By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, The
Associated Press
LOS
ANGELES — Police were trying to determine Wednesday if the death of a British
Columbia woman who was missing for weeks before her body was found wedged into
a water tank atop a Los Angeles hotel was the result of foul play or an
accident.
The
body of 21-year-old Elisa Lam was discovered Tuesday by a maintenance worker at
the downtown Cecil Hotel after guests complained of low water pressure.
Lam
traveled to California alone on Jan. 26 and was last seen five days later by
workers at the hotel.
The
hotel once had been the occasional home to infamous serial killers such as
Richard Ramirez, known as the Night Stalker, and Austrian prison author Jack
Unterweger, who was convicted of murdering nine prostitutes in Europe and the
U.S., the Los Angeles Times reported.
Police
initially called her disappearance suspicious. Investigators now are
considering the possibility of foul play because of the location where the body
was found. It was unclear what water from the tanks was used for.
An
autopsy could be performed as early as Thursday to determine the cause of
death.
Lam
intended to travel to Santa Cruz, about 350 miles north of Los Angeles. Officials
said she tended to use public transportation and had been in touch with her
family daily until she disappeared.
Hotel
surveillance footage showed Lam inside an elevator pushing buttons and at one
point sticking her head out the doors and looking in both directions.
LAPD
Officer Christopher No said at the time police didn’t know what Lam was doing
in the elevator, adding he could not speculate on whether drugs or alcohol were
involved.
“We
can’t say what was happening. Maybe she might have just been playing around
with someone, it could have been anything. We are keeping an open mind on all
aspects,” No said. Lam’s reason for traveling to the U.S. is unclear.
The Vancouver Sun contributed to
this report.
