Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Canadian woman’s death in L.A. water tank was accident

Cecil Hotel

ASSOCIATED PRESS

This Feb. 21, 2013, photo shows water tanks on the roof of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. Canadian tourist Elisa Lam had been missing for about two weeks when officials at the Cecil Hotel found her body in a water cistern on the hotel roof.

LOS ANGELES — Authorities say a Canadian woman whose body was discovered in a downtown Los Angeles hotel's rooftop water tank accidentally drowned.

Coroner's Lt. Fred Corral says 21-year-old Elisa Lam's cause of death was ruled an accident on Thursday. Corral says the body had no sign of trauma indicating foul play. Lam also had bipolar disorder.

Lam traveled alone to Los Angeles from Vancouver, British Columbia, on Jan. 26 and was last seen five days later by workers at the historic Cecil Hotel near Skid Row.

Before she died, hotel surveillance footage showed Lam inside an elevator pushing buttons and sticking her head out the doors, looking in both directions.

Lam's body was found on Feb. 20 in the water tank after hotel guests complained of low water pressure.

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