 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:45,686 [elevator dings] 39 00:02:48,898 --> 00:02:51,525 [camera shutter clicking] 40 00:03:00,743 --> 00:03:03,037 [sounds of traffic] 41 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,372 [horns honking] 42 00:03:10,002 --> 00:03:12,129 [newsman] The initial autopsy is complete, 43 00:03:12,213 --> 00:03:16,258 but we are still a long way from knowing what happened to Elisa Lam. 44 00:03:16,342 --> 00:03:17,343 Jina You joins us. 45 00:03:17,426 --> 00:03:20,638 A lot of people were hoping this autopsy would give us answers. 46 00:03:21,138 --> 00:03:23,933 And those answers won't be coming for a while yet. 47 00:03:24,016 --> 00:03:26,310 We spoke with the L.A. coroner's office today, 48 00:03:26,393 --> 00:03:29,480 who told us the cause of death remains inconclusive 49 00:03:29,563 --> 00:03:33,025 and finding out how Elisa Lam died will require more tests. 50 00:03:40,366 --> 00:03:44,286 [Tovar] The coroner's office ultimately has the final say 51 00:03:44,370 --> 00:03:46,747 of what is really going on with that individual. 52 00:03:47,790 --> 00:03:48,874 They have a story, 53 00:03:48,958 --> 00:03:53,587 and in the end, we want to be able to provide that closure to that story. 54 00:03:55,798 --> 00:03:59,176 And in the case of Elisa Lam, after the autopsy, 55 00:03:59,260 --> 00:04:04,974 we really didn't know if it was foul play, suicide, or accidental death. 56 00:04:05,724 --> 00:04:10,813 So we had to wait a number of weeks for all the tests to come in. 57 00:04:12,273 --> 00:04:15,609 Eventually, I received the toxicology results. 58 00:04:18,946 --> 00:04:22,700 Given her bizarre behavior that was seen in the elevator, 59 00:04:23,284 --> 00:04:28,330 one possibility is that she is on a drug that is creating hallucinations. 60 00:04:30,499 --> 00:04:32,293 But I didn't identify any evidence 61 00:04:32,376 --> 00:04:36,922 that she was consuming alcohol or abusing any type of illicit drug. 62 00:04:40,718 --> 00:04:45,222 In any case where you have a history of depression or bipolar disorder, 63 00:04:45,306 --> 00:04:47,308 one of the things that you can look for 64 00:04:47,391 --> 00:04:51,353 is whether or not she took a large number of pills to try to kill herself… 65 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:54,732 and I didn't find that. 66 00:04:56,775 --> 00:04:58,777 The only drugs actually identified 67 00:04:58,861 --> 00:05:02,990 were her prescription medications for her bipolar disorder 68 00:05:03,574 --> 00:05:05,159 that she should have been on. 69 00:05:07,119 --> 00:05:11,373 However, the levels of the medications were very low. 70 00:05:12,624 --> 00:05:13,834 This is interesting. 71 00:05:16,879 --> 00:05:20,007 In looking at the description of the medications 72 00:05:20,090 --> 00:05:22,718 that were found at the scene in her bottles, 73 00:05:24,219 --> 00:05:27,222 there was a higher amount of pills in the bottles 74 00:05:27,306 --> 00:05:31,185 than what should have been in there for that fill date of those prescriptions. 75 00:05:31,894 --> 00:05:36,482 When we went back and looked at all of the levels in the toxicology results, 76 00:05:36,565 --> 00:05:39,651 comparing those to the prescriptions found at the scene, 77 00:05:39,735 --> 00:05:43,947 it also suggests that she was undertaking her medications. 78 00:05:47,284 --> 00:05:48,702 Why would somebody do that? 79 00:05:49,953 --> 00:05:51,580 What's really going on there? 80 00:05:54,333 --> 00:05:58,837 Looking for those answers, it's important we have an idea of her life 81 00:05:58,921 --> 00:06:00,547 before she ended up in L.A., 82 00:06:00,631 --> 00:06:04,301 and what may have been playing a role in her final days 83 00:06:04,385 --> 00:06:06,470 before she ended up in the tank. 84 00:06:17,564 --> 00:06:20,025 [Elisa Lam] Where would I be without the internet? 85 00:06:21,443 --> 00:06:23,737 I suppose we roam on the internet 86 00:06:23,821 --> 00:06:26,532 because we aren't able to find in our physical lives 87 00:06:27,449 --> 00:06:29,785 the human connection we need for survival. 88 00:06:30,452 --> 00:06:35,124 So we search endlessly online alone. 89 00:06:38,335 --> 00:06:41,713 [Ho] When trying to solve the mysteries of what happened with Elisa, 90 00:06:42,256 --> 00:06:44,258 it's about piecing together a story 91 00:06:44,341 --> 00:06:46,927 and really getting a more advanced understanding 92 00:06:47,010 --> 00:06:48,846 of what was happening in her mind. 93 00:06:49,471 --> 00:06:51,140 [keyboard clacking] 94 00:06:51,723 --> 00:06:53,600 [Elisa Lam] We can be empathetic here. 95 00:06:55,269 --> 00:06:59,273 Remind people you are human and they are human. 96 00:06:59,982 --> 00:07:03,318 If you just listen, you will understand more. 97 00:07:05,571 --> 00:07:08,282 [Ho] Elisa was a very introspective, bright person, 98 00:07:08,365 --> 00:07:11,410 and as you read her Tumblr, you understand her, 99 00:07:11,493 --> 00:07:13,829 because she bared her soul in these posts. 100 00:07:13,912 --> 00:07:15,873 [keyboard clacking] 101 00:07:15,956 --> 00:07:20,294 [Elisa Lam] According to some people, I have a "chemical imbalance". 102 00:07:21,545 --> 00:07:24,173 Can I just inhabit someone else's brain? 103 00:07:25,549 --> 00:07:29,595 I just wish someone around me could understand. 104 00:07:33,724 --> 00:07:36,935 Bipolar disorder is still very stigmatizing for most people, 105 00:07:37,019 --> 00:07:38,729 and most don't understand it. 106 00:07:41,106 --> 00:07:44,443 It just means that the person's mood instability has highs 107 00:07:44,526 --> 00:07:45,527 and they have lows. 108 00:07:46,820 --> 00:07:49,948 They have depression and they also have mania… 109 00:07:51,325 --> 00:07:56,163 which is not needing a lot of sleep, racing thoughts, being more risk-taking, 110 00:07:56,246 --> 00:08:00,292 and generally the best course of treatment is medication 111 00:08:00,375 --> 00:08:02,503 plus cognitive behavioral therapy. 112 00:08:04,505 --> 00:08:06,298 In some of her Tumblr posts, 113 00:08:06,381 --> 00:08:09,301 Elisa was struggling with the idea of her mental illness 114 00:08:09,384 --> 00:08:11,887 and her medications, having to be on so many. 115 00:08:12,596 --> 00:08:16,934 [Elisa Lam] Taking these pills, I call it the breakfast of champions… 116 00:08:17,809 --> 00:08:19,978 and I hate that I have to take it every day. 117 00:08:20,729 --> 00:08:23,941 [Ho] It appears she had at least four prescription medications. 118 00:08:24,024 --> 00:08:24,858 [camera clicks] 119 00:08:24,942 --> 00:08:29,571 Antidepressants, a mood stabilizer, and an atypical antipsychotic. 120 00:08:30,864 --> 00:08:33,242 [Elisa Lam] I have to pull myself together. 121 00:08:33,867 --> 00:08:36,411 I'm wasting my time compared to my fellow peers. 122 00:08:38,205 --> 00:08:42,167 I need a place to go and find my motivation. 123 00:08:44,044 --> 00:08:47,130 [atmospheric music playing] 124 00:08:47,214 --> 00:08:50,050 [Ho] I think Elisa put a lot of pressure on herself 125 00:08:50,133 --> 00:08:52,511 to prove that she could be like everyone else. 126 00:08:53,387 --> 00:08:57,266 She may have thought if she could travel by herself and have this adventure, 127 00:08:57,349 --> 00:09:00,143 that means that she was normal, that she was capable. 128 00:09:00,936 --> 00:09:03,939 [Elisa Lam] Bursting with self-esteem and confidence. 129 00:09:06,066 --> 00:09:10,153 Next leg of my whirlwind adventure: the West Coast. 130 00:09:11,655 --> 00:09:14,199 Elisa Lam traveled down towards San Diego, 131 00:09:14,283 --> 00:09:16,702 and then she was making her way up the coast. 132 00:09:18,370 --> 00:09:20,581 [Elisa Lam] Have arrived in La-La Land. 133 00:09:24,543 --> 00:09:28,672 [Marcia] On January 28th, Elisa arrived in Los Angeles 134 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:31,675 and checked into the hotel. 135 00:09:33,176 --> 00:09:36,346 She spent a few days exploring the city of Los Angeles. 136 00:09:39,057 --> 00:09:42,936 [Ho] It's hard to know what happened, but based on the toxicology report, 137 00:09:43,604 --> 00:09:48,567 as the trip was unfolding, I think Elisa stopped taking her medications. 138 00:09:49,651 --> 00:09:52,279 And, of course, once she stops taking the medication, 139 00:09:52,362 --> 00:09:55,574 the risks for a mood episode goes way up. 140 00:09:58,493 --> 00:10:00,829 [Kading] While she is down here in Los Angeles, 141 00:10:01,330 --> 00:10:05,876 she went to Burbank one afternoon to attend a live audience production. 142 00:10:05,959 --> 00:10:07,836 [audience cheers and applause] 143 00:10:11,590 --> 00:10:15,177 But while she's there, she was acting erratically and strangely, 144 00:10:16,053 --> 00:10:18,889 and she writes this long, rambling letter 145 00:10:18,972 --> 00:10:22,893 and demands that that letter be given to the host of this show, 146 00:10:24,144 --> 00:10:27,105 which obviously raises security concerns. 147 00:10:29,816 --> 00:10:34,029 And so, the security there escorted her off the property 148 00:10:34,112 --> 00:10:36,573 because they thought she might be a… a risk. 149 00:10:37,074 --> 00:10:39,201 [sounds of traffic] 150 00:10:39,284 --> 00:10:40,452 Back at the Cecil, 151 00:10:41,036 --> 00:10:44,748 Elisa had been sharing a room at the hotel with a couple other girls. 152 00:10:47,209 --> 00:10:52,214 Those girls had begun to complain about her erratic and odd behavior. 153 00:10:54,591 --> 00:10:58,679 I've never spoken publicly about this, but she was being disruptive. 154 00:10:59,346 --> 00:11:03,350 She was leaving these notes on other guests' beds. 155 00:11:04,142 --> 00:11:05,686 Like physical notes. 156 00:11:07,354 --> 00:11:11,692 She was writing, "Go away. Go home. Get out." 157 00:11:12,275 --> 00:11:13,777 [knocking on door] 158 00:11:13,860 --> 00:11:17,698 And then, also, when other guests were trying to, you know, access the room, 159 00:11:17,781 --> 00:11:19,324 she wouldn't open the door. 160 00:11:19,408 --> 00:11:20,325 [banging on door] 161 00:11:20,409 --> 00:11:22,119 She was looking for a password. 162 00:11:24,454 --> 00:11:27,457 The night before she was gonna check out, we relocated her 163 00:11:27,541 --> 00:11:29,459 to her own dedicated room. 164 00:11:29,543 --> 00:11:31,628 That seemed to be a better option for her. 165 00:11:33,797 --> 00:11:36,591 [siren wailing] 166 00:11:36,675 --> 00:11:41,763 And then, later, she proceeds to go down to the lobby and does… 167 00:11:42,931 --> 00:11:46,685 I don't even know what you would call it. Like, move where she says that, 168 00:11:46,768 --> 00:11:50,105 "I'm crazy, but so is L.A." 169 00:11:53,066 --> 00:11:55,652 At the time, we didn't really look too much into it. 170 00:11:56,194 --> 00:11:58,071 I mean, this is the Cecil Hotel. 171 00:11:59,865 --> 00:12:02,242 It's just one thing out of the day that happens. 172 00:12:03,577 --> 00:12:04,661 You just move on. 173 00:12:06,705 --> 00:12:08,707 [tense music playing] 174 00:12:14,588 --> 00:12:18,675 [Marcia] At this point, we were starting to get a picture of her mental state, 175 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,764 based on the fact that Elisa was not taking her medication. 176 00:12:24,973 --> 00:12:30,020 And we were putting a little more weight into the fact that in this condition, 177 00:12:30,103 --> 00:12:33,690 she could easily become a victim of some type of crime. 178 00:12:34,816 --> 00:12:38,236 And so, now our investigation focused on figuring out 179 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,198 exactly how she ended up in the tank. 180 00:12:43,074 --> 00:12:45,911 [Tovar] I felt that it was necessary to see 181 00:12:45,994 --> 00:12:48,747 what the environment looked like where she was found. 182 00:13:02,803 --> 00:13:05,555 We wanted to retrace her steps as best we could. 183 00:13:08,350 --> 00:13:12,479 And when you get onto the rooftop to get to the tank itself, 184 00:13:13,814 --> 00:13:18,568 you would actually have to walk on pipes and squeeze in between the tanks 185 00:13:18,652 --> 00:13:20,529 to get to the one that she was in. 186 00:13:21,822 --> 00:13:24,282 And then you'd have to carry a body up the ladder, 187 00:13:25,283 --> 00:13:29,120 and then place the body into the hole at the top of the tank. 188 00:13:31,498 --> 00:13:36,545 The other possibility is that Elisa's brought there from the adjacent structure, 189 00:13:37,963 --> 00:13:42,634 but you would also then have to come up a ladder with a body. 190 00:13:45,178 --> 00:13:46,805 [Marcia] If she had been killed 191 00:13:46,888 --> 00:13:49,558 or rendered unconscious at another location, 192 00:13:51,101 --> 00:13:53,019 even though she was light, 193 00:13:53,937 --> 00:13:58,650 to carry a body up a steep ladder without damaging the body, 194 00:13:59,192 --> 00:14:00,235 it's not possible. 195 00:14:03,029 --> 00:14:05,448 [Kading] There would have been bruising, cutting, 196 00:14:05,532 --> 00:14:09,452 some trauma to her body that would've been discovered during the autopsy. 197 00:14:10,036 --> 00:14:11,413 None of that existed. 198 00:14:11,997 --> 00:14:13,957 [siren wails] 199 00:14:15,667 --> 00:14:17,168 [tense music plays] 200 00:14:26,386 --> 00:14:29,014 In most cases of individuals that have drowned, 201 00:14:29,097 --> 00:14:33,602 they're usually found floating face-down with their arms drooped and legs drooping. 202 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:40,275 But when the body was found, it's reported that she is found 203 00:14:40,358 --> 00:14:41,776 floating face-up. 204 00:14:43,153 --> 00:14:46,948 That's a unique finding. It could suggest foul play. 205 00:14:48,283 --> 00:14:51,912 But in looking at the tanks as water's being used, 206 00:14:51,995 --> 00:14:54,247 the water level in there would fluctuate. 207 00:14:56,041 --> 00:15:00,462 I think the flux of the water could have allowed her to turn 208 00:15:01,254 --> 00:15:03,506 and end up in the position she was found. 209 00:15:08,136 --> 00:15:10,347 -[distant phone rings] -[keyboard clacking] 210 00:15:10,931 --> 00:15:12,515 And in review of the scene, 211 00:15:13,850 --> 00:15:19,648 we did not find anything suspicious for any criminal reason why she's dead. 212 00:15:20,941 --> 00:15:22,734 So, at that point in time, 213 00:15:22,817 --> 00:15:27,572 we had the facts, the circumstances, and all of the information 214 00:15:27,656 --> 00:15:29,616 in order to generate the final report. 215 00:15:34,788 --> 00:15:37,916 [Dean] This long period of basically no information… 216 00:15:37,999 --> 00:15:41,378 You know, the case sort of stalled, at least in the public's eyes. 217 00:15:41,962 --> 00:15:45,548 Everyone is waiting for the release of the autopsy results. 218 00:15:47,801 --> 00:15:51,096 And then, finally, on June 21, 2013, the results are released. 219 00:15:52,138 --> 00:15:55,266 [newswoman] The death of 21-year-old Canadian tourist Elisa Lam 220 00:15:55,350 --> 00:15:57,811 has been ruled an accident due to drowning. 221 00:15:59,604 --> 00:16:03,525 The official also suggested Lam's bipolar disorder was a factor. 222 00:16:04,526 --> 00:16:08,279 [Lordan] They said that her cause of death is an accidental drowning, 223 00:16:08,363 --> 00:16:12,117 and bipolar disorder is a contributing factor. 224 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:13,451 It didn't make sense. 225 00:16:14,911 --> 00:16:17,038 The whole community is kind of in shock. 226 00:16:18,707 --> 00:16:20,375 An "accidental drowning." 227 00:16:20,458 --> 00:16:21,918 Supposedly "drowned accidentally." 228 00:16:22,002 --> 00:16:24,963 They found it was an accident. Is it, though? 229 00:16:25,046 --> 00:16:26,464 This can't be. 230 00:16:26,548 --> 00:16:29,092 I have spent hours and hours investigating this, 231 00:16:29,175 --> 00:16:32,303 and I completely disagree with the coroner. 232 00:16:33,555 --> 00:16:35,390 It just doesn't make sense. 233 00:16:36,182 --> 00:16:38,101 Especially when the LAPD said 234 00:16:38,184 --> 00:16:40,770 the whole lid is over her and the hatch is closed. 235 00:16:41,563 --> 00:16:44,941 My understanding is that lid was closed when our officers went up. 236 00:16:45,608 --> 00:16:51,448 Someone put her in it and closed the lid. That would only mean she was murdered. 237 00:16:53,116 --> 00:16:57,537 [Sobhani] I think everybody felt that it would be ruled as a homicide, 238 00:16:57,620 --> 00:17:00,457 so it made you want to delve further into the autopsy 239 00:17:00,540 --> 00:17:03,168 to see how people could make sense of this. 240 00:17:03,793 --> 00:17:07,464 So I found a link to Elisa's autopsy report… 241 00:17:14,345 --> 00:17:16,973 which I actually went through, page by page. 242 00:17:17,807 --> 00:17:21,311 What's really curious here is this… 243 00:17:22,604 --> 00:17:25,523 A rape kit was processed and nothing was found, 244 00:17:25,607 --> 00:17:28,902 but if it wasn't some type of sexual assault, 245 00:17:29,694 --> 00:17:31,321 why would she get naked? 246 00:17:32,614 --> 00:17:37,410 The autopsy also said there's no evidence of internal or external injuries. 247 00:17:38,286 --> 00:17:40,789 [Lordan] Just because there were no marks on her body, 248 00:17:40,872 --> 00:17:42,874 that doesn't rule out foul play. 249 00:17:42,957 --> 00:17:45,418 She could've been led to the rooftop by gunpoint, 250 00:17:45,502 --> 00:17:47,462 forced into the tank and left to die. 251 00:17:47,545 --> 00:17:49,214 That sounds like foul play to me. 252 00:17:50,465 --> 00:17:55,220 The coroner said the reason she died was based on medication she was not taking, 253 00:17:55,804 --> 00:17:58,389 but I just have a very tough time believing that. 254 00:17:58,473 --> 00:18:00,934 [Garcia] I've never read anything that sounds like 255 00:18:01,017 --> 00:18:04,187 those that are in a bipolar state would do something like this. 256 00:18:05,063 --> 00:18:08,358 I don't think her mental state was her cause of death. 257 00:18:12,904 --> 00:18:14,864 [Harlowe] I've looked at a lot of autopsy reports 258 00:18:14,948 --> 00:18:18,034 and there's something mysterious and suspicious going on here. 259 00:18:18,868 --> 00:18:22,247 It seems like there's inconsistencies in the autopsy. 260 00:18:22,956 --> 00:18:25,458 Tovar appears to be ambivalent about his conclusion 261 00:18:25,542 --> 00:18:27,168 that Lam's death was accidental. 262 00:18:29,170 --> 00:18:33,550 There's a section on the autopsy report where it is the manner of death. 263 00:18:36,136 --> 00:18:41,266 They've got homicide, suicide, accidental, and they've got undetermined. 264 00:18:42,225 --> 00:18:46,229 It looks like undetermined was originally marked, 265 00:18:46,312 --> 00:18:51,442 but then it was X'd out and accident was marked. 266 00:18:53,319 --> 00:18:54,737 [keyboard clacking] 267 00:18:55,572 --> 00:19:00,076 And on top of this, it seems like the change was three days apart. 268 00:19:02,036 --> 00:19:05,623 [Garcia] I don't know how'd they go from "could not be determined" to "accidental"? 269 00:19:05,707 --> 00:19:06,958 Why was it changed? 270 00:19:07,709 --> 00:19:11,171 It almost seems like someone's boss said, "No, we need to change that. 271 00:19:11,254 --> 00:19:12,505 Make it an accident." 272 00:19:14,549 --> 00:19:18,803 Maybe that was LAPD pulling some strings in their coroner's department, 273 00:19:19,596 --> 00:19:22,682 calling it an accident to hide the truth. 274 00:19:23,308 --> 00:19:25,977 [Garcia] It's an easy way out, just to close the case. 275 00:19:26,519 --> 00:19:30,356 They just want to silence it because they have something to hide. 276 00:19:30,899 --> 00:19:31,858 [keyboard clacking] 277 00:19:31,941 --> 00:19:35,737 [Lordan] I've gone looking for information about the investigation, 278 00:19:36,446 --> 00:19:38,281 but I haven't seen the police files, 279 00:19:39,407 --> 00:19:41,451 and that raises questions in itself. 280 00:19:42,243 --> 00:19:45,038 [Harlowe] Many people have requested the police report, 281 00:19:45,121 --> 00:19:46,956 but nobody has ever received it. 282 00:19:50,293 --> 00:19:52,670 [Lordan] I was thinking, "Well, obviously, 283 00:19:52,754 --> 00:19:56,382 this confirms that there's some type of conspiracy that's going on here." 284 00:19:59,344 --> 00:20:01,095 [Harlowe] For the online community, 285 00:20:01,679 --> 00:20:05,266 it suggests a much higher level of corruption. 286 00:20:06,309 --> 00:20:08,728 This conspiracy was orchestrated, 287 00:20:08,811 --> 00:20:11,856 and these people were working on it together. 288 00:20:12,649 --> 00:20:15,026 The people involved in this overarching cover-up… 289 00:20:17,779 --> 00:20:19,030 are the LAPD… 290 00:20:21,908 --> 00:20:22,867 the coroner… 291 00:20:24,911 --> 00:20:26,746 the general manager of the Cecil… 292 00:20:28,706 --> 00:20:30,625 the employee that found her. 293 00:20:31,709 --> 00:20:36,381 And then you've got the person staying at the Cecil 294 00:20:36,965 --> 00:20:41,010 who people thought murdered Elisa. 295 00:20:46,266 --> 00:20:48,768 [man] Thanks for sitting down with us. 296 00:20:48,851 --> 00:20:52,021 I know it's not easy to talk about this stuff. 297 00:20:54,232 --> 00:20:56,901 I have-- I haven't talked about this in seven years. 298 00:20:58,278 --> 00:21:01,281 But I just realized that you can't solve anything 299 00:21:01,364 --> 00:21:05,201 by running away from your problems. Like, you have to face them… 300 00:21:06,577 --> 00:21:07,620 no matter how… 301 00:21:09,414 --> 00:21:10,707 how heavy they are. 302 00:21:15,211 --> 00:21:17,714 [computer chiming] 303 00:21:19,674 --> 00:21:23,136 [Vergara] This whole incident started in February 2013. 304 00:21:24,762 --> 00:21:30,143 I woke up, and, uh, my friend, she had sent me a message. 305 00:21:38,443 --> 00:21:39,777 BREAKING NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT 306 00:21:39,861 --> 00:21:43,740 The link took me into this Taiwanese TV channel. 307 00:21:45,616 --> 00:21:48,661 [man in Chinese] Morbid, the lead singer of Dynasty of Darkness, worships Satan. 308 00:21:48,745 --> 00:21:51,331 His music revolves around corpses and death. 309 00:21:51,914 --> 00:21:54,250 He is now considered the murderer of Elisa Lam. 310 00:21:56,085 --> 00:21:57,879 [Vergara in English] I see my picture. 311 00:21:58,921 --> 00:22:04,552 And, um, they're saying I'm a suspect for… for murder. 312 00:22:05,136 --> 00:22:06,763 Murder of Elisa Lam. 313 00:22:06,846 --> 00:22:09,515 [man in Chinese] This lead singer wrote messages online, 314 00:22:09,599 --> 00:22:12,435 days before the case, suggesting that he killed someone. 315 00:22:14,020 --> 00:22:16,522 [computer chiming] 316 00:22:16,606 --> 00:22:21,069 [Vergara in English] Suddenly, I start getting like just hundreds of messages 317 00:22:21,152 --> 00:22:22,695 from people from the whole world. 318 00:22:22,779 --> 00:22:24,989 [woman] Did you murder Elisa Lam? 319 00:22:25,573 --> 00:22:28,034 [man] You killed Elisa Lam, didn't you? 320 00:22:28,117 --> 00:22:30,620 "We hate you. Fucking murderer. 321 00:22:30,703 --> 00:22:31,829 Why did you do it?" 322 00:22:32,830 --> 00:22:35,291 [woman 2] We're gonna get you for what you did. 323 00:22:37,794 --> 00:22:40,213 [Vergara] I was shocked, confused. 324 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,510 You know, because prior to that, I have never heard about Elisa Lam before. 325 00:22:52,016 --> 00:22:53,393 [banging on door] 326 00:22:55,478 --> 00:22:56,813 [door creaks] 327 00:22:57,522 --> 00:23:01,192 After that, the PGR, which is the FBI of Mexico, 328 00:23:01,275 --> 00:23:02,652 did come to my home. 329 00:23:03,152 --> 00:23:08,282 And they asked me if I have made any blood sacrifices 330 00:23:08,366 --> 00:23:09,909 for the devil with animals. 331 00:23:09,992 --> 00:23:11,619 [indistinct chattering] 332 00:23:13,079 --> 00:23:15,790 But I was never charged. Nothing. 333 00:23:19,127 --> 00:23:24,715 Later on, I realize that I was being accused of being the killer 334 00:23:25,383 --> 00:23:30,138 just because the web sleuths found a video of me 335 00:23:30,847 --> 00:23:35,435 that I posted on the internet when I was staying at the Cecil Hotel. 336 00:23:36,227 --> 00:23:37,478 Well, uh, hello. 337 00:23:39,522 --> 00:23:42,942 I'm here in the Cecil Hotel, downtown L.A. 338 00:23:44,110 --> 00:23:48,573 [Vergara] I was there in February, 2012, for three days, 339 00:23:49,157 --> 00:23:50,241 and that was it. 340 00:23:50,741 --> 00:23:51,742 [yells indistinctly] 341 00:23:53,619 --> 00:23:55,204 I keep doing that all the time. 342 00:23:55,288 --> 00:23:59,292 I wonder if people are starting to freak out about that shit. 343 00:24:00,084 --> 00:24:04,338 It was one year prior to when Elisa Lam checked in. 344 00:24:10,178 --> 00:24:13,723 And when she died, I wasn't even in the country. 345 00:24:13,806 --> 00:24:16,976 I was in Mexico working on my album. 346 00:24:18,895 --> 00:24:20,855 I have contracts from the recording studio, 347 00:24:20,938 --> 00:24:23,649 I have stamps on my passport. 348 00:24:24,150 --> 00:24:26,694 And even though I have all these, the web sleuths, 349 00:24:26,777 --> 00:24:29,113 they saw me, the way I look… 350 00:24:31,491 --> 00:24:33,034 and that's what triggered them. 351 00:24:33,117 --> 00:24:34,410 [black metal playing] 352 00:24:38,956 --> 00:24:43,169 Sure, I mean, some of the lyrics talk about death and murder or whatever, 353 00:24:43,961 --> 00:24:48,424 but, you know, it's just lyrics. It's just music. It's art. 354 00:24:50,635 --> 00:24:52,178 It doesn't make me a killer. 355 00:24:56,599 --> 00:25:00,478 I wanted to set the record straight and just, you know, defend myself. 356 00:25:00,561 --> 00:25:04,524 So, you know, I made a video where I said I'm innocent. 357 00:25:05,942 --> 00:25:07,818 [distorted voice] This is Morbid. 358 00:25:07,902 --> 00:25:13,074 I wanted to inform you that I didn't kill Elisa Lam. 359 00:25:14,033 --> 00:25:15,993 I am innocent. 360 00:25:17,203 --> 00:25:23,125 I decided to alter my voice, wear a mask because I was just paranoid. 361 00:25:24,627 --> 00:25:27,213 But the web sleuths, they wouldn't let it go. 362 00:25:27,838 --> 00:25:32,468 They flagged my accounts, and I ended up getting my YouTube channel, 363 00:25:33,302 --> 00:25:37,014 my Facebook account, and my email account terminated. 364 00:25:38,266 --> 00:25:42,186 Being truthful doesn't matter to them. They want to destroy you. They hate you. 365 00:25:42,937 --> 00:25:44,522 [black metal playing] 366 00:25:51,487 --> 00:25:55,491 There were just, you know, false accusations, death threats. 367 00:25:56,951 --> 00:25:59,579 Every day, every week… 368 00:26:00,705 --> 00:26:01,747 there was no escape. 369 00:26:03,708 --> 00:26:07,712 At a point when you get so much hate and just negativity, 370 00:26:07,795 --> 00:26:10,464 there's something that breaks in your mind. 371 00:26:11,090 --> 00:26:12,091 Something clicks. 372 00:26:12,174 --> 00:26:14,468 [screaming] 373 00:26:17,847 --> 00:26:22,059 Like, after a while, just, you know, so much you can take. 374 00:26:22,143 --> 00:26:23,561 [reflective music plays] 375 00:26:26,188 --> 00:26:29,734 Like, you can't defend your life, your music and art. 376 00:26:32,111 --> 00:26:36,115 And, I mean, no matter how strong you are, you feel powerless. 377 00:26:37,908 --> 00:26:39,327 I got in a very bad place. 378 00:26:40,328 --> 00:26:42,330 I-I guess I just had a meltdown, 379 00:26:42,413 --> 00:26:45,291 and I-I did try to take my life, and, uh… 380 00:26:46,375 --> 00:26:50,463 Just wake up in a psychiatric hospital. 381 00:26:53,674 --> 00:26:56,927 The web sleuths go on with their life like nothing happened. 382 00:26:58,679 --> 00:27:02,058 But, you know, they really turned my life upside down. 383 00:27:03,309 --> 00:27:07,855 I do feel like I have lost my freedom of expression. 384 00:27:09,482 --> 00:27:12,318 I actually haven't made any more music, 385 00:27:12,401 --> 00:27:15,738 and, uh, when I try, it's not the same. 386 00:27:17,782 --> 00:27:20,701 I'm trying to rebuild my life and everything, but… 387 00:27:20,785 --> 00:27:23,454 it sucks every day. 388 00:27:24,914 --> 00:27:26,040 It's never going away. 389 00:27:26,916 --> 00:27:30,378 And, um, I have to live with it for the rest of my life. 390 00:27:30,461 --> 00:27:32,672 It's gonna be there for the rest of my life. 391 00:27:34,340 --> 00:27:35,758 [siren wailing] 392 00:27:39,804 --> 00:27:41,222 [distant phone rings] 393 00:27:43,766 --> 00:27:45,976 [Marcia] I remember some bizarre thing 394 00:27:46,060 --> 00:27:49,313 where the web sleuths were trying to connect Elisa's case 395 00:27:49,397 --> 00:27:51,232 to some singer in Mexico, 396 00:27:52,525 --> 00:27:55,277 but all I can say is that he's not involved. 397 00:27:58,072 --> 00:27:59,532 I can understand the web sleuths 398 00:27:59,615 --> 00:28:02,910 were trying to do the right things for the right reasons, like we are. 399 00:28:05,246 --> 00:28:06,455 You get addicted to it. 400 00:28:07,123 --> 00:28:09,417 The challenge of putting pieces together. 401 00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:12,086 The excitement of being on the chase. 402 00:28:13,170 --> 00:28:14,338 But in this case, 403 00:28:14,422 --> 00:28:17,508 they were getting further and further away from the evidence. 404 00:28:20,761 --> 00:28:25,141 [Tovar] All of the background information that's used to rule this as an accident 405 00:28:25,224 --> 00:28:28,728 is not necessarily made available to the public, 406 00:28:28,811 --> 00:28:32,398 so I think that for people on the internet, 407 00:28:32,481 --> 00:28:36,026 you really don't have the full story in front of you. 408 00:28:36,110 --> 00:28:37,987 You don't have all of the facts. 409 00:28:39,113 --> 00:28:40,281 [distant phone ringing] 410 00:28:43,075 --> 00:28:45,786 [Marcia] In the early stages of the investigation, 411 00:28:45,870 --> 00:28:47,496 when talking to the family, 412 00:28:47,997 --> 00:28:51,792 it wasn't divulged how serious her mental health was. 413 00:28:55,254 --> 00:28:59,550 As time went by, we learned from Elisa's sister 414 00:29:00,092 --> 00:29:04,638 that Elisa had a history of not taking her medication… 415 00:29:07,725 --> 00:29:10,352 and several times previously, 416 00:29:12,271 --> 00:29:14,899 that had caused her to have some type of mental breakdown. 417 00:29:15,691 --> 00:29:19,403 [Kading] According to her family, she would become delusional. 418 00:29:19,487 --> 00:29:21,322 She sees things that aren't there. 419 00:29:22,323 --> 00:29:24,742 In fact, it had been so bad, 420 00:29:25,493 --> 00:29:27,745 that on at least one occasion, 421 00:29:28,579 --> 00:29:30,206 she had to be hospitalized. 422 00:29:31,665 --> 00:29:36,545 [Ho] Based on the evidence that we have, Elisa looked like she had bipolar I… 423 00:29:39,548 --> 00:29:42,635 which means it's the more severe version of bipolar disorder, 424 00:29:43,928 --> 00:29:46,889 in which sometimes psychotic features can be a part of that. 425 00:29:50,059 --> 00:29:52,770 In that state, you have very disorganized thinking 426 00:29:52,853 --> 00:29:55,314 where the logic doesn't really make sense, 427 00:29:56,357 --> 00:29:58,734 and it's hard to separate fantasy from reality. 428 00:29:59,902 --> 00:30:04,073 I think that when you look at the reports of her behavior at the hotel, 429 00:30:04,865 --> 00:30:06,867 to then this TV taping, 430 00:30:06,951 --> 00:30:10,120 and even the infamous elevator video… 431 00:30:11,956 --> 00:30:15,417 that, to me, is consistent with somebody in the middle of a psychotic episode. 432 00:30:18,462 --> 00:30:23,384 [Kading] The night of her disappearance, she appears to be alone in the hotel. 433 00:30:25,135 --> 00:30:26,136 [elevator dings] 434 00:30:27,346 --> 00:30:29,390 And then she gets into the elevator. 435 00:30:30,558 --> 00:30:32,017 [uneasy music playing] 436 00:30:40,651 --> 00:30:44,363 [Ho] In that elevator video, her behavior is consistent with somebody 437 00:30:44,446 --> 00:30:47,908 who is having delusions of paranoia and delusions of persecution. 438 00:30:49,869 --> 00:30:52,037 She looked like she could be having hallucinations. 439 00:30:53,455 --> 00:30:56,375 And her sister said this is a pattern that she's had. 440 00:30:56,458 --> 00:31:01,171 [Marcia] We learned that previously, in the midst of having an episode, 441 00:31:01,714 --> 00:31:04,216 she would be afraid that somebody was after her. 442 00:31:05,634 --> 00:31:08,846 [Ho] She might see things that aren't there or hear voices. 443 00:31:10,973 --> 00:31:13,642 And the voices can be saying very frightening things, 444 00:31:13,726 --> 00:31:17,438 that somebody might be out to harm you or that you should go kill yourself. 445 00:31:18,397 --> 00:31:20,232 And there's no way to shut them out. 446 00:31:24,612 --> 00:31:27,323 [Kading] Elisa Lam was in a state of desperation, 447 00:31:28,782 --> 00:31:31,619 running from something that she is seeing in her mind. 448 00:31:32,995 --> 00:31:35,205 [Ho] When she's in that state, it does feel very real, 449 00:31:35,289 --> 00:31:37,291 that she's being hunted. 450 00:31:37,374 --> 00:31:40,628 She believes that her life is at stake, like there's nowhere safe. 451 00:31:41,211 --> 00:31:44,298 She's running around this hotel, trying to save her own life. 452 00:31:46,091 --> 00:31:48,802 [Kading] Elisa Lam's sister said that in the past, 453 00:31:48,886 --> 00:31:51,889 she would become frightened, uh, she would become delusional. 454 00:31:51,972 --> 00:31:54,475 She would run and hide. She'd hide under the bed. 455 00:31:55,684 --> 00:31:58,103 [female voice shuddering] 456 00:31:58,187 --> 00:32:01,357 [Kading] At this point in time, she made her way up to the roof. 457 00:32:02,608 --> 00:32:06,362 And it would make perfect sense that she saw the water tank 458 00:32:06,445 --> 00:32:07,863 as her place to hide. 459 00:32:09,615 --> 00:32:11,075 She climbed the ladder… 460 00:32:14,244 --> 00:32:15,496 opened the hatch… 461 00:32:16,538 --> 00:32:20,084 and jumped into the water tank. 462 00:32:23,504 --> 00:32:26,548 Once she was in there though, there was one way out. 463 00:32:26,632 --> 00:32:27,716 The hatch on top. 464 00:32:32,513 --> 00:32:35,933 If it's filled with water, you could pull yourself out. 465 00:32:39,269 --> 00:32:43,357 But if the water's being used and going down, 466 00:32:44,024 --> 00:32:46,568 it would make it more difficult to reach the top. 467 00:32:49,822 --> 00:32:51,407 I think she became trapped, 468 00:32:51,949 --> 00:32:54,326 and the only way to keep alive 469 00:32:54,410 --> 00:32:57,454 would be to tread the water and swim as much as she can. 470 00:33:01,083 --> 00:33:03,877 She was undressing while she was in there 471 00:33:05,129 --> 00:33:07,840 because she may have been trying to stay afloat 472 00:33:08,340 --> 00:33:10,134 and lighten the load a little bit. 473 00:33:12,886 --> 00:33:16,598 There was also the possibility of hypothermia. 474 00:33:18,851 --> 00:33:21,395 The water could reach a very low temperature. 475 00:33:22,730 --> 00:33:26,400 In that situation, individuals actually start to undress 476 00:33:27,109 --> 00:33:31,572 because of the physiologic changes that are happening inside the body. 477 00:33:37,119 --> 00:33:41,123 But she ultimately succumbed to… to drowning. 478 00:33:44,084 --> 00:33:45,544 Sad end to this story. 479 00:33:53,427 --> 00:33:54,344 Looking back, 480 00:33:54,887 --> 00:33:58,849 there was no conclusive evidence there was any type of foul play. 481 00:34:01,769 --> 00:34:05,105 There was no way to prove that she had the intent to harm herself 482 00:34:05,189 --> 00:34:06,607 in her state of mind, 483 00:34:07,941 --> 00:34:11,945 so I don't think that she committed suicide. 484 00:34:14,740 --> 00:34:17,076 I feel confident in my decision 485 00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:19,953 to rule this as a drowning and as an accident, 486 00:34:21,455 --> 00:34:24,708 with bipolar as a significant contributing condition. 487 00:34:25,918 --> 00:34:30,589 It's important for people to understand bipolar disorder. 488 00:34:31,090 --> 00:34:34,259 It is a disease, and it can take its toll at any time. 489 00:34:36,303 --> 00:34:38,138 [somber music playing] 490 00:34:40,557 --> 00:34:42,226 I'm aware there are some concerns 491 00:34:42,309 --> 00:34:46,146 regarding the actual dating on the reporting form. 492 00:34:47,981 --> 00:34:52,528 In this particular case, we're human. There was an error. 493 00:34:53,362 --> 00:34:57,074 We initialed the error, and then we moved it to where it should be. 494 00:34:58,033 --> 00:35:00,702 And if you actually zoom in on those particular dates, 495 00:35:00,786 --> 00:35:05,249 you'll see that they both say the 18th and not 15th and 18th, 496 00:35:05,791 --> 00:35:09,211 so, it was just… it's just a… a misread. 497 00:35:09,878 --> 00:35:11,213 [phone ringing] 498 00:35:15,384 --> 00:35:19,847 [Marcia] Now, some people still feel that there's some type of conspiracy 499 00:35:20,430 --> 00:35:25,477 to cut out portions of the video to protect the identity of the killer. 500 00:35:27,229 --> 00:35:30,524 You see the cut when the door is about to close. 501 00:35:31,191 --> 00:35:33,402 The video has been slowed down. 502 00:35:33,485 --> 00:35:37,614 The time code definitely looks like it's been blurred or tampered with. 503 00:35:38,907 --> 00:35:40,492 In this type of investigation, 504 00:35:41,869 --> 00:35:44,997 sometimes you want to withhold certain details from the public, 505 00:35:45,747 --> 00:35:48,292 like the exact time that she was in the elevator, 506 00:35:49,710 --> 00:35:53,088 which is the reason maybe that the timecoding on the video 507 00:35:53,172 --> 00:35:54,339 is altered. 508 00:35:55,883 --> 00:35:59,386 One of the reasons that you might slow the speed of the video 509 00:35:59,469 --> 00:36:02,306 is so that hopefully somebody will recognize her. 510 00:36:03,015 --> 00:36:05,726 Look, I can't give a concrete answer 511 00:36:05,809 --> 00:36:07,853 on if our media relations 512 00:36:07,936 --> 00:36:12,357 or if the independent media outlets 513 00:36:12,441 --> 00:36:14,735 actually edited it for one reason or another, 514 00:36:15,819 --> 00:36:19,489 but I do know that any changes to the video 515 00:36:20,073 --> 00:36:22,784 weren't made by anybody at the hotel. 516 00:36:23,368 --> 00:36:25,287 The evidence is gonna speak for itself. 517 00:36:26,872 --> 00:36:30,375 And there was nothing suspicious 518 00:36:30,459 --> 00:36:33,754 about the actual original hard drive video, 519 00:36:33,837 --> 00:36:35,547 which we have in our custody. 520 00:36:41,136 --> 00:36:43,096 [Kading] Then there's all the questions 521 00:36:44,223 --> 00:36:46,475 about how there may have been some oversight 522 00:36:47,768 --> 00:36:49,102 by the LAPD, 523 00:36:49,186 --> 00:36:53,023 because they didn't search the tanks at that time. 524 00:36:54,524 --> 00:36:58,987 And I know those investigators regret that they didn't discover her in the tank. 525 00:37:01,698 --> 00:37:03,033 [Marcia] She was in there. 526 00:37:03,867 --> 00:37:05,035 Just missed her. 527 00:37:06,995 --> 00:37:07,955 It sucks. 528 00:37:09,206 --> 00:37:13,627 And I'm guessing you can see the emotion that it stirs up in me, 529 00:37:15,170 --> 00:37:17,589 because you don't forget. 530 00:37:18,507 --> 00:37:19,716 And in this case, 531 00:37:20,801 --> 00:37:22,261 we figured out what happened. 532 00:37:24,263 --> 00:37:26,682 But the answer hurt. 533 00:37:28,141 --> 00:37:29,309 So… [sighs] 534 00:37:29,977 --> 00:37:33,230 It's unfortunate that some people think there's a conspiracy, 535 00:37:33,897 --> 00:37:34,898 but there's not. 536 00:37:36,775 --> 00:37:38,568 [horns honking] 537 00:37:45,409 --> 00:37:47,995 [Dean] We spent so much time fixating on the mystery 538 00:37:48,078 --> 00:37:50,998 and all of the intrigue and bizarreness of the tale, 539 00:37:51,581 --> 00:37:54,835 we forget that family and friends, 540 00:37:54,918 --> 00:37:57,838 people who cared about Elisa and knew her and loved her, 541 00:37:57,921 --> 00:37:59,923 look at a case like this very differently. 542 00:38:00,007 --> 00:38:01,925 For them, this has got to be… 543 00:38:02,009 --> 00:38:03,969 You know, it's hell. It's traumatic. 544 00:38:04,052 --> 00:38:05,554 It's heartbreaking. 545 00:38:06,221 --> 00:38:08,932 [newswoman] Outside the family's restaurant near Vancouver, 546 00:38:09,558 --> 00:38:13,228 a memorial for a young life lost too soon 547 00:38:13,770 --> 00:38:15,772 in an unforgettable manner. 548 00:38:21,528 --> 00:38:22,446 [cameras clicking] 549 00:38:22,529 --> 00:38:25,115 [Dean] On September 19th, 2013, 550 00:38:25,657 --> 00:38:28,952 Elisa's parents filed suit against the Cecil Hotel. 551 00:38:30,662 --> 00:38:33,498 It seemed like they believed this was an accidental drowning, 552 00:38:35,375 --> 00:38:40,422 but the lawsuit alleged a wrongful death caused by negligence on the hotel's part. 553 00:38:41,590 --> 00:38:44,051 So I did go to the hearing myself… 554 00:38:46,261 --> 00:38:48,430 just to see if I could get more information. 555 00:38:49,556 --> 00:38:51,183 [gavel pounds] 556 00:38:52,434 --> 00:38:56,271 One of the points that the Lam family's attorney brought up was 557 00:38:56,355 --> 00:38:58,982 there was risk on the roof, 558 00:39:00,776 --> 00:39:04,863 and that they really should have done more to stop the public from going up there. 559 00:39:10,327 --> 00:39:15,207 Our legal counsel countered that we did take security precautions. 560 00:39:16,291 --> 00:39:19,044 The roof is employees only, 561 00:39:20,670 --> 00:39:25,384 and the door to the roof, you know, it's, uh, alarmed always. 562 00:39:25,467 --> 00:39:27,219 [alarm blares] 563 00:39:27,302 --> 00:39:29,179 But the exterior fire escapes, 564 00:39:29,805 --> 00:39:31,556 they're accessible to anybody, 565 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,726 because, in case of an emergency, you have to get out. 566 00:39:36,103 --> 00:39:38,397 In terms of the tanks themselves, 567 00:39:39,064 --> 00:39:41,691 outside of the risk of someone falling in, 568 00:39:42,192 --> 00:39:43,276 there's a big risk 569 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:46,530 because that water could be contaminated by someone very easily. 570 00:39:47,072 --> 00:39:48,824 It is extremely simple. 571 00:39:49,699 --> 00:39:50,867 Lock the lids. 572 00:39:52,452 --> 00:39:55,122 [Price] There were no regulations at that point 573 00:39:55,205 --> 00:39:57,124 where you had to lock your water tank. 574 00:39:58,166 --> 00:40:01,795 I'm sure people are locking their water tanks now, but they weren't then. 575 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,467 [Lordan] Something I personally still wanted to understand better 576 00:40:07,551 --> 00:40:10,512 was the status of the actual tank lid. 577 00:40:12,514 --> 00:40:14,141 The story from the police 578 00:40:15,559 --> 00:40:17,477 is the lid is closed. 579 00:40:18,687 --> 00:40:22,524 So, then, how could Elisa have closed the lid on herself? 580 00:40:24,317 --> 00:40:27,237 The employee that found her, his name is Santiago Lopez. 581 00:40:27,904 --> 00:40:31,575 He reports to the court that he climbs up on top of the tank, 582 00:40:32,325 --> 00:40:33,201 and the hatch… 583 00:40:35,704 --> 00:40:36,705 is open. 584 00:40:40,792 --> 00:40:42,377 It's shocking new information. 585 00:40:44,045 --> 00:40:49,468 This completely changes the scope of possibilities for how she died. 586 00:40:54,139 --> 00:40:55,891 [man in Spanish] The tank had a little hatch? 587 00:40:56,475 --> 00:40:57,851 A little door like this. 588 00:40:57,934 --> 00:41:00,270 When I got there that day, it was open. 589 00:41:01,188 --> 00:41:04,024 -That's when I saw her. -[man] It was already open? 590 00:41:04,107 --> 00:41:04,941 Mm-hmm. 591 00:41:07,611 --> 00:41:08,778 [helicopter whirring] 592 00:41:11,281 --> 00:41:14,034 [Marcia in English] In regards to Elisa's body being found, 593 00:41:14,826 --> 00:41:16,453 it was reported to us 594 00:41:16,536 --> 00:41:19,331 that a hotel employee climbed up the ladder. 595 00:41:19,414 --> 00:41:21,374 The hatch was open… 596 00:41:23,710 --> 00:41:26,630 but that's not what was reported in the media. 597 00:41:27,297 --> 00:41:30,550 My understanding is that lid was closed when our officers went up. 598 00:41:31,301 --> 00:41:33,261 [Kading] This was a communication breakdown. 599 00:41:34,012 --> 00:41:37,349 Somebody said it was closed and meant to say it was open. 600 00:41:38,183 --> 00:41:39,392 It's an honest mistake. 601 00:41:43,104 --> 00:41:44,314 Outside of all that, 602 00:41:45,607 --> 00:41:48,568 you have the Lams' attorney 603 00:41:48,652 --> 00:41:50,904 saying that the hotel's responsibility here 604 00:41:51,947 --> 00:41:53,865 should have been trying to help Elisa. 605 00:41:54,866 --> 00:41:59,371 Because Elisa Lam was a guest of the Stay on Main in the Cecil Hotel, 606 00:41:59,454 --> 00:42:02,666 once she began exhibiting behavior that was abnormal, 607 00:42:03,250 --> 00:42:06,419 I think there was an obligation for responsible parties to recognize 608 00:42:06,503 --> 00:42:10,173 that this person who was in their care was not in her right mind 609 00:42:10,257 --> 00:42:11,383 and needed some help. 610 00:42:11,967 --> 00:42:14,302 If somebody had asked her, "Are you okay? 611 00:42:14,386 --> 00:42:16,555 Where's your family? Can we contact them?" 612 00:42:16,638 --> 00:42:18,306 Maybe that would've made a difference. 613 00:42:21,101 --> 00:42:23,103 [Price] As a manager, how far do you go 614 00:42:23,186 --> 00:42:26,523 as far as taking precautions to… to know if people are okay? 615 00:42:27,941 --> 00:42:32,320 Her behavior was bizarre, but not enough to be, you know, calling officials in. 616 00:42:34,698 --> 00:42:37,075 And, you know, I would have to ask myself, 617 00:42:37,158 --> 00:42:38,827 "If I had called 911, 618 00:42:39,494 --> 00:42:40,954 would anybody have come?" 619 00:42:41,538 --> 00:42:44,416 A lot of times, when you call the police, they don't answer. 620 00:42:44,499 --> 00:42:45,709 [siren whooping] 621 00:42:45,792 --> 00:42:48,878 There's so much going on in this area. 622 00:42:48,962 --> 00:42:51,089 There's this huge problem. 623 00:42:51,172 --> 00:42:52,465 [siren wailing] 624 00:42:52,549 --> 00:42:55,010 You know, It's just so overwhelming for the police 625 00:42:55,719 --> 00:42:57,846 and for everybody involved. 626 00:43:00,015 --> 00:43:04,477 What happened to Elisa Lam is horrendous, but it isn't because of the hotel. 627 00:43:05,812 --> 00:43:08,607 We were not responsible for her death. 628 00:43:09,399 --> 00:43:10,942 We're just not responsible. 629 00:43:11,901 --> 00:43:13,528 [people chattering indistinctly] 630 00:43:17,032 --> 00:43:19,409 [Dean] The judge ultimately ruled for the hotel, 631 00:43:20,785 --> 00:43:22,954 and the wrongful death case was dismissed. 632 00:43:27,250 --> 00:43:29,586 Learning the lid was actually off the tank… 633 00:43:30,420 --> 00:43:32,088 it's a very big deal. 634 00:43:33,923 --> 00:43:37,302 That was the moment where it really changed for me. 635 00:43:38,053 --> 00:43:41,473 It basically ruled out the last possibility 636 00:43:41,556 --> 00:43:44,059 that there could've been foul play in this case, 637 00:43:45,226 --> 00:43:47,437 and I realized that ultimately 638 00:43:48,021 --> 00:43:52,150 this is a tragedy about a woman who was suffering. 639 00:43:57,155 --> 00:44:02,077 [Sobhani] We saw, you know, the elevator going up and down in that video. 640 00:44:04,079 --> 00:44:06,081 [woman] This is the floor she stayed on. 641 00:44:06,706 --> 00:44:08,124 [Sobhani] For quite a while, 642 00:44:08,708 --> 00:44:11,044 I held onto the belief that this was homicide, 643 00:44:11,127 --> 00:44:14,130 and I was almost 100 percent sure about it. 644 00:44:16,174 --> 00:44:18,259 In trying to make sense of this, 645 00:44:19,928 --> 00:44:24,015 I felt that seeing her grave site would help me get closer to closure. 646 00:44:24,099 --> 00:44:25,684 [birds chirping] 647 00:44:28,728 --> 00:44:33,191 I had someone who was kind enough to go and film. 648 00:44:34,984 --> 00:44:38,154 And, uh, he put his hand on her gravestone for me. 649 00:44:41,491 --> 00:44:46,454 Now I realize that the way to honor her is to accept the truth, 650 00:44:47,539 --> 00:44:52,168 that this was a tragedy of an accidental death. 651 00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:59,008 [man] I think it's pretty clear what really happened to her. 652 00:44:59,843 --> 00:45:02,178 When you look into every facet of what happened, 653 00:45:02,262 --> 00:45:03,805 it's all entirely explainable. 654 00:45:03,888 --> 00:45:05,306 [keyboard clacking] 655 00:45:05,390 --> 00:45:10,895 But it's still widely touted as an internet mystery, 656 00:45:11,855 --> 00:45:13,606 modern urban legend, 657 00:45:14,274 --> 00:45:15,442 an unsolved story. 658 00:45:16,526 --> 00:45:18,445 [uneasy music playing] 659 00:45:21,448 --> 00:45:24,325 [Mungin] When people hear the story of the Elisa Lam case, 660 00:45:25,326 --> 00:45:28,163 you have this cultural phenomenon that takes weight… 661 00:45:28,246 --> 00:45:29,914 [keyboard clacking] 662 00:45:29,998 --> 00:45:32,625 …which allows for this groundswell to occur. 663 00:45:32,709 --> 00:45:36,129 -[man] I can't stop thinking about it. -[man 2] I need to know what happened. 664 00:45:36,212 --> 00:45:37,839 [woman] I've watched it 1,000 times. 665 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:42,844 [Mungin] I think that people hope that there was a killer, 666 00:45:44,846 --> 00:45:49,100 or they hope that their own conspiracy theories would come true. 667 00:45:51,936 --> 00:45:55,565 Because the reality of it is much sadder. 668 00:46:01,070 --> 00:46:01,905 All right. 669 00:46:02,781 --> 00:46:06,034 I re-watched all my videos before coming here to do this, 670 00:46:06,117 --> 00:46:09,329 and I could see how conspiracy-minded I was. 671 00:46:09,412 --> 00:46:11,748 My gut keeps leaning towards… 672 00:46:11,831 --> 00:46:17,212 I was caught up on all these bizarre parallels 673 00:46:17,295 --> 00:46:19,005 that we see in this case. 674 00:46:21,341 --> 00:46:24,719 [Harlowe] In the end, there's so many of these extreme coincidences, 675 00:46:25,220 --> 00:46:29,557 and it really fed into all those theories. 676 00:46:30,391 --> 00:46:33,394 But when you are too deep into anything, 677 00:46:33,478 --> 00:46:35,355 you do lose your perspective. 678 00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:43,154 I think that people that cross that line without any facts or evidence… 679 00:46:44,364 --> 00:46:46,032 And that's when you lose control. 680 00:46:47,242 --> 00:46:49,744 And that's when you do things that can hurt people. 681 00:46:55,458 --> 00:46:59,754 So when the news were released about her death being an accident, 682 00:46:59,838 --> 00:47:03,132 no one apologized to me, no one reached out to me. 683 00:47:05,677 --> 00:47:06,719 Nothing changed. 684 00:47:08,179 --> 00:47:09,097 It's just wrong. 685 00:47:09,806 --> 00:47:13,726 People shouldn't get away with that, and we have to be more responsible 686 00:47:13,810 --> 00:47:15,478 to what we say and do. 687 00:47:17,730 --> 00:47:19,899 What happened to me could happen to anyone. 688 00:47:20,692 --> 00:47:21,860 This is serious. 689 00:47:22,819 --> 00:47:24,487 I survived it, but… 690 00:47:25,029 --> 00:47:27,866 lots of people get cyber-bullied and they don't make it. 691 00:47:30,451 --> 00:47:33,913 That place is just a portal to hell, in my opinion. 692 00:47:35,373 --> 00:47:38,209 Once you step in there, bad things happen. 693 00:47:41,462 --> 00:47:45,550 I've come to realize that I am just maybe another victim of that place. 694 00:47:47,218 --> 00:47:49,512 Just in a different way. 695 00:47:52,891 --> 00:47:53,766 [horn honks] 696 00:47:56,352 --> 00:47:58,271 [horn honks] 697 00:47:59,981 --> 00:48:05,570 [Price] We closed our doors January 1st, 2017. 698 00:48:06,154 --> 00:48:08,156 [eerie music playing] 699 00:48:09,908 --> 00:48:12,660 The hotel was sold to a group in New York. 700 00:48:16,497 --> 00:48:19,918 It's worth like 80-something million now. It's wild. 701 00:48:21,544 --> 00:48:23,463 [Cooper] A determination has been made 702 00:48:23,546 --> 00:48:26,382 that half the building is going to be low income housing, 703 00:48:27,425 --> 00:48:30,845 and that half the building is going to be a luxury hotel. 704 00:48:32,055 --> 00:48:35,308 I hope that, um, it'll be a safer place for everybody involved. 705 00:48:38,686 --> 00:48:42,315 [Lordan] According to reports, the new owner wants to have 706 00:48:43,900 --> 00:48:46,402 a bar area put up on the roof… 707 00:48:48,529 --> 00:48:49,822 and a wading pool. 708 00:48:52,825 --> 00:48:54,953 [Price] I wish that hotel a lot of success. 709 00:48:55,662 --> 00:48:56,621 I really do. 710 00:48:57,372 --> 00:48:59,666 I think she deserves another chance. 711 00:48:59,749 --> 00:49:01,334 [horns honking] 712 00:49:03,169 --> 00:49:05,463 I know she could be a showstopper again 713 00:49:06,798 --> 00:49:08,675 and talked about in a positive way. 714 00:49:10,885 --> 00:49:12,136 You know, it's time. 715 00:49:12,762 --> 00:49:13,596 It's time. 716 00:49:17,475 --> 00:49:21,104 [Mungin] Today what we see is this reimagining of downtown Los Angeles… 717 00:49:23,314 --> 00:49:27,735 where there's this conglomeration of homelessness and poverty, 718 00:49:28,653 --> 00:49:29,654 of violence, 719 00:49:31,364 --> 00:49:32,615 of tourism, 720 00:49:33,449 --> 00:49:38,162 and of high-class individuals living in swanky new hotels and lofts. 721 00:49:40,123 --> 00:49:42,250 All of these populations are together. 722 00:49:45,086 --> 00:49:48,756 And so now, individuals wanting to make money in this area 723 00:49:49,424 --> 00:49:51,926 have this rhetoric of, 724 00:49:52,010 --> 00:49:54,512 "We're going to clean up the streets of Skid Row" 725 00:49:55,096 --> 00:49:58,725 by just trying to remove human beings. 726 00:49:58,808 --> 00:50:01,227 [sounds of traffic] 727 00:50:02,145 --> 00:50:04,772 [Givens] You got a lot of people that come down here, 728 00:50:06,274 --> 00:50:08,484 and then they complain about the homeless. 729 00:50:08,568 --> 00:50:10,361 [people chattering indistinctly] 730 00:50:10,445 --> 00:50:12,071 Where are these people gonna go? 731 00:50:12,780 --> 00:50:14,824 You know, they've always been there. 732 00:50:16,284 --> 00:50:20,038 You're the one that's coming down here, so why look down on somebody like that? 733 00:50:20,121 --> 00:50:21,247 But this is what they do. 734 00:50:24,417 --> 00:50:27,670 [Mungin] We’re talking about the homeless as if they're the issue. 735 00:50:29,881 --> 00:50:34,135 Those individuals deserve a better space than what we've created for them. 736 00:50:35,595 --> 00:50:39,682 Because, in this space, mental health episodes 737 00:50:40,475 --> 00:50:42,727 have become common. 738 00:50:44,520 --> 00:50:49,442 And how many stories just like Elisa Lam's 739 00:50:50,193 --> 00:50:51,277 have we missed? 740 00:50:58,576 --> 00:51:00,036 [Elisa Lam] Depression sucks. 741 00:51:00,828 --> 00:51:01,704 Period. 742 00:51:03,206 --> 00:51:04,624 [melancholy music plays] 743 00:51:06,584 --> 00:51:07,752 [keyboard clacking] 744 00:51:07,835 --> 00:51:10,588 If someone says to you that they have depression, 745 00:51:10,671 --> 00:51:11,923 don't ask why. 746 00:51:12,757 --> 00:51:14,509 There is no why. 747 00:51:16,260 --> 00:51:19,097 Tell them every day you love them. 748 00:51:20,223 --> 00:51:23,601 Remind them every day, it will get better. 749 00:51:24,894 --> 00:51:27,230 There is nothing else you can do. 750 00:51:29,148 --> 00:51:32,318 [Ho] I think Elisa was a bright young woman with a bright future 751 00:51:32,401 --> 00:51:35,363 doing the best that she could to manage her chronic illness. 752 00:51:36,489 --> 00:51:39,367 [Elisa Lam] I'm not a professional depressed person. 753 00:51:40,451 --> 00:51:42,662 I am so much more than that. 754 00:51:43,996 --> 00:51:45,373 I am very lucky. 755 00:51:45,957 --> 00:51:49,252 I-I do have amazing, beautiful things in my life. 756 00:51:50,378 --> 00:51:52,380 I am so very full of… 757 00:51:54,507 --> 00:51:55,716 love. 758 00:51:58,469 --> 00:52:03,432 Elisa had many different dimensions, many different angles as a human being. 759 00:52:06,144 --> 00:52:08,771 She was looking for happiness 760 00:52:10,231 --> 00:52:11,732 and yearning for joy. 761 00:52:12,608 --> 00:52:15,611 She knew the version of herself that she wanted to be. 762 00:52:17,989 --> 00:52:20,199 [Elisa Lam] That's the thing about potential. 763 00:52:21,159 --> 00:52:22,785 It was so close. 764 00:52:22,869 --> 00:52:23,995 [keyboard clacking] 765 00:52:24,078 --> 00:52:27,540 What could have been, but didn't happen, 766 00:52:28,875 --> 00:52:30,042 breaks your heart. 767 00:52:34,797 --> 00:52:39,218 I think we got cheated of a brilliant writer in the making. 768 00:52:41,304 --> 00:52:44,932 Looking at her writing, looking at her honesty, 769 00:52:45,558 --> 00:52:46,976 it's our loss. 770 00:52:48,436 --> 00:52:49,896 It's a loss for all of us. 771 00:52:54,775 --> 00:52:56,986 [Sobhani] People are still reading her blogs 772 00:52:58,029 --> 00:53:00,114 and commenting on her blog posts. 773 00:53:00,781 --> 00:53:03,034 She's making an impact to this day. 774 00:53:05,661 --> 00:53:09,123 [man] Without a doubt, you have left your mark here. 775 00:53:10,374 --> 00:53:12,460 [woman] You've touched many lives, Elisa. 776 00:53:13,336 --> 00:53:15,421 Probably even saved a lot of people, too. 777 00:53:16,255 --> 00:53:17,632 [woman 2] You give me hope. 778 00:53:18,591 --> 00:53:22,553 [woman 3] Knowing you, now I know someone understands me. 779 00:53:23,221 --> 00:53:25,932 [man 2] My only regret is not finding you sooner. 780 00:53:26,641 --> 00:53:30,144 [woman 3] I will not forget your story, I promise. 781 00:53:32,855 --> 00:53:34,941 [Sobhani] Elisa Lam brought us together. 782 00:53:35,942 --> 00:53:40,112 And thanks to Elisa, I realized we're not alone. 783 00:53:41,030 --> 00:53:41,948 We're not alone. 784 00:53:43,574 --> 00:53:47,662 [Dean] There are stories that stick with you, that you can't stop thinking about. 785 00:53:48,829 --> 00:53:50,498 This is definitely one of those. 786 00:53:51,958 --> 00:53:53,793 [Cooper] You can't forget Elisa Lam. 787 00:53:54,919 --> 00:53:57,463 She was important before she died. She's still important. 788 00:53:58,422 --> 00:54:01,092 You see that her life mattered. 789 00:54:03,135 --> 00:54:04,387 Her legacy lives. 790 00:54:07,223 --> 00:54:09,433 And just being here with everyone, 791 00:54:10,059 --> 00:54:11,811 she's not quite gone. 792 00:54:13,562 --> 00:54:16,399 [Elisa Lam] I suppose that is the human condition, 793 00:54:18,025 --> 00:54:22,029 to feel so big, so important, but… 794 00:54:23,739 --> 00:54:25,408 just a flicker in the universe… 795 00:54:27,326 --> 00:54:31,789 and the struggle to come to terms with those two truths. 796 00:54:45,011 --> 00:54:47,221 [somber music plays]