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[keyboard clacking]
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00:00:16,766 --> 00:00:21,312
[newswoman] A hotel with a notorious past
is the site of another bizarre case.
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00:00:21,396 --> 00:00:25,025
It's one of the most obsessively followed
true crime cases of the century.
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[newswoman 2] This gruesome discovery
is the latest chapter
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in a dark history for the Cecil Hotel.
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[siren wailing]
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[man] The Cecil?
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[chuckles]
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You want to know about the Cecil.
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Wow.
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Where should I start?
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[siren wailing]
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[man 2] The Cecil was
a very deceiving hotel.
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There's a lot of beauty to it.
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But it was
the complete opposite of beauty.
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[man 3] A lot of people
can't help but wonder,
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00:00:58,683 --> 00:01:02,353
like, is the Cecil Hotel
consumed by a nexus of dark energy?
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We've got missing persons…
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00:01:05,315 --> 00:01:06,524
suicides…
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00:01:07,317 --> 00:01:08,401
overdoses.
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[man 2] For some reason, that hotel…
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had some extra bit of insanity
going on within those walls.
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Drug dealers.
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Prostitutes.
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-Rapists.
-[screams]
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Murderers.
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The Cecil is a place where serial killers,
you know, let their hair down.
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Hail, Satan!
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And if you didn't watch yourself,
you might come flying out the window.
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[man 4] Bad things keep happening there,
over and over and over and over again.
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[bell dings]
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Why?
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I would have never thought
what was about to happen could happen.
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[man 5] With Elisa Lam,
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you're talking about a 21-year-old college
student that just completely disappears.
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The hotel is where we have to start.
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00:01:59,452 --> 00:02:02,789
But then the investigation
took on a life of its own.
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[man 6] I have spent hours and hours
investigating this.
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00:02:05,750 --> 00:02:08,795
In the elevator,
she's acting very strange.
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[woman] What's with the hand movements?
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00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,007
There's more to the story
than meets the eye.
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00:02:13,675 --> 00:02:16,511
I think that somebody from the LAPD
was corrupt.
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I believe somebody in the Cecil Hotel
was involved.
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You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist
to say, "What the fuck?"
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I think that Elisa Lam was almost like
an insect caught in a trap.
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The Cecil was able to lure her
to come inside.
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[man 4] The Cecil Hotel
is this exalted space of crime…
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of violence…
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00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:43,538
of spookiness…
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-[elevator dings]
-…that just continues to call to us.
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-[uneasy music playing]
-[siren wailing]
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[elevator dings]
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[elevator dings]
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[camera shutter clicking]
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[dog barking]
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[horns honking]
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[keyboard clacking]
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[woman] Bless the internet.
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The internet doesn't really have
consequences.
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At least on Tumblr, I hope.
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People can really be themselves.
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00:04:25,682 --> 00:04:28,768
It makes more sense
to write candidly here than a journal,
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00:04:29,269 --> 00:04:32,730
because you know someone's actually
listening to your random thoughts.
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Also, my handwriting is terrible
and I type faster than I write.
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Also, this is way cheaper
than paying for a therapist.
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Also, I get intense satisfaction
when I click publish.
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[keyboard clacking]
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[somber violin music playing]
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Stressed about university.
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Somehow we're supposed to jump
to some kind of maturity
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right after leaving high school.
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You enter a crash course
into the shit hole
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00:05:03,594 --> 00:05:06,347
that is figuring out
what the hell you want out of life.
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00:05:06,889 --> 00:05:09,392
Damn it, people.
We're trying to figure things out.
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I want to get away.
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[keyboard clacking]
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Travel.
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[bright music playing]
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Must travel this summer for sanity.
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Must find job to get monies
for traveling.
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Must convince parents
to allow me to travel on my own.
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I'm freaking 21 now.
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Going to be okay.
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Planning, planning, planning.
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San Diego, Los Angeles,
Santa Cruz, and San Francisco.
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The West Coast tour.
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Suggestions and recommendations
highly, highly appreciated and needed.
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Have arrived in La-La Land.
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And the rest is to be written.
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[uneasy music plays]
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[siren wailing]
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[newsman] Elisa Lam
from Vancouver, Canada is missing.
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She was traveling by herself,
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spent a few days in San Diego,
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and then came to Los Angeles
on the 28th of January.
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[newswoman] The young woman planned
to see more of California, say police.
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[newsman 2] January 31st was the last time
her family in Canada had heard from her.
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[newswoman 2] It is possible
that Ms. Lam is either hurt or in danger.
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She has no history
of any kind of behavior
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that would end up like this.
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[siren wailing]
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[newsman] LAPD's elite
robbery-homicide section is on the case.
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[uneasy music plays]
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[Marcia] My name's Tim Marcia.
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I was a detective
with the Los Angeles Police Department.
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One morning,
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we were told that we had picked up
a missing persons case.
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She was a young female from Canada,
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traveling throughout California
by herself.
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There was a sense of panic.
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There was probably about 18 detectives,
uh, from robbery-homicide division,
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uh, that responded.
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[phone ringing]
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[man] Elisa Lam's family
told the police department
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that she would typically call every day.
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It was just routine for her to check in,
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and she hadn't called,
and that concerned them.
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So there was a true sense of urgency.
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We sat there and we discussed,
"What are the possibilities?"
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One, that she doesn't want to be found.
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She's off the radar by choice.
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00:08:02,398 --> 00:08:06,527
Maybe she was disoriented,
not being familiar with Los Angeles,
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00:08:07,445 --> 00:08:08,988
and she's lost.
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00:08:10,781 --> 00:08:13,159
Or could it be something worse than that…
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00:08:14,660 --> 00:08:18,706
where she was a victim
of some type of accident
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00:08:18,789 --> 00:08:20,082
or some type of crime?
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00:08:20,750 --> 00:08:25,463
The investigators begin to exchange
information with Elisa Lam's family
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00:08:26,297 --> 00:08:29,842
to figure out where she was last seen,
last known to have been,
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and they had learned that it was
the hotel where she was staying.
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[newswoman] A hotel with a notorious past
is the site of another bizarre case.
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[newsman] Elisa was staying here
at the Cecil Hotel
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in downtown Los Angeles.
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It has $85-a-night rooms
and mostly guests from foreign countries.
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Nearly 20 robbery-homicide detectives
at mid-afternoon swarmed the hotel,
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00:09:05,628 --> 00:09:09,215
presumably looking
for witnesses and clues.
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I was the general manager
of the Cecil Hotel from 2007 to 2017,
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so ten years.
138
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It was like my kingdom. [chuckles]
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It was a kingdom, you know.
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00:09:38,786 --> 00:09:41,205
I've also called it a zoo. [chuckles]
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You just never knew
what was gonna happen…
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00:09:44,834 --> 00:09:46,335
at any given day.
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00:09:47,587 --> 00:09:50,631
[indistinct police radio chatter]
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00:09:50,715 --> 00:09:53,968
At the time when Elisa Lam went missing,
it was alarming,
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00:09:54,051 --> 00:09:56,596
but we cooperated
with the police officers,
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00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,307
trying to help the best we can
every step of the way.
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00:10:00,933 --> 00:10:06,314
I told detectives that she checked
into our hotel on January 28th, 2013.
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As far as I know, she was gonna be
staying with us for four days.
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506 was a female bunk room.
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00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:20,745
Community toilets and showers
were down the hall.
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Young travelers are on a budget.
They just want a clean place to stay.
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00:10:26,751 --> 00:10:29,503
Elisa was supposed to check out
on February 1st,
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00:10:30,338 --> 00:10:33,257
which was also the day
that she was reported missing.
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00:10:35,885 --> 00:10:38,304
[Kading] The investigators
went to her room…
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00:10:39,722 --> 00:10:41,724
to search for potential evidence.
156
00:10:44,101 --> 00:10:48,356
But they learned that the hotel staff
removed all her personal belongings.
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00:10:51,859 --> 00:10:54,570
[Price] In a hotel, when somebody
doesn't physically check out
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and they leave property in the room,
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it's just protocol that you…
you know, you bag up the belongings
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00:11:00,785 --> 00:11:02,495
and you store you 'em for 30 days.
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00:11:03,245 --> 00:11:05,998
You'd be surprised
what people leave at the hotel.
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00:11:06,082 --> 00:11:09,502
We found a snake once in the hotel,
in the… the bathtub.
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00:11:18,219 --> 00:11:21,597
Investigators discovered that her laptop
had been left behind…
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00:11:23,182 --> 00:11:25,184
her prescription medications,
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other items of value.
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00:11:27,561 --> 00:11:30,481
[Price] Her wallet,
all of the clothes that she wore,
167
00:11:30,564 --> 00:11:33,401
all those things were…
were left behind in the room.
168
00:11:35,361 --> 00:11:39,115
[Marcia] The employee
that had bagged up her belongings
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00:11:39,198 --> 00:11:42,201
said that the room was in disarray,
as in messy,
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00:11:42,993 --> 00:11:44,745
but not as in foul play.
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00:11:45,621 --> 00:11:48,582
There was no evidence
of forced entry into the room.
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There was no paraphernalia or drugs,
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but I remember feeling instinctively
174
00:11:55,256 --> 00:11:58,884
that this does not feel
like it's gonna end well.
175
00:12:00,094 --> 00:12:01,429
[rain pattering]
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00:12:02,763 --> 00:12:03,681
[sheep bleats]
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00:12:13,941 --> 00:12:16,152
-[tea kettle whistling]
-[guitar tuning]
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00:12:30,124 --> 00:12:34,545
[woman] My husband Mike and I,
we always wanted to go and visit America,
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00:12:34,628 --> 00:12:36,130
especially Los Angeles.
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00:12:36,881 --> 00:12:38,174
A bit of sunshine,
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00:12:38,716 --> 00:12:42,261
travel away
from rainy, miserable England. [laughs]
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[laughs] Yeah, actually.
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00:12:43,554 --> 00:12:45,890
[Sabina Baugh] One day, Mike said,
"Why don't we go to L.A.?"
184
00:12:45,973 --> 00:12:48,058
And I said, "Yeah, sure, let's go."
185
00:12:48,142 --> 00:12:50,269
[keyboard clacking]
186
00:12:50,352 --> 00:12:53,856
[Mike Baugh] We found
this particular holiday for two weeks,
187
00:12:53,939 --> 00:12:55,483
and it was fairly cheap.
188
00:12:56,066 --> 00:12:57,985
There was no information on the hotel.
189
00:12:58,068 --> 00:13:01,322
It just said "downtown L.A.,"
but it was a really good deal.
190
00:13:01,405 --> 00:13:03,616
So we thought, "Why don't we do it?"
191
00:13:10,164 --> 00:13:14,418
It was our first trip to America,
and we were very excited for it.
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00:13:16,712 --> 00:13:19,173
[Mike Baugh] So we're driving
through downtown L.A.,
193
00:13:20,049 --> 00:13:21,759
going straight to the hotel.
194
00:13:23,969 --> 00:13:26,764
So the taxi driver
dropped us off at the hotel.
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00:13:28,474 --> 00:13:30,226
The outside looked really nice.
196
00:13:30,851 --> 00:13:34,188
[Sabina Baugh] And we saw the sign
that said "the Cecil Hotel."
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00:13:35,356 --> 00:13:36,732
We walked into the lobby
198
00:13:37,399 --> 00:13:38,859
and we were like, "Wow."
199
00:13:40,069 --> 00:13:42,655
It looked really beautiful, grand.
200
00:13:44,490 --> 00:13:46,492
[Mike Baugh] Very big and very spacious,
201
00:13:47,034 --> 00:13:48,160
with big pillars.
202
00:13:49,537 --> 00:13:53,165
[Sabina Baugh] We got our key,
so we went upstairs.
203
00:13:53,749 --> 00:13:56,669
The minute you leave the lobby
and go into the elevator…
204
00:13:56,752 --> 00:13:57,795
[elevator dings]
205
00:13:58,462 --> 00:14:00,965
…you've gone back to, like, 1986.
206
00:14:01,048 --> 00:14:02,550
[uneasy music plays]
207
00:14:05,344 --> 00:14:06,512
[elevator dings]
208
00:14:08,848 --> 00:14:11,559
And so, when we got to the… our room…
209
00:14:11,642 --> 00:14:12,852
[door creaks open]
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00:14:15,771 --> 00:14:18,148
The room was dirty.
There was dust everywhere.
211
00:14:19,859 --> 00:14:21,735
And the carpet was…
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00:14:22,611 --> 00:14:24,113
almost sticky.
213
00:14:25,114 --> 00:14:27,700
You almost had to peel your feet
as you were walking.
214
00:14:27,783 --> 00:14:29,410
Not quite, but almost.
215
00:14:30,119 --> 00:14:33,038
But because of the price we paid for it,
216
00:14:33,122 --> 00:14:37,459
we thought, "Oh, that's okay.
We will only wash and sleep here anyway."
217
00:14:38,669 --> 00:14:40,963
[Mike Baugh] We thought,
"Be positive. It's okay.
218
00:14:41,463 --> 00:14:43,382
What… What can go wrong?" You know.
219
00:14:43,465 --> 00:14:47,303
So we just dropped the stuff off,
went outside to find somewhere to eat.
220
00:14:54,852 --> 00:14:58,772
[Sabina Baugh] Because we were
so jet-lagged and so tired, we got lost,
221
00:14:58,856 --> 00:15:02,192
and we started asking people,
"Oh, where's Cecil Hotel?"
222
00:15:02,276 --> 00:15:04,028
And people were giving us looks.
223
00:15:04,904 --> 00:15:07,531
[Mike Baugh] And the next thing we saw
was a lamppost
224
00:15:07,615 --> 00:15:10,034
that had a missing person's picture on it.
225
00:15:10,117 --> 00:15:13,787
[Sabina Baugh] This one guy mentioned,
"That girl, she's gone missing.
226
00:15:13,871 --> 00:15:15,122
They're looking for her."
227
00:15:15,205 --> 00:15:17,499
She stayed in Cecil Hotel,
where we were staying.
228
00:15:18,542 --> 00:15:21,921
And then we thought,
"Are we safe and secure in the hotel?"
229
00:15:22,004 --> 00:15:23,505
[siren wailing]
230
00:15:25,633 --> 00:15:27,301
[indistinct police radio chatter]
231
00:15:31,221 --> 00:15:33,349
[indistinct police radio chatter]
232
00:15:36,060 --> 00:15:39,438
[Kading] After the discovery
of Elisa's personal belongings,
233
00:15:40,022 --> 00:15:44,109
investigators had no leads
as to where she might have been.
234
00:15:44,777 --> 00:15:48,656
So we needed first-hand accounts
from witnesses at the hotel.
235
00:15:49,365 --> 00:15:53,744
And it's imperative that we speak
to as many people as possible.
236
00:15:54,578 --> 00:15:57,289
Who did she have contact with
in the hotel itself?
237
00:15:57,957 --> 00:16:00,334
What employees did she have contact with?
238
00:16:01,293 --> 00:16:04,630
I gave them all the information
of who was staying at the hotel,
239
00:16:04,713 --> 00:16:07,216
the names of everyone
that has worked at our hotel.
240
00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:11,470
At that time, we had about 50 employees.
241
00:16:15,057 --> 00:16:17,351
[man in Spanish] I was
a maintenance worker at the hotel.
242
00:16:23,941 --> 00:16:25,150
I spent time with the police,
243
00:16:25,234 --> 00:16:28,028
who were interviewing me
and talking to me.
244
00:16:29,405 --> 00:16:31,573
I told them that I never saw her.
245
00:16:32,741 --> 00:16:35,119
But the receptionist,
the guy at the front desk,
246
00:16:35,202 --> 00:16:38,080
they say that she looked
like she was a student.
247
00:16:38,163 --> 00:16:39,540
She was always with a book.
248
00:16:42,918 --> 00:16:44,878
[Marcia in English]
We spoke to the employees
249
00:16:44,962 --> 00:16:48,048
that worked the late shift
on the night of her disappearance,
250
00:16:48,549 --> 00:16:53,846
and they said that they had seen Elisa
in an area that no guests were allowed in,
251
00:16:53,929 --> 00:16:56,932
so they actually asked her to leave,
252
00:16:57,016 --> 00:16:59,435
and she walked towards
the bank of the elevators.
253
00:17:00,269 --> 00:17:03,147
But that was the last time
that anybody saw her.
254
00:17:04,690 --> 00:17:07,651
Unfortunately, investigators were unable
to come up with anything
255
00:17:07,735 --> 00:17:09,862
that, uh, might have helped locate Elisa.
256
00:17:16,869 --> 00:17:20,497
[man] I don't typically do
a lot of missing persons stories.
257
00:17:21,290 --> 00:17:24,877
But there was something really mysterious
about this story,
258
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:29,089
um, and I felt like the Elisa Lam case
259
00:17:29,173 --> 00:17:32,259
was a puzzle
that maybe I could put together.
260
00:17:34,053 --> 00:17:37,556
According to the police,
not a lot is known about her,
261
00:17:37,639 --> 00:17:41,685
except that she's one of two daughters
of an immigrant family from Hong Kong.
262
00:17:41,769 --> 00:17:43,145
So she's first generation.
263
00:17:43,687 --> 00:17:45,898
Her parents own a… a Chinese restaurant,
264
00:17:45,981 --> 00:17:49,526
and she's attending classes
at the University of British Columbia.
265
00:17:51,445 --> 00:17:55,491
And she was, like a lot of young people,
all over social media.
266
00:17:57,367 --> 00:17:59,453
Tumblr was her platform of choice
267
00:17:59,536 --> 00:18:02,164
that she seemed to treat
almost like a diary.
268
00:18:03,123 --> 00:18:05,417
Because she was such a prolific poster,
269
00:18:05,501 --> 00:18:08,796
police were able to use her social media
to retrace her steps.
270
00:18:09,338 --> 00:18:12,674
It was almost like she'd left
these digital breadcrumbs to follow.
271
00:18:14,843 --> 00:18:18,555
It was discovered that she had
an itinerary, to a certain degree…
272
00:18:19,556 --> 00:18:21,683
and that she had been down in San Diego.
273
00:18:23,060 --> 00:18:24,478
[Dean] Elisa arrived in L.A.
274
00:18:25,521 --> 00:18:26,814
Checks into the hotel.
275
00:18:27,314 --> 00:18:29,399
Has a normal few days of being a tourist.
276
00:18:30,109 --> 00:18:31,276
And during her trip,
277
00:18:32,111 --> 00:18:34,404
we know she went to a taping of a TV show.
278
00:18:35,447 --> 00:18:36,782
We know she was going out,
279
00:18:36,865 --> 00:18:41,453
and she was clearly open to meeting
and hanging out with strangers.
280
00:18:41,537 --> 00:18:43,622
Did she have any, uh…
281
00:18:44,414 --> 00:18:48,001
friendships or love interests
that were developed via the internet,
282
00:18:48,085 --> 00:18:52,506
where she was traveling
to meet up with somebody?
283
00:18:53,048 --> 00:18:57,094
And so efforts were put in
to try to identify that.
284
00:18:58,637 --> 00:19:03,016
[Kading] Eventually, investigators found
a bookstore she had visited
285
00:19:03,100 --> 00:19:04,560
on the day she went missing.
286
00:19:09,273 --> 00:19:11,900
[Marcia] We went and talked
to the management there,
287
00:19:11,984 --> 00:19:14,987
and they actually remembered Elisa
coming into the location.
288
00:19:15,070 --> 00:19:17,573
[woman] She was talking about
what books she was getting
289
00:19:17,656 --> 00:19:20,450
and whether what she was getting
would be too heavy
290
00:19:20,534 --> 00:19:23,704
to carry around as she traveled
or take home with her.
291
00:19:23,787 --> 00:19:27,916
She was very outgoing,
very lively, very friendly.
292
00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:31,879
So she went to a bookstore,
came back to the hotel, then vanished.
293
00:19:32,921 --> 00:19:34,464
Only there's no trace of her.
294
00:19:35,841 --> 00:19:40,220
[Marcia] At this point, she had
been missing for approximately five days,
295
00:19:40,304 --> 00:19:41,722
and we don't have anything.
296
00:19:42,306 --> 00:19:44,308
My instinctive feeling was
297
00:19:44,391 --> 00:19:48,061
the Cecil Hotel had something to do
with her disappearance.
298
00:19:48,145 --> 00:19:49,605
[siren wailing]
299
00:19:57,279 --> 00:20:00,949
[Dean] There is no Elisa Lam story
without the context of the Cecil Hotel.
300
00:20:01,617 --> 00:20:05,746
The fact that it happened at the Cecil,
that Elisa Lam disappeared at the Cecil,
301
00:20:05,829 --> 00:20:09,124
makes it sort of a historic mystery,
302
00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:12,711
and the Cecil is as much a character
as Elisa is.
303
00:20:13,587 --> 00:20:16,131
The story of the Cecil,
it's a story of adventure.
304
00:20:16,215 --> 00:20:19,259
It's a story of things
you just can't predict.
305
00:20:21,470 --> 00:20:25,140
In the beginning, it was nice.
I wish I could see what it was like.
306
00:20:25,224 --> 00:20:26,642
Must have been so exciting.
307
00:20:26,725 --> 00:20:30,896
1919, Los Angeles is the biggest boomtown
anyone's ever seen.
308
00:20:32,314 --> 00:20:34,524
Everyone was pouring into Los Angeles.
309
00:20:35,734 --> 00:20:39,112
[man] This mecca is booming
with business and enterprise
310
00:20:39,196 --> 00:20:41,281
and its legends of greatness and glamour.
311
00:20:41,365 --> 00:20:45,869
[Schave] The downtown area
was at the center of the explosion.
312
00:20:46,954 --> 00:20:50,123
The Hotel Cecil opens at the end of 1924.
313
00:20:50,707 --> 00:20:54,253
Costs a million dollars,
which is a lot of money back then.
314
00:20:55,128 --> 00:20:58,382
[man] Awe-inspiring and breathtaking
is the Cecil Hotel.
315
00:20:59,132 --> 00:21:01,301
Rising above the rooftops of Hollywood,
316
00:21:01,885 --> 00:21:04,888
it is one of the most beautifully
constructed hotels of its type
317
00:21:04,972 --> 00:21:06,306
to be found anywhere.
318
00:21:07,474 --> 00:21:10,018
She has good bones. She was done right.
319
00:21:12,938 --> 00:21:17,150
[Schave] For Los Angeles,
the Cecil is so… so big.
320
00:21:18,402 --> 00:21:20,112
It has 700 rooms.
321
00:21:21,321 --> 00:21:23,323
[woman] It's not a luxury hotel.
322
00:21:23,407 --> 00:21:27,577
Some people are willing to pay
a little less for a little less comfort.
323
00:21:28,870 --> 00:21:30,497
It's really a travelers' hotel.
324
00:21:30,580 --> 00:21:31,999
[Schave] It's down the block
325
00:21:32,082 --> 00:21:34,543
from the Pacific Electric
light rail station.
326
00:21:34,626 --> 00:21:38,338
100,000 people a day,
coming in and out of that railway station.
327
00:21:38,422 --> 00:21:41,508
And the Hotel Cecil was happy
to accommodate them.
328
00:21:42,217 --> 00:21:45,679
It's exactly what everyone wanted to see
329
00:21:45,762 --> 00:21:47,764
in the middle 1920s,
330
00:21:47,848 --> 00:21:49,349
and then it all burst.
331
00:21:51,393 --> 00:21:54,313
[man] Industrial America
was truly the land of plenty.
332
00:21:54,396 --> 00:21:56,523
Then with appalling suddenness
came the beginning
333
00:21:56,606 --> 00:21:58,567
of the greatest depression of all time.
334
00:21:58,650 --> 00:22:02,446
Stocks collapsed, factories shut down,
businesses passed out of existence.
335
00:22:02,529 --> 00:22:05,741
Unemployment swept the nation
like a horrible pestilence.
336
00:22:16,418 --> 00:22:18,879
[Schave] It was very hard
on all of downtown.
337
00:22:20,714 --> 00:22:25,927
By the early 1930s, the Hotel Cecil
was very much down on its heels.
338
00:22:27,804 --> 00:22:29,389
And so it becomes
339
00:22:29,473 --> 00:22:32,434
a hotel of older gentleman
340
00:22:32,517 --> 00:22:35,645
who really want to spend
as little money as possible
341
00:22:35,729 --> 00:22:38,565
to stay there as long as possible.
342
00:22:40,609 --> 00:22:43,528
[Price] There were so many different
phases the hotel went through.
343
00:22:44,071 --> 00:22:45,238
[indistinct chattering]
344
00:22:45,322 --> 00:22:50,494
I was staying in the Cecil, I would say,
back in, like, say, '81, '82, '83.
345
00:22:50,577 --> 00:22:52,996
Even back, you know what I'm saying,
like '90s.
346
00:22:54,664 --> 00:22:58,460
When I had money, the Cecil,
that was like… that was like the spot.
347
00:22:58,543 --> 00:23:02,381
You know, that's where I used to go
for, like, two, three dollars a night.
348
00:23:03,423 --> 00:23:05,717
You know,
you had your color TV and all that,
349
00:23:05,801 --> 00:23:07,386
the carpet on the floor.
350
00:23:07,469 --> 00:23:10,305
You had the big liquor market
right there on the corner.
351
00:23:10,389 --> 00:23:13,767
I would take me a little companion
up there, a little female friend,
352
00:23:13,850 --> 00:23:15,310
and we would stay up there.
353
00:23:15,394 --> 00:23:17,562
And hey, we would get it on.
354
00:23:17,646 --> 00:23:19,314
You know, that's…
[laughs] You know it.
355
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,027
Believe me, there was a lot
going on in the Cecil.
356
00:23:24,903 --> 00:23:27,697
Drugs, robberies, prostitutes.
357
00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:32,744
I mean, I was out there doing my dirt too.
You know, I wasn't no angel out there.
358
00:23:32,828 --> 00:23:38,375
Back in the day, that used to be
a very scandalous hotel.
359
00:23:38,458 --> 00:23:41,169
The way I see it is,
it's like the Titanic.
360
00:23:41,253 --> 00:23:44,172
When the Titanic sailed off,
it was a beautiful ship.
361
00:23:44,256 --> 00:23:45,465
Everybody's thinking,
362
00:23:45,549 --> 00:23:49,928
"My God, this is just state-of-the-art,
this gorgeous ship, unsinkable." You know?
363
00:23:50,011 --> 00:23:52,681
Well, we all know
what happened to the Titanic.
364
00:23:52,764 --> 00:23:54,891
[camera shutters clicking]
365
00:24:02,315 --> 00:24:03,275
[Marcia] Right now…
366
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,571
we have a 21-year-old who's lost
somewhere in the city.
367
00:24:08,905 --> 00:24:10,490
We knew that she was in danger.
368
00:24:11,199 --> 00:24:16,079
Me, personally, as a parent of a daughter
who was 19 at that time, I think…
369
00:24:17,122 --> 00:24:20,750
you have a flash that there's some type
of connection to your own family.
370
00:24:20,834 --> 00:24:23,378
[camera shutters clicking]
371
00:24:23,462 --> 00:24:24,921
Let's just pray we find her.
372
00:24:26,339 --> 00:24:27,257
Everybody ready?
373
00:24:27,340 --> 00:24:29,759
[Kading] The LAPD were very concerned,
374
00:24:29,843 --> 00:24:32,345
so they had a press conference
with the family
375
00:24:32,429 --> 00:24:36,141
in an effort to try to get help
from the public.
376
00:24:36,641 --> 00:24:40,604
Okay, I'm gonna introduce
Lieutenant Walter Teague, T-e-a-g-u-e.
377
00:24:40,687 --> 00:24:44,065
He's, uh, the officer in charge
up at robbery-homicide division.
378
00:24:44,149 --> 00:24:46,776
His team is handling
this, uh, missing case.
379
00:24:46,860 --> 00:24:48,570
Uh, also with us…
380
00:24:48,653 --> 00:24:52,866
Uh, they will not be speaking,
but this is the family of Elisa Lam.
381
00:24:52,949 --> 00:24:56,620
And, uh, I'll let, uh, Lieutenant Teague
take over from here.
382
00:24:58,747 --> 00:25:00,707
Good afternoon. Uh, thanks for coming.
383
00:25:01,875 --> 00:25:04,544
So it's been five days, six days now.
384
00:25:04,628 --> 00:25:06,505
There's been no communication at all,
385
00:25:07,005 --> 00:25:10,592
and, uh, that's, uh, worried us
and worried the family.
386
00:25:11,676 --> 00:25:15,472
Seeking to get this photo out
so we can, uh, find Elisa.
387
00:25:15,555 --> 00:25:17,057
[reporter] Is there surveillance video
388
00:25:17,140 --> 00:25:19,100
showing her coming and going
from the hotel?
389
00:25:19,184 --> 00:25:21,353
We're in the process of investigating that
390
00:25:21,436 --> 00:25:24,356
and, uh, collecting anything we can
in that angle.
391
00:25:24,898 --> 00:25:28,860
We're continuing the investigation now,
and we're looking for your help.
392
00:25:28,944 --> 00:25:30,904
[reporter] Would the parents
like to say anything?
393
00:25:30,987 --> 00:25:32,614
[LAPD speaker] Not at this time.
394
00:25:34,908 --> 00:25:38,954
[newsman] If a mother's face
can tell the story, here it is.
395
00:25:39,037 --> 00:25:39,913
Worry.
396
00:25:40,413 --> 00:25:43,500
And from a father, somber concern.
397
00:25:45,252 --> 00:25:48,588
Her parents and sister
flew in from Canada to help.
398
00:25:50,507 --> 00:25:51,591
They are baffled.
399
00:25:54,970 --> 00:25:57,931
[Elisa Lam] Dearest Tumblr lurker,
reader, stalker,
400
00:25:58,431 --> 00:26:02,561
whoever is interested in the trials
and tribulations of my fascinating life…
401
00:26:03,812 --> 00:26:08,775
There is a wider world out there,
and I have only seen a fraction of it.
402
00:26:10,068 --> 00:26:12,779
I'm very excited.
I'll be seeing new places
403
00:26:12,862 --> 00:26:15,448
and hopefully meet
some interesting and nice people.
404
00:26:15,532 --> 00:26:16,533
[keyboard clacking]
405
00:26:17,909 --> 00:26:20,078
I'd be fine with a stranger talking to me,
406
00:26:20,161 --> 00:26:23,623
but I'm not very conscious
of what I'm saying most of the time.
407
00:26:24,791 --> 00:26:27,919
I take things too far
and I have no filter.
408
00:26:29,337 --> 00:26:31,464
It seems I always make
the biggest mistakes
409
00:26:31,548 --> 00:26:33,425
at the worst possible moments.
410
00:26:34,593 --> 00:26:36,261
My mouth is my downfall,
411
00:26:36,344 --> 00:26:38,388
and it will get me in trouble.
412
00:26:40,599 --> 00:26:42,517
[siren wailing]
413
00:26:52,402 --> 00:26:55,405
[Sabina Baugh]
From our sunny holiday in California…
414
00:26:56,573 --> 00:26:58,533
we just wanted to explore a little bit.
415
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,621
This weather, it's so warm and lovely.
416
00:27:02,704 --> 00:27:03,663
We love walking,
417
00:27:04,247 --> 00:27:06,791
and we just wanted to see
as much as possible.
418
00:27:07,626 --> 00:27:09,502
[Mike Baugh] So we left really early.
419
00:27:10,378 --> 00:27:11,713
Got out, spent the day out.
420
00:27:11,796 --> 00:27:15,759
We thought, "Ooh, it's downtown L.A.,
we're right in the middle of it.
421
00:27:15,842 --> 00:27:17,135
How awesome!"
422
00:27:18,094 --> 00:27:21,222
[Mike Baugh] But when you look at
the environment of downtown,
423
00:27:21,306 --> 00:27:23,933
it's the exact opposite of my expectation.
424
00:27:27,145 --> 00:27:30,732
[Sabina Baugh] We were walking
and we saw a lot of homeless people.
425
00:27:31,858 --> 00:27:35,111
Rows and rows, and they're
all outside on the street, sleeping.
426
00:27:35,862 --> 00:27:38,281
And you can see they live…
they live outside.
427
00:27:40,700 --> 00:27:46,790
And then we found out that this area
around the hotel is called Skid Row.
428
00:27:46,873 --> 00:27:49,709
Skid Row has a reputation
to be a dangerous place.
429
00:27:50,377 --> 00:27:51,628
That was a big shock.
430
00:27:54,881 --> 00:27:56,758
[man] A visitor staying at the Cecil,
431
00:27:57,258 --> 00:28:01,096
you just think, "Well, I'm downtown.
Let me take a walk and see what's here."
432
00:28:01,846 --> 00:28:05,016
And little do you know
that you're staying at Ground Zero
433
00:28:05,100 --> 00:28:09,062
of one of the most dangerous
and violent places
434
00:28:09,145 --> 00:28:11,564
in the United States of America.
435
00:28:17,779 --> 00:28:24,077
[man 2] Skid Row is a 56-block area
in downtown Los Angeles.
436
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:24,994
[siren wails]
437
00:28:25,078 --> 00:28:27,706
It's one of the poorest areas
in the entire world,
438
00:28:28,957 --> 00:28:30,959
and it's existed for over 100 years.
439
00:28:32,085 --> 00:28:35,839
Currently, about 8,000 to 10,000
homeless individuals
440
00:28:36,631 --> 00:28:37,966
live on Skid Row.
441
00:28:40,510 --> 00:28:42,762
Let me just say,
nobody was born on Skid row.
442
00:28:45,724 --> 00:28:47,308
There's a lot of stories there.
443
00:28:51,187 --> 00:28:52,772
I'm from New York City.
444
00:28:54,149 --> 00:28:55,442
When I lost my job,
445
00:28:55,984 --> 00:29:00,405
I just took to the road,
and eventually I wound up here in L.A.
446
00:29:01,531 --> 00:29:05,535
And, you know, I found myself living
on the streets of Skid Row for 21 years.
447
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:10,498
You know, it's pretty rough.
448
00:29:10,582 --> 00:29:14,836
They got all the missions,
shelters, right here.
449
00:29:17,130 --> 00:29:21,342
[Mungin] Almost all of our homeless
services are located in this one area.
450
00:29:22,552 --> 00:29:26,931
So the only place to really go
if you're homeless and want assistance
451
00:29:27,015 --> 00:29:28,475
is Skid Row.
452
00:29:30,310 --> 00:29:32,312
And it's become a dumping ground.
453
00:29:33,021 --> 00:29:37,734
After people are released from prison
or jail or from a mental facility,
454
00:29:37,817 --> 00:29:39,986
they are dropped off on Skid Row,
455
00:29:40,820 --> 00:29:44,574
because the city wanted to make sure
that these types of people
456
00:29:44,657 --> 00:29:47,535
remain separated
from the rest of Los Angeles.
457
00:29:53,500 --> 00:29:55,460
[Schave] In the early 1970s,
458
00:29:55,543 --> 00:29:57,837
the city came out with this plan.
459
00:29:58,463 --> 00:30:00,048
The policy of containment.
460
00:30:00,131 --> 00:30:01,674
[man] Get out of the street!
461
00:30:01,758 --> 00:30:03,843
[McSorley] Containment was like
an experiment of,
462
00:30:03,927 --> 00:30:07,889
"Let's see if we can contain anything bad
going on in the rest of the city…"
463
00:30:07,972 --> 00:30:10,266
Let's go, move back. All the way back.
464
00:30:10,892 --> 00:30:12,560
"…and direct it to Skid Row."
465
00:30:13,144 --> 00:30:16,439
It was like they just put
an artificial moat around this place.
466
00:30:17,816 --> 00:30:21,152
And now the police are literally
there with a barrier
467
00:30:21,236 --> 00:30:25,365
stopping the homeless population
from being allowed to leave.
468
00:30:28,409 --> 00:30:32,497
But within this border of Skid Row,
it's the Wild West.
469
00:30:36,584 --> 00:30:40,421
[McSorley] Within the boundaries,
it was kind of like, um, a free-for-all,
470
00:30:40,505 --> 00:30:44,634
where people
were allowed to sleep on the streets,
471
00:30:45,218 --> 00:30:46,219
buy drugs,
472
00:30:46,719 --> 00:30:48,054
sell their bodies.
473
00:30:49,222 --> 00:30:51,474
[Mungin] You have a huge drug population
on Skid Row.
474
00:30:51,558 --> 00:30:53,935
You have a huge population
of mental illness.
475
00:30:54,561 --> 00:30:58,523
This is a space where people
are allowed to just suffer.
476
00:31:02,527 --> 00:31:04,404
And this manifests itself on the street
477
00:31:05,405 --> 00:31:08,533
as crime and violence.
478
00:31:10,243 --> 00:31:12,078
[McSorley] I'm a detective sergeant.
479
00:31:13,329 --> 00:31:15,498
I did a couple different tours
in Skid Row,
480
00:31:16,708 --> 00:31:18,585
addressing just street crime.
481
00:31:18,668 --> 00:31:22,380
-[siren wailing]
-So that could be breaking up a bar brawl…
482
00:31:25,049 --> 00:31:29,178
or arresting someone that's buck naked
running down the street with a machete.
483
00:31:30,638 --> 00:31:33,892
Burned in my memory
is a guy holding a live pigeon.
484
00:31:33,975 --> 00:31:36,686
And I'm looking at him
while he put it in his mouth,
485
00:31:36,769 --> 00:31:38,313
you know, rips its head off,
486
00:31:38,396 --> 00:31:39,898
blood squirting all over.
487
00:31:40,899 --> 00:31:43,526
People have been killed
just walking down the street
488
00:31:43,610 --> 00:31:44,903
and someone is raging.
489
00:31:45,862 --> 00:31:47,363
[Kading] Anybody's vulnerable…
490
00:31:48,281 --> 00:31:51,910
especially if you're a naive girl
from some other country
491
00:31:51,993 --> 00:31:54,996
who's here thinking
that it's all peaches and roses.
492
00:31:55,079 --> 00:31:56,164
It's…
493
00:31:56,247 --> 00:31:57,457
Uh, it's misleading.
494
00:32:02,211 --> 00:32:06,883
If Elisa is out at night by herself,
she could easily become a victim.
495
00:32:07,926 --> 00:32:11,846
Is it possible she was abducted
and she's being held against her will?
496
00:32:13,181 --> 00:32:17,769
So we were looking into who in the area
could be a person of interest.
497
00:32:18,686 --> 00:32:21,689
Someone she had met during her travels,
498
00:32:21,773 --> 00:32:24,984
or somebody that she met at the hotel.
499
00:32:29,864 --> 00:32:31,574
[Kading] Over at the hotel…
500
00:32:32,408 --> 00:32:36,537
the investigators became aware
that there was security footage.
501
00:32:37,580 --> 00:32:41,542
[Price] The hotel has cameras in the lobby
and the elevators,
502
00:32:42,043 --> 00:32:43,920
the front of the hotel,
503
00:32:44,003 --> 00:32:46,047
you know, most of the common areas.
504
00:32:49,592 --> 00:32:53,096
[Marcia] When we started to look at their…
[sighs] their video systems,
505
00:32:53,179 --> 00:32:56,391
we find out that not all floors
have video cameras,
506
00:32:56,474 --> 00:33:00,353
and that there is no camera
on Elisa's floor.
507
00:33:01,396 --> 00:33:06,234
And the positions of these cameras
weren't always in the greatest position,
508
00:33:06,317 --> 00:33:09,070
or the quality of the video itself
was not that great.
509
00:33:10,989 --> 00:33:15,034
So now it's kind of a needle in a haystack
of how we can identify her.
510
00:33:16,786 --> 00:33:20,289
[Kading] There was a lot
of video footage to review.
511
00:33:20,832 --> 00:33:23,543
Days' worth. Hundreds of hours.
512
00:33:24,419 --> 00:33:27,380
[Marcia] We decided,
"We have to watch this minute for minute."
513
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,174
My partner and I were assigned that task.
514
00:33:31,342 --> 00:33:33,553
Management gave us a little office
515
00:33:33,636 --> 00:33:36,806
and we sat there, uh, for 20 hours a day,
516
00:33:36,889 --> 00:33:38,433
watching video.
517
00:33:39,767 --> 00:33:43,104
We focused on the night
of Elisa's disappearance.
518
00:33:45,690 --> 00:33:48,526
The last thing you want to do
is miss something.
519
00:33:50,945 --> 00:33:53,239
It was just a laborious, laborious task.
520
00:33:53,322 --> 00:33:56,826
Continually watching to see who's coming,
who's going, where's Elisa?
521
00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:00,830
And all of a sudden…
522
00:34:02,290 --> 00:34:03,666
we see her on camera.
523
00:34:04,959 --> 00:34:06,669
And we both just jumped,
524
00:34:06,753 --> 00:34:10,840
both wanting to hit pause on the, uh, DVR.
525
00:34:10,923 --> 00:34:12,759
And he beat me because he's younger.
526
00:34:17,513 --> 00:34:21,726
It was a moment of excitement
because it's something to work with.
527
00:34:21,809 --> 00:34:22,769
It's a piece.
528
00:34:25,563 --> 00:34:29,275
But I remember…
talking to my partner, saying…
529
00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:32,445
"Her behavior is unusual."
530
00:34:35,406 --> 00:34:39,285
So we sat there and we…
we watched the video several times,
531
00:34:39,368 --> 00:34:42,663
and then plotted out
where she could have gone
532
00:34:42,747 --> 00:34:45,958
to try to figure out
if she left, when she left,
533
00:34:46,042 --> 00:34:47,752
and if she left with somebody.
534
00:34:49,045 --> 00:34:51,005
In reviewing all the footage
535
00:34:51,089 --> 00:34:54,300
and watching the…
the exiting and entrance…
536
00:34:56,594 --> 00:34:57,970
we never saw her leave.
537
00:34:58,679 --> 00:35:02,308
And we communicated that to our peers,
538
00:35:02,391 --> 00:35:05,603
that we felt that she's still here,
somewhere.
539
00:35:06,104 --> 00:35:07,522
She never left the hotel.
540
00:35:09,232 --> 00:35:10,608
She never left the hotel.
541
00:35:17,990 --> 00:35:18,825
So…
542
00:35:19,867 --> 00:35:20,993
if she never left,
543
00:35:21,994 --> 00:35:24,205
then where could she be?
544
00:35:25,790 --> 00:35:28,751
Or who within the hotel
could be a potential suspect?
545
00:35:28,835 --> 00:35:33,464
Who could have either hurt Elisa,
546
00:35:33,548 --> 00:35:36,217
or has her under their control?
547
00:35:38,553 --> 00:35:40,721
[siren wails]
548
00:35:46,644 --> 00:35:49,480
[Cooper] I think that Elisa Lam
walked into a situation
549
00:35:49,564 --> 00:35:52,066
that was very different
from what she expected.
550
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,530
You really don't know
who is sharing this environment.
551
00:35:59,740 --> 00:36:03,494
[Price] So many different types of people
check into the Cecil on a regular basis.
552
00:36:03,578 --> 00:36:06,747
I mean, it was
somewhat of a flop house.
553
00:36:08,416 --> 00:36:09,959
For some of our guests,
554
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:12,587
there's some despair going on.
555
00:36:16,424 --> 00:36:18,342
[Cooper] Tourists probably don't realize,
556
00:36:18,426 --> 00:36:22,346
but the Cecil Hotel is an alternative
to apartment living
557
00:36:22,430 --> 00:36:26,601
for people who don't have a deposit,
can't pass a background check.
558
00:36:26,684 --> 00:36:28,686
They don't want someone knowing
where they are.
559
00:36:28,769 --> 00:36:32,523
And so it attracts people
who are fresh out of prison…
560
00:36:33,107 --> 00:36:34,734
people who are on the run.
561
00:36:35,818 --> 00:36:39,697
The person who's in the elevator with you
might be an 85-year-old sex offender
562
00:36:39,780 --> 00:36:40,948
who can't live anywhere else.
563
00:36:41,032 --> 00:36:42,909
[siren wailing]
564
00:36:42,992 --> 00:36:44,577
[Price] Sometimes it was scary.
565
00:36:46,204 --> 00:36:49,457
We were faced with a lot of security
and safety issues.
566
00:36:49,540 --> 00:36:52,210
[siren wailing]
567
00:36:52,293 --> 00:36:56,505
In the then years that I worked there,
there were thousands of 911 calls.
568
00:36:56,589 --> 00:36:57,924
[siren whooping]
569
00:36:58,007 --> 00:36:59,133
Thousands.
570
00:36:59,675 --> 00:37:02,845
Because, you know, you need help.
571
00:37:05,806 --> 00:37:08,517
[McSorley] When I was on patrol out here,
you could expect at least
572
00:37:08,601 --> 00:37:11,437
-one to three calls a day at the Cecil.
-[siren wailing]
573
00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:13,231
[man] 10-4, 97.
574
00:37:13,773 --> 00:37:18,152
[McSorley] I remember somebody
trying to, um, burn down the hallways.
575
00:37:18,236 --> 00:37:19,987
[siren wailing]
576
00:37:20,071 --> 00:37:23,449
We would, uh, get domestic violence
type of calls…
577
00:37:23,532 --> 00:37:25,159
-[objects clattering]
-[people yelling]
578
00:37:25,243 --> 00:37:28,037
…or someone just shot up drugs
and having a bad trip.
579
00:37:28,704 --> 00:37:30,498
[woman yelling]
580
00:37:30,581 --> 00:37:34,377
Fights would erupt.
You know, assaults, stabbings.
581
00:37:36,420 --> 00:37:38,506
-One of the hottest days…
-[flies buzzing]
582
00:37:38,589 --> 00:37:39,966
…it was in August.
583
00:37:40,049 --> 00:37:43,970
And the body we found kind of looked,
um, like Grimace from McDonald's.
584
00:37:44,053 --> 00:37:46,514
Completely purple.
Wouldn't know what race he was.
585
00:37:46,597 --> 00:37:49,892
And his body like about to explode,
it was so distended.
586
00:37:49,976 --> 00:37:52,061
It was hell on earth, basically.
587
00:37:52,144 --> 00:37:54,855
There was a circumstance
where I was giving a tour
588
00:37:54,939 --> 00:37:58,484
and there was a sniper in the…
in the hallway.
589
00:37:58,567 --> 00:38:02,196
Like, a real police sniper
with a freaking… a big gun.
590
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:03,489
[police radio chatter]
591
00:38:03,572 --> 00:38:06,033
The guy looks at me,
"Ma'am, get in your room,
592
00:38:06,117 --> 00:38:09,453
there's a person that's stabbed somebody
loose inside the building.
593
00:38:11,956 --> 00:38:14,709
[Cooper] There were a lot of creepy people
at the Cecil.
594
00:38:15,209 --> 00:38:17,044
There were women staying there
595
00:38:17,128 --> 00:38:20,589
who reported believing being spied on
in the shared bathrooms.
596
00:38:23,050 --> 00:38:25,386
[McSorley] Then you mix in
the tourist element.
597
00:38:25,469 --> 00:38:26,887
That's a huge mix of people.
598
00:38:28,514 --> 00:38:31,475
I could see Elisa, uh, being overwhelmed.
599
00:38:31,559 --> 00:38:37,398
I don't know if she was equipped
to fully function in a hotel like that.
600
00:38:37,481 --> 00:38:39,483
[siren wailing]
601
00:38:51,787 --> 00:38:55,291
[Kading] Since the detectives knew
that there was no video footage
602
00:38:55,374 --> 00:38:57,209
of Elisa leaving the Cecil…
603
00:38:59,462 --> 00:39:02,840
investigators had to search
throughout the entire hotel.
604
00:39:07,261 --> 00:39:10,598
And you've got to try to locate her
as quickly as possible
605
00:39:10,681 --> 00:39:13,934
in order to protect her, you know,
should she be in harm's way.
606
00:39:14,018 --> 00:39:15,770
[indistinct police radio chatter]
607
00:39:18,147 --> 00:39:20,858
[Marcia] We felt
that she has to be in here, somewhere.
608
00:39:21,442 --> 00:39:27,740
Approximately 14 of us were asked to do
an intense search of the hotel.
609
00:39:28,741 --> 00:39:30,576
It's a very large hotel,
610
00:39:30,659 --> 00:39:33,829
and we were all anticipating
a very long night.
611
00:39:33,913 --> 00:39:36,207
We get one shot at this.
Let's do it right.
612
00:39:36,832 --> 00:39:39,210
You would have to go
from room to room to room
613
00:39:39,293 --> 00:39:41,629
and everything in between that.
614
00:39:44,298 --> 00:39:47,843
I said, "Well, we have
over 600 closets here, you know.
615
00:39:47,927 --> 00:39:51,055
I mean, okay.
Well, let's look at 'em all."
616
00:39:52,390 --> 00:39:55,518
[Lopez in Spanish] The manager
had two of us on one floor,
617
00:39:55,601 --> 00:39:57,895
unlocking doors for the officers.
618
00:39:57,978 --> 00:39:59,730
Closets and toilets and everything.
619
00:39:59,814 --> 00:40:02,775
Until all the doors were opened,
all of them,
620
00:40:03,275 --> 00:40:06,153
including the basement,
in the lockers that were there as well.
621
00:40:08,030 --> 00:40:10,991
[McSorley in English] Looking, literally,
under every crack and crevice
622
00:40:11,075 --> 00:40:14,578
of where a body could be hidden,
where could someone be stowed.
623
00:40:14,662 --> 00:40:16,080
[siren wailing]
624
00:40:16,163 --> 00:40:19,375
[Price] They started asking questions.
"When does garbage go out?
625
00:40:19,458 --> 00:40:22,878
Your employees, what time do they start?
What doors do they come in and out of?"
626
00:40:22,962 --> 00:40:26,757
And I started thinking to myself, "What?
627
00:40:27,383 --> 00:40:31,011
Oh, my gosh. What, do you think
she left in a dumpster?"
628
00:40:34,181 --> 00:40:36,642
[dog panting]
629
00:40:36,725 --> 00:40:40,396
It was decided that we would call out
scent-tracking dogs.
630
00:40:40,479 --> 00:40:41,981
[dog sniffing]
631
00:40:42,064 --> 00:40:45,109
They will take an item
such as a piece of clothing, a sock,
632
00:40:45,192 --> 00:40:48,112
something that will pick up
the person's scent.
633
00:40:49,447 --> 00:40:51,782
[Kading] The dogs are led
throughout the hotel.
634
00:40:55,119 --> 00:40:56,078
Eventually…
635
00:40:57,413 --> 00:41:01,500
the dog was able to locate the scent
from Elisa's room.
636
00:41:02,501 --> 00:41:06,046
You get that little heartbeat like,
"Oh, we might be onto something."
637
00:41:07,882 --> 00:41:09,091
On the fifth floor…
638
00:41:10,426 --> 00:41:13,137
the dog tracked in a westbound direction
639
00:41:13,220 --> 00:41:17,308
towards a big window that looks out
from the hallway onto the street,
640
00:41:17,933 --> 00:41:21,812
and outside the window,
there is a fire escape.
641
00:41:24,565 --> 00:41:25,441
[Kading] However…
642
00:41:26,942 --> 00:41:28,611
that's where the scent was lost.
643
00:41:31,322 --> 00:41:36,577
By that time, everybody was on overtime,
probably going into a 14 to 16-hour day.
644
00:41:36,660 --> 00:41:39,497
-[helicopter whirring]
-A team of detectives with canines
645
00:41:39,580 --> 00:41:41,790
was assigned to search the roof.
646
00:41:43,584 --> 00:41:48,047
So they called in
LAPD air support division.
647
00:41:50,925 --> 00:41:54,678
And they had them illuminate
the top of the hotel…
648
00:41:55,763 --> 00:41:57,431
using their night sun.
649
00:41:57,515 --> 00:42:03,354
And they searched up there for…
for Elisa and/or evidence
650
00:42:03,437 --> 00:42:05,064
and didn't find anything.
651
00:42:05,731 --> 00:42:07,399
[police radio chatter]
652
00:42:07,483 --> 00:42:10,361
[Kading] This is the big,
unanswered question. Where is she?
653
00:42:14,114 --> 00:42:18,327
Traditionally, the outcome after two weeks
is probably it's homicide,
654
00:42:18,410 --> 00:42:22,581
and the chances of finding that subject
really whittle down.
655
00:42:23,916 --> 00:42:26,210
[Marcia] It had gotten late
in the evening.
656
00:42:26,293 --> 00:42:29,088
It was close to 10:00 p.m. at night.
657
00:42:29,630 --> 00:42:34,134
And it was decided that the following day,
uh, we would regroup.
658
00:42:35,469 --> 00:42:39,223
But the following morning,
after the search,
659
00:42:39,306 --> 00:42:41,517
the LAPD went on tac alert,
660
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:44,895
because a different investigation
came into play.
661
00:42:44,979 --> 00:42:49,066
[newsman] Tactical teams spread across
nine counties in Southern California.
662
00:42:49,149 --> 00:42:51,110
LAPD says they are at war tonight
663
00:42:51,193 --> 00:42:53,946
with a man who is targeting
law enforcement officers.
664
00:42:54,029 --> 00:42:57,199
Thirty-three-year-old Christopher Dorner,
said to be a cop-killer,
665
00:42:57,283 --> 00:43:00,786
has said he will not stop the killing
until he's dead.
666
00:43:00,869 --> 00:43:05,416
Christopher Dorner was
a former Los Angeles police officer.
667
00:43:06,208 --> 00:43:08,335
LAPD was under attack by one of their own.
668
00:43:09,545 --> 00:43:11,797
So, the next morning it was decided
669
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:15,676
that the two lead investigators
with myself and my partner
670
00:43:15,759 --> 00:43:18,887
would stay on the Elisa Lam case,
671
00:43:18,971 --> 00:43:20,514
while everybody else,
672
00:43:20,598 --> 00:43:23,809
their primary responsibility
was the Dorner investigation,
673
00:43:23,892 --> 00:43:26,478
which was a higher priority.
674
00:43:26,562 --> 00:43:30,441
So we went from about 18 detectives
down to four.
675
00:43:31,275 --> 00:43:34,778
And that changed the dynamics
of our investigation.
676
00:43:36,572 --> 00:43:40,284
And since there was no information
that was developed out of the canvas,
677
00:43:40,367 --> 00:43:41,869
now we're back to square one.
678
00:43:44,330 --> 00:43:46,790
[Kading] They really don't have
any other answers.
679
00:43:48,334 --> 00:43:51,754
So now you're hoping
that the public can assist you.
680
00:43:52,796 --> 00:43:55,591
[indistinct police radio chatter]
681
00:43:57,384 --> 00:44:00,929
We need the public's help
to put more eyes out on the street.
682
00:44:02,056 --> 00:44:07,019
The last footage that we had of Elisa
before her disappearance
683
00:44:07,102 --> 00:44:10,356
was the footage we found
of her inside the elevator.
684
00:44:11,899 --> 00:44:16,779
So it was decided
that we would release the video.
685
00:44:16,862 --> 00:44:19,114
[indistinct police radio chatter]
686
00:44:21,450 --> 00:44:23,285
We owe it to the family to find her.
687
00:44:23,369 --> 00:44:25,120
We don't have the resources.
688
00:44:25,204 --> 00:44:27,414
It was a no-brainer. So we put it out.
689
00:44:27,498 --> 00:44:28,540
Um…
690
00:44:29,541 --> 00:44:31,627
That's where the case starts to go askew.
691
00:44:34,755 --> 00:44:36,799
[siren wailing]
692
00:44:46,058 --> 00:44:50,688
[man] The initial version of the video
comes out on LAPD's website.
693
00:44:52,439 --> 00:44:53,941
As a YouTuber,
694
00:44:54,024 --> 00:44:57,403
I was looking into content,
and I saw the elevator video.
695
00:44:58,278 --> 00:44:59,655
It's a four-minute video,
696
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:04,368
but there's so much that's going on
in such a short time frame.
697
00:45:04,451 --> 00:45:06,495
Everyone is just captured by it.
698
00:45:09,373 --> 00:45:12,334
[Dean] The doors open
and a woman walks in.
699
00:45:13,252 --> 00:45:17,172
[Lordan] She's swinging one arm up,
bends over casually to look at the panel,
700
00:45:17,256 --> 00:45:20,509
and she's firing down
the whole center row of buttons,
701
00:45:20,592 --> 00:45:23,137
and then moves to the corner
of the elevator.
702
00:45:24,054 --> 00:45:26,557
She looks like she is relaxed.
703
00:45:30,144 --> 00:45:32,855
She pokes her head out
and whips her head both ways.
704
00:45:35,733 --> 00:45:39,778
[Kading] And then she's retreating back
and is tucked away into the corner.
705
00:45:47,286 --> 00:45:51,206
[Mike Baugh] She kept looking outside
the door, around the corner to her right.
706
00:45:57,129 --> 00:45:59,840
[Sabina Baugh] Then she would
come out of the elevator…
707
00:46:00,674 --> 00:46:01,800
and she would pop up.
708
00:46:02,843 --> 00:46:07,848
[Lordan] She's making these strange steps
in almost this square dance motion,
709
00:46:07,931 --> 00:46:09,767
Stepping back and forth in the door.
710
00:46:10,559 --> 00:46:13,687
[Sabina Baugh] She'd go to the left,
then you wouldn't see her.
711
00:46:14,396 --> 00:46:17,107
[Dean] Then all you can see
is a little bit of her arm.
712
00:46:26,825 --> 00:46:29,203
[Lordan] Why is the elevator
not going anywhere?
713
00:46:30,788 --> 00:46:33,707
Is someone pressing a button
and keeping the elevator here?
714
00:46:36,251 --> 00:46:38,504
[Dean] That's when the weird stuff
starts happening.
715
00:46:38,587 --> 00:46:40,297
[uneasy music playing]
716
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:44,760
[Lordan] Elisa starts pressing
these buttons.
717
00:46:51,058 --> 00:46:52,017
You have to wonder,
718
00:46:52,100 --> 00:46:54,520
"Why are you hitting
all these floors like that?"
719
00:46:58,482 --> 00:47:01,360
[Dean] She was running her fingers
through her hair a bit.
720
00:47:04,112 --> 00:47:07,115
[Kading] Her hand movements
are very strange and erratic.
721
00:47:10,118 --> 00:47:13,622
[Dean] She's waving her hands.
It's like she's conjuring a spirit
722
00:47:13,705 --> 00:47:17,334
or, like, acting something out to someone.
723
00:47:18,210 --> 00:47:22,005
[McSorley] You can see the body movements…
twisting and turning.
724
00:47:24,842 --> 00:47:27,970
[Dean] And now she appears to be
counting with her fingers.
725
00:47:28,637 --> 00:47:31,139
It's just such bizarre behavior.
726
00:47:33,892 --> 00:47:36,645
[Lordan] She exits to the left
of the elevator,
727
00:47:37,229 --> 00:47:39,147
and then, all of a sudden, she's gone.
728
00:47:40,065 --> 00:47:42,150
[Dean] You think, "That's the end of it."
729
00:47:42,818 --> 00:47:45,153
But you're just looking
at an empty elevator.
730
00:47:45,863 --> 00:47:47,364
What the hell's going on here?
731
00:47:50,200 --> 00:47:53,620
[Lordan] She's literally not in the video
past about the 2:30 mark.
732
00:47:55,581 --> 00:47:59,167
And for some reason,
that's also been released as part of this.
733
00:48:00,669 --> 00:48:04,006
[Dean] One strange thing is that
the whole time Elisa is in there,
734
00:48:04,089 --> 00:48:05,382
the door never shuts.
735
00:48:08,051 --> 00:48:10,846
And now it shuts very quickly.
736
00:48:14,892 --> 00:48:18,186
[Lordan] It's one of those things
that makes you scratch your head and say,
737
00:48:18,270 --> 00:48:19,771
"Hmm, this is kind of weird."
738
00:48:21,815 --> 00:48:23,317
[Dean] The door opens back up.
739
00:48:23,942 --> 00:48:25,193
Still nothing happens.
740
00:48:27,321 --> 00:48:30,407
[Lordan] It's like a mini-ghost story
built into four minutes.
741
00:48:31,325 --> 00:48:35,704
And the story is about a girl
who gets into an elevator.
742
00:48:35,787 --> 00:48:38,248
The elevator isn't working properly.
743
00:48:38,332 --> 00:48:42,419
The girl starts having
some type of distress and leaves,
744
00:48:42,502 --> 00:48:45,964
and then, all of a sudden, the elevator
goes back to normal operation.
745
00:48:47,090 --> 00:48:47,925
Why?
746
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:51,678
[Dean] Is there a missing clue here
that I'm not seeing?
747
00:48:51,762 --> 00:48:54,222
Or is there something supernatural
happening here?
748
00:48:55,015 --> 00:48:58,727
[Lordan] It's hard to say there isn't
something extremely dark and bizarre
749
00:48:58,810 --> 00:48:59,978
that's going on there.
750
00:49:02,064 --> 00:49:05,734
[Dean] And then at 3:59, the video ends.
751
00:49:07,986 --> 00:49:11,823
I think most people who are seeing
this video know what they're looking at.
752
00:49:12,366 --> 00:49:16,453
They're looking at the last known footage
of a woman who's disappeared.
753
00:49:17,496 --> 00:49:19,039
And with that context in mind,
754
00:49:19,122 --> 00:49:23,168
the police unwittingly, like,
turned it into a mystery.
755
00:49:23,710 --> 00:49:25,379
[siren wailing]
756
00:49:26,588 --> 00:49:28,340
People were just dying to solve it.
757
00:49:31,802 --> 00:49:34,721
[Kading] I don't think
that the LAPD really recognized,
758
00:49:34,805 --> 00:49:38,058
when they released that video,
what they were gonna get in return.
759
00:49:38,141 --> 00:49:41,895
Now to a new development in the search
for a woman missing in California.
760
00:49:41,979 --> 00:49:46,858
The LAPD has released bizarre surveillance
footage of 21-year-old Elisa Lam.
761
00:49:46,942 --> 00:49:50,404
[man] I saw the elevator footage
as soon as it was released.
762
00:49:50,487 --> 00:49:53,907
There was reason to be suspicious
as to what happened.
763
00:49:56,493 --> 00:49:58,120
And I was drawn in by the story.
764
00:49:58,870 --> 00:50:01,957
[newsman] The footage is
from a security camera at the Cecil Hotel,
765
00:50:02,040 --> 00:50:03,458
just before she went missing.
766
00:50:03,542 --> 00:50:06,378
-[man 1] Police are struggling…
-[man 2] Police are getting worried.
767
00:50:06,461 --> 00:50:08,922
-[man 3] …a standstill…
-[man 4] What happened to Elisa?
768
00:50:09,006 --> 00:50:11,425
We're hoping anyone with information
comes forward.
769
00:50:11,508 --> 00:50:15,929
Now the LAPD is asking for your help
and fearing for the worst.
770
00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:18,557
[Sobhani] We knew we had to help.
771
00:50:19,558 --> 00:50:24,938
And no matter how deep it went
or how difficult it might be, we knew…
772
00:50:26,648 --> 00:50:28,358
we had to find her alive.
773
00:50:28,942 --> 00:50:32,029
[newsman] The door closes,
and she's never seen again.
774
00:50:32,112 --> 00:50:33,989
[somber violin plays]
775
00:50:36,450 --> 00:50:38,201
[uneasy music plays]
65474
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