Tuesday, 26 January 2021 19:00

Netflix's 'Crime Scene' Explores The Mysterious Death Of Elisa Lam

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New docuseries to answer questions about the case of a student from Canada who was found dead in a hotel in Los Angeles in 2013

Elisa Lam, a student from Vancouver, Canada, was found dead in 2013 at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, U.S.A. After eight years, Netflix has decided to dive deeper into the findings of the case with the new docuseries, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.

A Crime Scene trailer released by Netflix shows clips from the hotel's CCTV footage, which was released by the police, that went viral after Lam's disappearance, along with interviews with hotel officials and guests. The four-episode docuseries aims to answer some of the questions surrounding Lam's case.

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Since its inception less than 100 years ago, the hotel, which is now closed, is infamous for a number of murders and mysterious events. Lam's body being found in the hotel's water tank on February 19, 2013, is just one of them. After guests complained about low water pressure, the ensuing investigation led to the tank - three weeks after Lam went missing. 

At the time, Lam's mysterious case captured the national interest and led to many online sleuths following the details closely and bringing forth their own theories on the internet, some of which were supernatural in nature. This was partly because the tape released by the police showed Lam's strange behavior in the hotel's elevator. She is seen looking back and forth in the hallway, before hesitantly returning to the elevator, footage that is visible in the Crime Scene trailer. Although no one else is visible, she is also seen moving her hands around in another clip, as if in conversation with someone. Four months after her body was discovered, the case was deemed an accident and the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office declared drowning as the cause of death.

Apart from Lam's case, Crime Scene will also highlight the notorious history of the Cecil Hotel, or what the official trailer refers to as 'Hotel Death'. One person identified is Richard Ramirez, an American serial killer who was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering at least 13 individuals in California in the '80s. The hotel was his reported residence at the time. 

Crime Scene is directed by Joe Berlinger, who brought to life Netflix's Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. While the first season focuses on Lam's disappearance and the hotel's history, future seasons of the show will highlight different locations and crimes associated with them. 

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel will be available on Netflix starting February 10, 2021. 

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Source: Netflix/Youtube

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