Up and Vanished Weekly | UNRESOLVED: Elisa Lam

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1:02Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Up and Vanish listeners, it's Rob. We wanted to share with you that over the next month, we'll be spotlighting episodes of our new sister series, Up and Vanish Weekly, hosted by Payne Lindsay and Maggie Freeling. Every week, Up and Vanish Weekly dives into a new missing or murdered person's case, bringing you interviews with experts and advocates who take you behind the scenes of the investigation. On behalf of the entire Up and Vanish team, we hope you enjoy Up and Vanish Weekly.

1:46Up and Vanish Weekly is released every Wednesday and brought to you absolutely free. But for one-week early access and ad-free listening, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts. If you're already a subscriber, thank you for your support. This podcast discusses mature and sensitive content, including descriptions of violence that may be triggering for some audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

2:29Hey y 'all, welcome to another episode of Up and Vanish Weekly. I'm Maggie Freeling. I remember the first big trip I took with my friends. We had just graduated and the world was our oyster. We drove from Massachusetts to Texas, and I had never left the Northeast. It was the trip of a lifetime. That's how Elisa Lam felt. The 21-year-old was planning to leave Canada and travel the west coast of the United States. She was angsty and restless and wanted to explore. But what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime ended in disaster when Elisa vanished without explanation. Weeks later, she was eventually found, deceased.

3:15But the circumstances surrounding her death and disappearance have left many wondering. What happened in the moments leading up to Elisa Lam's death?

3:29It's the morning of February 19th, 2013 in downtown Los Angeles. Residents and staff of the Cecil Hotel are just beginning their day. Inside, the front desk is especially busy. Over the last few days, multiple reports of low water pressure in the units have been coming in. The hotel dispatches a maintenance worker to check the water tanks. located on the roof of the building. The hotel has four water tanks, each measuring 10 feet high and holding a thousand gallons of water. The tanks supply both guest rooms, as well as an on-site kitchen and coffee shop. As the maintenance worker climbs up and begins his inspection, something immediately stands out.

4:17The maintenance hatch on one of the tanks appears to be open. He makes his way towards the open hatch and looks inside. What he sees is horrifying. It's the body of a young woman, floating in water only feet below the hatch. After arriving on scene, it does not take long for authorities to identify the woman as 21-year-old Elisa Lamb. Elisa had been reported missing from the Cecil Hotel three weeks earlier. But with one mystery solved, police must now piece together another. Did Elisa willingly go into the water tank? Or did someone, or something, send her to a watery grave?

5:27From Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta, this is Up and Vanish Weekly with Payne Lindsay and Maggie Freeling.

5:37Elisa Lam was first-generation Chinese-Canadian, born and raised in Vancouver. She attended the University of British Columbia and was described by friends and acquaintances as friendly, bubbly, and outgoing. But Elisa had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression. She was struggling along with her family to understand what was happening. Elisa wrote about it on her blog. I feel I'm wasting my time compared to my fellow peers. I had a relapse at the start of the term and had to drop two of the three courses I was taking. Now I'm down to one course and I have missed three weeks of classes.

6:19Elisa had not taken a course since summer of 2012. She was prescribed multiple medications. But treating serious mental illness is a process. Elisa still felt restless and aimless. She wrote on her blog, I must travel for sanity. I'm freaking 21 now. My youth is fading and I haven't even lived. So in 2013, she packed up and left for San Diego to start a solo adventure around California. Kind of like a way to rediscover herself and figure out what she wants to do in life. Elisa checked in with her parents every day. She also checked in with her blogs. She announced she had made it to California and was looking for recommendations.

7:06At first, everything seemed to be going in a positive direction. Elisa was in a good place. But based on what's been reported not long after she arrived in L.A., things went downhill.

7:30Alisa arrived in LA and checked into the Cecil Hotel on January 28th. Alisa started acting strangely not long after check-in. Alisa was sharing her room with several other women, who would eventually report threatening behavior to hotel management. According to the women, Elisa had been leaving threatening notes on their beds, and at one point, locked the women out of the room. Eventually, Elisa was moved to a private room. Also during her stay, Elisa attended a taping of a late-night television show, but according to police, was escorted out by security for acting erratically. On January 31st, the last day Elisa was seen alive, she spent the morning at a local bookstore, purchasing gifts for her family.

8:25According to the bookstore manager, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But later that day, something appeared to be significantly wrong with Elisa. Hotel staff noticed her wandering the hotel, at times screaming out. At one point, management had to intervene after Elisa entered a restricted area of the hotel. After being redirected by staff, Elisa made her way towards a bank of elevators. The following day, Elisa was scheduled to leave LA and travel to Santa Cruz, but she never checked out. Her parents, who were accustomed to speaking with Elisa daily, were now growing worried. They had not heard from their daughters since January 30th.

9:13Fearing the worst, they called the LAPD and reported Elisa missing.

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11:40She was also suffering from depression. So sometimes her posts are a bit melancholic, but I would say nothing particularly alarming. It looks like a typical angsty youth blog to me. Things are copacetic until Elisa checks into the infamous Hotel Cecil in downtown Los Angeles. The Hotel Cecil, or the Cecil Hotel as it's become known, has a long and sordid history. One which Elisa likely did not know because the hotel she checked into wasn't actually called the Cecil. It was renamed as part of a rebrand to get away from the shadow cast over the Cecil. The Hotel Cecil opened in 1927 as a 700-room luxury hotel.

12:31The former manager described it as sort of the Titanic of hotels. If you've seen American Horror Story Hotel, it's loosely based on the Cecil. But over the years, the Cecil became a shell of its former self, and the reputation it gained as the Suicide Hotel didn't help. Starting in 1931, a guest died by suicide in his room after taking poison capsules, triggering a series of suicides through the 40s and 50s. The Cecil changed from a classy hotel to a budget dive. Then, in 1964, a well-liked, long-term resident of the hotel named Pigeon Goldie was found raped and murdered in her room, giving the Cecil the more nefarious reputation it has today.

13:20Into the 80s and 90s, as the war on drugs raged, the 50 city blocks surrounding the Cecil became increasingly dangerous. The neighborhood known as Skid Row was targeted as a place to condense marginalized populations into. People released from prison, jail, or psychiatric hospitals were dropped off in this neighborhood, away from the rest of L.A. Today, Skid Row is home to the largest stable unhoused population in the country. According to 2024 statistics, there are nearly 3 ,800 people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row, with about half of them unsheltered. They live in tent cities of tarps, blankets, and boxes.

14:08Others live in shelters. And the few remaining single-room occupancy hotels like the Cecil. Perhaps not surprisingly, as the neighborhood destabilized, it attracted crime and violence, and the Cecil became the residence of multiple serial killers, including Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker. Ramirez is said to have committed 14 murders while living at the Cecil. Austrian serial killer Jack Unterwerger also stayed at the Cecil. While there, he killed at least three women. Amy Price, the former manager of the hotel, claimed she witnessed 80 deaths in the 10 years she worked there. But again, Elisa wasn't staying in the Cecil.

14:54She was staying at a chic hostel called the Stay on Main. It was indeed the Cecil, but it was rebranded in 2011, while half of the hotel remained the Cecil, a place for long-term, low-income residents, and stays with the seedy history attached. The stay on Main was the other side, a completely separate hotel on separate floors from the Cecil. But there was one caveat. All of the guests used the same elevator. And it was inside one of these elevators that investigators would find a truly bizarre and the only piece of evidence.

15:36By the time police arrived to search Elisa's hotel room, housekeeping had already been through. They had bagged up her personal belongings left behind, including her computer, a wallet, and medications. According to police, the room had been left in disarray, but there was no sign of foul play, nor forced entry. Scent tracking dogs were brought into the hotel, searching all floors, including the roof. According to reports, while inside the hotel, the dogs were able to hit on Elisa's scent, tracking it back to her room. At one point, one of the dogs led police to a large window overlooking the street and leading to a fire escape.

16:26An autopsy revealed no injuries that would point to foul play, and no illicit substances were found in the toxicology report. During this time, police were also reviewing security camera footage of the hotel around the time Elisa went missing. In particular, one haunting video stood out to investigators. A camera inside one of the hotel's elevators had captured Elisa on January 31st, the night she went missing. In the video, Elisa seems to be acting erratically, mashing elevator buttons, and even appearing to communicate with someone. The door remained open throughout Elisa's time appearing in the video.

17:13At one point, she is seen peering out fearfully into the corridor, only to move back into the elevator and hide in the corner. Eventually, Elisa exited the elevator and disappeared from view. Two weeks into the investigation, authorities make the decision to release a portion of the video taken in the elevator in hopes of securing new leads. The video quickly goes viral and leads internet sleuths to propose the question, could supernatural forces possibly be responsible for the disappearance of Elisa Lam?

18:01The video of Elisa Lam in the hotel elevator is something you have to see for yourself. Anyone who watches the video has a different interpretation of what they see, making the possibilities of what happened to Elisa endless. Some believe they see a shoe in the video, indicating someone is outside of the elevator. And it's also interesting that the elevator door doesn't shut at all. It doesn't even attempt. So some people wonder if a person is outside the elevator holding a button, keeping it open. And if there was, was this someone Elisa was with? Did she know them? Did they do something to her?

18:44Remember, anyone in the stay on Main or the Cecil could use the same elevator. Perhaps one of the Cecil guests harmed Elisa. It wouldn't be the first time in the Cecil hotel. Or maybe someone following Elisa's blog. Investigators explored the idea of someone on the internet stalking Elisa. she was reaching out, asking for recommendations. People also wonder if the behavior Elisa displayed in the elevator may indicate she was running from someone. She seems like she's hiding at points, and she's definitely in distress. And Elisa was found naked in the water tower. Her clothes were at the bottom of the tank, implying that someone else did something to her body.

19:32Yet there is no evidence anyone hurt or killed Elisa, nor any evidence she was put in the water tank by someone else. So that leaves us to Elisa. Elisa seemed excited about life, but she was dealing with a new mental health diagnosis. And Elisa's family said she had a history of not taking her medication. And she's had hallucinations and paranoia after that. Elisa's family also said she wound up in the hospital after not taking her medication in the past. Elisa's death was ruled undetermined and later changed to an accident. Her cause of death was drowning. She entered the tank alive. Toxicology reports didn't find any drugs or alcohol in Elisa's system, and her autopsy revealed only trace amounts of her medication.

20:30suggesting she was not taking them consistently, despite having recently filled her prescriptions. So was Elisa off her medication and seeing things? It's very possible. Her diagnosis was new and very serious. She was still working through everything. And often, when someone takes medication and it helps and they feel better, which it's supposed to, that can also lead people to have a false sense of being better. And so they can stop taking medication. That's a very common situation. And perhaps Elisa was high on life, feeling great about her vacation, and decided to stop taking her medication.

21:13I completely feel that. The medications Elisa was on also have pretty major side effects. And many people also choose not to take them because of that. So let's say she was disoriented and walked to the roof. Officials said the doors were locked and triggered by alarms. So how could she get to the roof? Dogs traced her scent to a fire escape on the fifth floor, which led to the roof, indicating that it's possible she went up that way. And many can't help but think, considering the Cecil is known as one of the most haunted hotels in the world, that perhaps the answer isn't something we can fully comprehend.

21:56Some believe Elisa was playing a paranormal game in the elevator known as the elevator game. It's a Korean game that allegedly takes you to an alternate dimension through a specific button sequence on an elevator. Some think Elisa was playing this game with one of the many spirits that are said to haunt the Cecil Hotel. Can Elisa see someone in the video that we can't? I'll admit, I'm much better versed in reporting on serious mental illness than the paranormal. But Payne spoke with paranormal investigator Shane Pittman for an episode of Talking to Death. Shane has starred in The Holzer Files on the Discovery Channel and 21 Days Haunted on Netflix.

22:43Shane has spent countless hours in allegedly haunted buildings, some of the most notorious in the world, like the Hotel Cecil. And he spoke to Payne about how his search for answers, he says, has led to a better understanding of his own mental health. When we come back from a quick break, we'll bring you Payne's conversation with Shane. It's Hulaween on Disney+. Watch frightful family favorites like Hocus Pocus and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney+. I am the Pumpkin King! Then take the terror to ten with a thrilling new remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Scream, and more with Hulu-een on Disney+.

23:24All these and more screaming this Halloween season with Hulu on Disney+. Bundle subscription required. 18+. Select Hulu content via Disney+. Additional content on Hulu app. Terms apply. Visit Disneyplus.com slash Hulu for details. And now here's John with this week's critical missing case. Today's case comes to us from NamUs. Authorities are seeking help locating a man who went missing from the Quincy, California area a few weeks back. 41-year-old Bradley J. Prestigiacomo was last seen on Sunday, August 3rd, 2025. It's believed that he left a friend's residence around 2.30 a.m. and he was supposed to attend a party, but he never showed up.

24:05He hasn't been seen or heard from since. Now, it's reported that on Tuesday, August 5th, Bradley's black and green 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup was found just a few miles south of Quincy. Multiple search and rescue teams have been sweeping the area for Bradley, but they're looking for tips with any information about where he may have gone. Bradley's described as a white male, 6 '3", tall, with a weight of 186 pounds and brown eyes. He has a goatee and brown hair that's short on the sides and pulled back in a ponytail. He may also be wearing glasses. Now, listeners, we need your help spreading the word about Bradley.

24:41So you can check out the Up and Vanish Weekly Instagram page at UAV Weekly to see a picture of Bradley and to share our post for more visibility. And lastly, if you've seen Bradley or you know any information about where he could be, please contact the Plumas County Sheriff's Office at 530-283-6375.

25:04All right, we're back. Thanks for coming to me, man. hey thank you for having me man i appreciate it i just want to ask you point blank to be honest are ghosts real i i would say yes you would say yes i would say yes but i would say as far as like defining what ghosts and spirits are i've changed my whole opinion on that okay i know that we're communicating with someone or something but i don't really know what it is i just know it's beyond our scope of understanding right now. So in my opinion, the, how I label ghosts right now is something that I cannot see that I'm communicating with. Yeah.

25:44I would say ghosts are real. Okay. So what do you think it is? You know, I don't know. I have a lot of theories on that. Like it could be interdimensional. It could be, um, ourselves. So there's this interesting story, from a guy he tells where he was a young kid and he walked into his kitchen to get a sandwich and he was like five or six years old he walks in and he sees this hooded figure opening up his refrigerator and it freaked him the hell out and he ran out of there scared to death fast forward though he's about in his early 20s he's in the same house he's visiting his parents and he runs down to get a snack, which is a peanut butter sandwich.

26:35And he runs down and he opens the refrigerator. He's got a hoodie on and he sees a small figure in the doorway. And at first he's like, this is strange. It doesn't make any sense, but it freaked him out again. But then he remembered when he was six years old, he saw a hooded figure in the same exact spot that he was standing to go get a snack when he opened the refrigerator, and he's thinking that maybe he saw a version of himself in the future, so maybe we're haunting ourselves. I know it's kind of a confusing thing. So he saw a ghost essentially two times and potentially actualized that event.

27:16What does that mean to you? Is there some sort of time plane that we don't understand? Is it an imprint? I believe it is an imprint. I do believe that it's a time thing too, because time is a man-made construct. I believe that we are more powerful than we kind of give ourselves credit for. I use this analogy all the time that, you know, I can walk into a room after a couple had been done fighting and they're not saying a word. I can walk in, but you can feel the tension from that argument, even though they don't say anything to you at all. Are you actually feeling something or are you observing them being different?

28:00Well, I think it's a mixture of both because I've had this happen more than one time. where you walk in, they're off doing their own thing, but you can feel that something's not right. You can feel... Like an energy or something. Right. You can feel like a shift. But if you're walking in certain places, you know you're on high alert. It's something within you that is telling you, hey, be careful. It's that gut instinct. And I think that that has something to do with it. I think that we have more influence over certain hauntings than we, you know, we may realize. So a lot of people say, oh, this place is haunted or whatever.