Bizzare & Odd
New book on Elisa Lam case looks at evidence of police coverup and botched investigation
Jake Anderson
The Mind Unleashed
Many insist to this day that a resident evil looms within the very walls of the infamous Cecil Hotel in downtown LA.
Back in 2013, I became obsessed with a true-crime case that was very popular online. And very strange. You might be familiar with it.
A surveillance recording of a young woman in a red hoodie — who can be seen acting bizarrely, almost as if she is hiding from someone, in an elevator inside the infamous Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles — went viral on YouTube.
That same young woman, 21-year-old Chinese-Canadian tourist Elisa Lam, was found nearly two weeks later in one of the hotel’s rooftop water tanks. Her naked body was removed with relative difficulty by firefighters, who had to cut into the side of the cistern with lasers to extract the corpse.
The conditions were extremely suspicious. Though no one could quite explain how Elisa would have ended up on the alarm-triggered roof in the first place, much less drowning naked in a difficult-to-access water tank, LAPD detectives closed the case without criminal charges. They concluded there was no foul play and that Elisa had accidentally drowned due to complications resulting from bipolar disorder.
I subsequently spent five years researching this tragic, extraordinarily eerie, one-of-a-kind case and wrote a book, GONE AT MIDNIGHT: The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam.
The case had personal resonance for me early on. I read Elisa’s voluminous online writings, which detailed her battle with severe depression and bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder — which drastically increases suicide rates — had taken the life of my aunt and threatened the lives of several close friends; and depression had been an ongoing battle in my own adult life.
The spectacle of seeing millions of people online trying to divine whether Elisa’s death was the result of hypomania, human predation, or some paranormal demon struck me as particularly apropos of our current Internet-mediated reality.
In the process of investigating the case, I turned up new information that will interest readers and web sleuths on a number of levels.
People who aren’t particularly familiar with the case will be introduced to the eerie Cecil Hotel via a biography that explains why it’s so incredibly synchronistic that this tragedy played out at this location. An extensive history of the Cecil Hotel (renamed Stay On Main) reveals an almost unbelievable number of unexplained deaths, suicides, and murders starting in the 1930s and continuing to the present day.
Incredibly, a manager claimed on camera that someone has died in all 600+ rooms of the hotel.
A former tenant revealed to me that employees had used their master keys to enter guest rooms and sexually assault women. At least two different prolific serial killers, Richard Ramirez (the “Night Stalker”) and Jack Unterweger, lived on the upper floors of the Cecil (Ramirez on the same floor where Elisa was recorded) during their respective murder sprees.
There’s a reason why tenants called it “The Suicide Hotel.” Main Street pedestrians have periodically glimpsed bodies of “jumpers,” the many souls who jumped to their deaths from the upper floors. One had a nervous breakdown upon the ghoulish sight of a woman strung up in the cable lines and had to be admitted to a hospital; another was actually killed by a suicidal Cecil tenant who landed on his head.
Many insist to this day that a resident evil looms within the very walls of the building. After staying there by myself twice during my research, I can attest that it’s a lodging experience you will never forget (though you will want to).
People who are familiar with the case, and who have been waiting for some answers, will be relieved to know this book contains exclusive new interviews and evidence that has not (yet) been leaked online. In the book, I spend a great deal of time going over the history of Cecil Hotel’s internal corruption, as well as recent LAPD scandals, to lay the foundations for why I’m convinced there’s been a criminal coverup in this case.
I also take great pains to state why I don’t view mental illness and foul play as mutually exclusive. In fact, I spend several chapters discussing the multitude of neurological, genetic, and psycho-social factors that must be addressed before someone can even intelligently discuss mental illness, much less try to approximate what was going on in Elisa Lam’s head on January 31st, 2013.
In other words, there may be multiple colliding realities of what was going on that night.
The new evidence I gathered includes: eyewitness testimony regarding the discovery of Elisa’s belongings; new forensic analysis of the autopsy by an independent coroner that contradicts the LA Coroner’s Office stated cause of death; a payment made by the Cecil Hotel to one of the employees who discovered Elisa’s body, who likely perjured himself in a civil deposition and subsequently left the country with his family; and an LAPD informant who has firsthand knowledge of a possible quid pro quo between Cecil Hotel executives and the LAPD. And more.
I hope to catch the notice of the California Attorney General because this case desperately needs an independent audit.
I went into the writing of this book wanting to counter the stigmatization of mental illness in today’s society. Ultimately, I encountered a police department willing to use a victim’s mental illness to scapegoat a botched investigation.
You may like
Bizzare & Odd
Tesla autopilot sensor recorded “ghost” in an empty cemetery
A Tesla electric car with an activated autopilot function recorded an invisible person who allegedly moved around the cemetery. Social network users jokingly noted in the comments that, most likely, this is some new function from Elon Musk, which allows you to see ghosts.
In the United States, a Tesla electric car with an activated autopilot function recorded an invisible person who allegedly moved through a cemetery.
The corresponding video was posted by Twitter user Ovidiu Maciuc.
The recording shows how a silhouette of a man appears on the monitor of an electric car, moving around the cemetery. After that, the driver raises the camera and starts filming the graveyard through the windshield, but there are no people there.
After some time, the “ghost” went in the opposite direction from Tesla and disappeared from the on-board computer screen.
Tesla collision avoidance system detecting an invisible human/entity at the cemetery. Excuse me but wtf @elonmusk ? pic.twitter.com/VcANAzH1uh
— Ovidiu Maciuc (@OMaciuc) January 12, 2021
Social network users jokingly noted in the comments that, most likely, this is some new function from Elon Musk, which allows you to see ghosts.
For many though, if you take into account the comments, the video seemed rather creepy. Some even tried to guess what the navigation system actually showed.
Some users thought the system could recognize ghosts. Others refuted this version and said that the reason for all this is an insufficiently accurate sensor, which was used for the equipment of the Tesla car.
Earlier it became known that Tesla electric cars in the near future may receive a new function with which they can talk with pedestrians. For this, American cars will be equipped with special external speakers.
In addition, Tesla cars in the future will receive the option to change the horn and sound of movement at low speeds to warn pedestrians. According to Elon Musk, among the sounds of movement there will be the sound of the clatter of a horse’s hooves, and as a whistle – the bleating of a goat.
Bizzare & Odd
Mysterious energy source melts Tel Aviv sidewalks, leading to the evacuation of several buildings in Israel
About two weeks ago, Tel Aviv residents noticed that the concrete surface outside their homes was heating up and steam was coming out of the ground. Tests showed that steam that reached 60 ° C (140 ° F) was water based.
The witness explains: “I was afraid that there was a power line in the area and asked a worker to dig out the ground with a shovel. Steam suddenly came out. I imagined it was probably a geyser. It seemed to me that this was a geological incident – also because there were no problems with electricity in the building. “
עוד אנשי מקצוע בשטח. אני מבין שכל גורמי התשתיות ובהם גם אנשי חברת החשמל במקום pic.twitter.com/2vCfqrVqnl
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) January 1, 2021
Although the experts did not find any hazardous substances or any risk to the stability of buildings at the site, residents as well as kindergartens in the area were evacuated.
Officials described the heat source as “trapped energy” of unknown origin.
Work continues, steam is still rising and the ground is still hot. It is currently unclear what is causing the warming. Note the hole dug in the area. The area is still blocked.
Mysterious origins
City officials said they will “continue to monitor the temperature of the earth, which is expected to cool down for a long time, and will continue to investigate the causes of the unusual event.”
Israel Electric Corporation has not found a connection between heat and power in the area.
חדשות מחמי גבירול: העבודות והמדידות נמשכות. האדים כנראה פסקו וגם האדמה מעט התקררה (שימו לבל לסרטון, במקום המדידה הזה 39.3 מעלות). כמה סברות ששמעתי על הסיבה מגורמים שעבדו בשטח: תשתית חשמל ישנה בעומק הקרקע (חברת חשמל שללו) או חומר אורגני שבמגע עם מי תהום התחמם
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) January 3, 2021
צילום @ilanrcohen1 pic.twitter.com/CDKtDxVdQF
The Israel Geological Survey confirmed the rise in temperature after testing ground and water temperature levels, but said it has not yet found an explanation.
Despite their best efforts, municipal officials, the fire department, Israel Electric Corporation and the Ministry of the Environment have yet to find a source of heat.
Meanwhile, the Tel Aviv municipality has informed dozens of evacuees that they can return to their homes. However, residents are not going to return until they receive a detailed account of the source of the mysterious event.
“They evacuated us because they were concerned about our safety, and now they are urging us to return without any convincing explanation. How can you be sure that there is no more danger? “
Bizzare & Odd
The night sky in southern Taiwan shows a weird red moon alarming netizens: 2021 disaster year omen?
Some people in Chiayi, Taiwan took pictures of a large dark red moon hanging in the night sky on the first night of 2021 and uploaded them to Facebook. There are also people in Tainan who have photographed the rare “red moon”. The weird scene has aroused heated discussions among netizens. Some people worry that an earthquake may occur, while others suspect that this is a precursor to the year of disaster in 2021?
Yesterday, on January 1 at about 8:00 in the evening, Chiayi residents shared a photo of “2021’s first red moon” on Facebook. As you can see in the photo, the weather was quite good at that time. There was a clear big round moon in the night sky, but it was a dark red moon, which was very different from the usual moon.
Later, people in Kaohsiung and Tainan also posted photos of the red moon they had taken.
The weird and rare “big red moon” immediately attracted the attention of netizens. Some people think that such a sight is caused by air pollution, and some people think that the red moon is “extremely beautiful”, but many people worry about whether it is a harbinger before the disaster ?
“Hope is not a harbinger of disaster~”, “A harbinger of disaster in 2021???”, “It looked uneasy”, “After seeing the red moon, I hope everyone will be safe”.
Some netizens worry that this is a pre- earthquake omen.
“Remember the red moon before the 921 earthquake (omen)”, “earthquake precursors”, “I feel that there will be an earthquake again recently”, and “It seems that 2021 will be another year of bloody disaster.”
The British clairvoyant Craig Hamilton-Parker published his prediction for 2021 on YouTube in December last year, stating that, as far as the world is concerned, 2021 will be a year full of social unrest, armed conflict and political changes. There will be difficult times right now until 2025.
He also predicted that the biggest worry is climate and earthquakes. A tsunami will occur near Japan. Large earthquakes will occur in the Himalayas, Iran and the Americas. There will also be problems such as floods, dams bursting, and huge icebergs obstructing shipping. Until 2025, the severity of environmental problems will gradually increase.
KOI-5Ab, the curious planet that orbits in a system of three suns
Raised by Wolves: Microsoft has been tasked with developing a global digital passport
A part of a person’s essence accompanies him throughout his life: this is confirmed by a brain scan
Juno probe recorded a radio signal source in orbit of Jupiter which may be an ancient interplanetary station
Tesla autopilot sensor recorded “ghost” in an empty cemetery
About the so-called “City of God” found in one of the space images. Fiction or reality?
“Humanity behaves like a cancer”: experts on why aliens should destroy us
Covid-19: The Great Reset -Pandemic targets declared
COVID-21 is here. Is an official new strain announcement on the way?
“An unpleasant truth”. Japanese futurist predicted new pandemics
DO NOT MISS
Aliens among us: could Mars be the cradle of life on earth?
The hypothesis that life originated on Mars and only from there was brought to Earth can be called unusual, but...
“Guardians” of governments and people: World elite have found a way to rule nations
This week, the Vatican entered into a partnership agreement with a certain “Council for Inclusive Capitalism”. On December 8 and 9,...
US official: “Roswell wreckage was from an alien flying saucer”
What Major Jesse Marshall, who was in charge of investigations at the scene, reveals in his diary – He denounces...
On December 4, many UFOs appeared at night over the pyramids of Giza in Egypt
Something strange happened in the sky above the pyramids of Giza, on the night of December 3, when luminous objects...
Astronomers have recorded more than a thousand mysterious round spots. What could they be?
Astronomers at Australia’s ASKAP radio telescope complex have reported that they have discovered strange circles of radio emission in space. According...
Trending
-
Mysteries4 weeks ago
About the so-called “City of God” found in one of the space images. Fiction or reality?
-
Aliens & UFO's4 weeks ago
“Humanity behaves like a cancer”: experts on why aliens should destroy us
-
Underworld4 weeks ago
Covid-19: The Great Reset -Pandemic targets declared
-
Conspiracy Theories4 weeks ago
COVID-21 is here. Is an official new strain announcement on the way?
-
Fact or fiction2 weeks ago
“An unpleasant truth”. Japanese futurist predicted new pandemics
-
Aliens & UFO's3 weeks ago
In China, three UFOs attacked a “rocket” and it exploded with incredible effects (VIDEO)
-
Apocalypse & Armageddon4 weeks ago
50,000 earthquakes in Antarctica and mysterious trumpet sounds in the sky. What’s next?
-
Metaphysics & Psychology4 weeks ago
Vanga’s prophecy about December 22 will coincide with the most powerful solar flare