Strange But True: Toxic Lady, The Cecil Hotel, Farmhouse Murders

This episode of the WildFiles is. sponsored by Zocdoc. Gather around. This happened in March. 1922. A farmer in Bavaria walked outside. and found footprints in the snow. They. came from the edge of the forest and led. straight to his farmhouse. He followed. them all the way to his door. Then he. looked for tracks leading back. There were none.

Someone had walked out of the woods, come to his home, and never left. Andreas Gruber told his neighbors about. the footprints. He told them about the. strange sounds in his attic at [music]. night, a newspaper nobody ordered, a set. of keys that didn't belong to anyone in. the family. One neighbor offered him a. gun. He turned it down. Four days later, everyone in his house. was [music] dead.

Lame as terms. The lame as terms means. I'm going to check this whole thing out. >> Oh, no, no, I told you, Doc. You know. the l-. Yeah, human. My doctor, we lost him. I. won't be coming into work today. What? Dr. Bumpershoot passed away? Yeah, he. retired, but that doesn't make it hurt. less. 30 years of practice and he just. quit. But he sent me a postcard from. Cabo. So, find a new one. Yeah, find a. new one. Why do you think I'm not coming. in today? First 10 offices I called. aren't accepting new patients. And when.

the 11th one picked up, I ugly cried and. she said, "Sir, this isn't a doctor's. office." I said, "I know, Linda." And. what did Linda say? Who's Linda? Oh, her. name wasn't really Linda. That's That's. just what I call her. And she put me on. hold for 5 hours. I would, too. >> And when she came back, she said I need. to fill out new patient paperwork first. 43 pages. One of the questions was my. father's childhood physician. >> You're kidding. 43 pages? >> making this up, human. I filled out the. whole thing. I faxed it back. Oh, you.

faxed it? They only take faxes. I don't. own a fax machine, so I had to drive to. a UPS store. You know how fun that is? That's over. with Jesus left his sandals. Anyway, the. guy over the counter was like 12 years. old, so he spent an hour explaining what. a fax was. >> Did it go through? Wrong number. It went. to a Subway in Reseda. Anyway, I finally got my appointment, but they just called back and canceled. it. >> Why don't you just use Zocdoc? It's a. free website that lets you find a local.

in-network doctor and book instantly. No. calls, no hold, no waiting. >> Oh, did you just turn and cuff me into. today's sponsor? I sure did. If you're anything like me, you've. probably put off making a doctor's. appointment way longer than you should. Not because you don't care, but because. it's just a pain. Calling offices, getting put on hold, finally getting. through just to hear, "Yeah, we have. something in 3 months." This is exactly. why I like Zocdoc. [music]. It's a free app and website where you. can search and compare local in-network.

doctors, read real patient reviews, and. see actual appointment times and book. instantly. No phone tag, no guessing, and appointments usually happen fast, like within 24 to 72 hours. Sometimes. even same day. I recently had this. nagging sinus thing for weeks. Not. serious, just annoying. [music] Between. filming, writing, and editing, I didn't. have time to deal with calling around. and sitting on hold. So, I kept putting. it off. But eventually, anything was. better than constantly blowing my nose.

I just opened the Zocdoc website, found. an in-network doctor, and booked an. appointment. No calls, no crummy hold. music, no back and forth. [music] More. than anything, it was a relief to have. it handled instead of putting it off. Seriously, you deserve the best care. possible. [music] Whatever it is, big or. small, it's better to know than keep. worrying about it. Click the link in the. description and go to zocdoc.com/yfiles. to find and book a doctor today. Taking. care of your health just got easier. zocdoc.com/yfiles.

to find a doctor today? Yep. Search, pick, book. Right from your phone. Booked. Tuesday, 2:00 p.m. He has a 4.9. rating, human. 4.9. You know what Linda. gave me? 5 hours of my heart will go on. played on pan flute and a wrong number. faxed to a subway. To be fair, you named. her Linda. >> Yeah, well, she earned it. >> [music].

>> Hinterkaifeck is about an hour north of. Munich at the end of a dirt road that. cut through dense forest. The name means. behind Kaifeck, a tiny hamlet nearby. The farm was past the last house, past. the last field, deep in the woods where. the road ended, isolated. Andreas Gruber lived there with his wife. Cäzilia, their widowed daughter. Viktoria, and Viktoria's two children, >> [music]. >> 7-year-old Anton and Cäzilia, and. 2-year-old Josef. The family kept to. themselves. Most of the people in the. area avoided the place entirely.

Andreas had been convicted of incest. with his daughter Viktoria in 1915. He. served a year in prison. When Viktoria. gave birth to Josef in 1919, the. paternity was an open secret in the. village. The family's maid quit 6 months. before the murders. She told people the. farmhouse was haunted. Footsteps were. heard in the attic constantly. [music]. There was a feeling of being watched. She left and didn't come back. For 6 months, the family had no maid. Nobody in the village wanted the job. Then in early March, things got worse.

Andreas found a broken lock on the. machine room door. He searched the attic. after hearing footsteps in the middle of. the night. He found nothing, but the. sounds continued. The night before the murders, Viktoria. left the farmhouse after a violent fight. with Andreas. She was found hours later. in the forest and came back to the farm. On March 31st, a new maid finally. arrived. Her name was Maria Baumgartner. She was 44 years old from the next town. over. Her sister walked her to the farm. that afternoon, helped her settle in, and left before dark. Maria's sister.

didn't know about the footprints. She. didn't know about the attic. She didn't. know about any of it. But, she was the. last outsider to see anyone at that farm. alive. That evening, the family was lured to. the barn one at a time. Andreas went. first, then his wife Cäcilia, then. Victoria, then 7-year-old Cäcilia. One. by one they walked in. One by one they.

were hit with a pickax. Each victim was. hit in the head, but it wasn't sloppy. The blows were precise and measured. Whoever swung that ax knew what they. were doing. The tool itself was unusual. Andreas had. built it himself. He tied an iron blade. around a handle and secured everything. with bolts. And at the end, a single. bolt that stuck out an inch and a half. past the blade. He used it for killing. pigs. Someone used it on his family. The older Cäcilia showed signs of.

strangulation along with seven blows to. the skull. Victoria's skull had nine. wounds. Andreas' face was. unrecognizable. His cheekbones were. exposed through torn skin. And. 7-year-old Cäcilia's jaw was shattered. The four bodies were stacked in the barn. and covered with hay. The killer then. crossed the yard to the house. 2-year-old Josef was asleep in his crib. in Victoria's room. He was killed by a. single blow to the face. Maria was in. her room on her first night at a new job. at a new farm. She was killed in her.

bed. Multiple blows to her head. Both bodies were covered. Maria with her. bedsheets, and Josef with one of his. mother's dresses. Six people dead, one. weapon, one brutal night. But, the. killer didn't leave. For the next. several days, someone lived in the. Gruber farmhouse with six dead bodies. They even fed the cattle. They ate the. family's food. They kept a fire burning. in the fireplace. Smoke rose from the. chimney. Neighbors saw it from a. distance. They assumed the Grubers were. going about their usual routine. They.

had no idea the farm was a bloodbath. >> [music]. >> At 3:00 in the morning on April 1st, the. night of the murders, a local farmer. walked home past the forest by. Hinterkaifeck. He saw two figures. standing at the tree line. When they. noticed him, they turned away. The next. day, two coffee sellers showed up to. take an order. Nobody answered the door.

7-year-old Cäzilia didn't show up for. school. She missed the next day, too. Viktoria missed choir practice on. Sunday. She never missed choir. The. following night, another man walked past. the farm. He saw smoke coming from the. oven. Someone came out of the house and. aimed a lantern directly in his face, blinding him. He said the smoke smelled. foul. Nobody ever investigated what was. really burning in that oven. Mail piled up at the post office. A. mechanic came on April 4th to fix an. engine. He waited an hour, nobody. showed. He did the repair alone and left.

after 4 and 1/2 hours. He never saw or. heard anyone. That afternoon, a local farmer named. Lorenz Schlittenbauer [music]. sent his teenage son and young stepson. to check on the family. Schlittenbauer. had been involved with Viktoria. He. claimed to be Josef's father. There was. bad blood between the families. The boys. came back and said they hadn't seen a. soul. So, Schlittenbauer brought two. neighbors and went to see for himself. They found all the doors locked. They. broke through a gate to reach the barn. Inside, under the hay, they found four.

bodies. The two neighbors stopped. Schlittenbauer didn't. He walked. straight to the front door of the house. and unlocked it. For some reason, he had. a key. He went inside alone. Four bodies in the. barn, a killer unaccounted for, >> [music]. >> and Schlittenbauer walked into that. house like he knew exactly what he'd. find. Over the next few years, Schlittenbauer said things about the. murders that only one person could know.

Seven-year-old Cäcilia survived for. hours after the attack. She lay in the. hay next to the bodies of her mother and. grandparents in the dark. She tore out. her own hair in clumps. By the time investigators arrived from. Munich, 45 miles away, dozens of locals. had already walked through the crime. scene. They'd moved bodies. Somebody had. cooked a meal in the kitchen. The scene. was contaminated before the. investigation started. The autopsies.

were performed in the farmhouse. courtyard. Each body carried out from. the barn one at a time. Police ruled out robbery. A large amount. of cash was found untouched. Nothing was. missing. One theory was that the victims. had been drawn to the barn by restless. livestock, but noise from the barn could. be heard from inside the house. Someone. made them go. Schlittenbauer was the primary suspect. He lived nearby. He knew the property. He'd been involved with Viktoria. The. people with him during the discovery. said he was too calm. And when asked why. he entered the house alone with a.

potential killer still inside, he said. he went to look for Josef. These answers. were odd, but there was no physical. evidence tying him to the crime. Over the years, Schlittenbauer made. comments that raised suspicion. Details. only the killer would know. In 1925, a. local teacher found Schlittenbauer at. the demolished farm site. When asked. what he was doing there, he said the. killer's attempt to burn the bodies had. been stopped by the frozen ground. Nobody asked him about burning the. bodies. Nobody told them the ground was. frozen. Over 100 suspects were investigated,

even Karl Gabriel, Victoria's dead. husband. He gone off to fight in the. First World War. He was reported killed. at the Battle of Arras in 1914. His body. was never recovered. After the Second. World War, German prisoners released. from Soviet captivity claimed a. German-speaking Soviet officer had told. them he was the Hinterkaifeck killer. The lead went nowhere, like all the. others. There were six bodies, but no. suspects. In 1955, after over 30 years. of dead ends, the case was finally. closed.

Less than a year after the murders, the. farm was torn down. During demolition, the workers found something in the. attic. A second pickaxe covered in dry. blood. They'd found a penknife buried in. the hay. Evidence missed by every. investigator who walked through. The hiding spots weren't random. The axe. was hidden in a space above the kitchen.

with a false wall. You'd have to know. the farmhouse well to know that space. [music] existed. The skulls of all six victims had been. removed during the autopsies and sent to. Munich for study. Somewhere during World. War II, the skulls disappeared. The key. physical evidence in Germany's most. famous unsolved murder gone. In 1927, five years after the murders, a. stranger stopped a man on the road. nearby. He asked questions [music] about. the killings. Then he announced loudly. that he was the murderer. Then he ran.

into the forest. He was never. identified. In 2007, police academy students. reopened the case as a forensic. exercise. They landed on a name. But living relatives threatened legal. action. The name has never been. released. [music]. 103 years later, the case is still open. And a family is buried together in a. plot. Six bodies without their heads. [music] Six people still waiting for. justice.

Gather around. This happened in February. 1994. Riverside General Hospital. The ER was. quiet until paramedics [music] burst. through the doors with Gloria Ramirez.

She was still conscious, but she was. dying. Doctors swarmed her. They thought it was. a standard procedure until they cut open. her shirt. An oily sheen covered her skin. It. smelled like garlic. Not the smell of. food, something sharper, almost. metallic. A nurse drew blood and the. stench of ammonia hit the room. Then she. saw something in the vial. Tiny. tan-colored crystals floating in. Gloria's blood. The nurse was confused. She looked up to speak, then her eyes.

rolled back and she hit the floor. Then it started to spread. It started with the nurse who drew the. blood. She collapsed mid-sentence. Her. face hit the floor before anyone could. catch her. Dr. Julie Gorchynski, the medical. resident, knelt down to help. She. thought the nurse had a panic attack,

maybe [music] stress, or maybe she. skipped lunch. She went to check the. nurse's pulse and that's when she felt. it. Heat was coming off of Gloria's. body. Not fever heat, [music] chemical. heat. The kind that burns your nostrils. before it reaches your lungs. Dr. Gorchynski's throat started to close up. Her chest was tightening like there was. a hand around her throat, and she knew. what was in that air. Whatever killed. Gloria was still in the room. She tried to stand, tried to back away. from the gurney, but her legs gave out. She couldn't feel her feet. She made it.

three steps toward the nurses' station, then she collapsed and started seizing. on the floor. The respiratory therapist was next. She. bagged the patient, squeezed air into. Gloria's lungs, then her arms started. tingling, then numbness in her chest, then nothing. She dropped where she. stood. A few minutes in, the trauma room. looked like a battlefield. Staff. collapsed one by one. Some unconscious, some convulsing, some crawling toward. the door on their hands and knees. Nurses who stayed upright dragged the.

fallen ones toward the exit. Their own. legs went numb a few feet in. They. dropped their colleagues and then. started to crawl. Pagers went off unanswered. Monitors. screamed on empty beds. The air turned. into poison. [music] It didn't smell. like a hospital anymore. It smelled like. a chemical plant. The garlic hit first, then the ammonia, sharp enough to make. your eyes water and your throat close. up. The ER director knew what was. happening. This was a mass casualty. [music] event. But the casualties.

weren't patients, they were his own. staff. He grabbed the wall to stay. upright. His own lungs started to burn. He made a call to evacuate. Nurses. wheeled gurneys into the parking lot. IV. bags were swinging from poles. Patients. with broken bones, chest pains, [music]. lacerations went out into the cold. February night. Someone called 911 on. the hospital. The hospital went into. lockdown and the staff sealed trauma. room one with plastic sheeting and duct. tape. They made it a containment zone.

Inside, a skeleton crew stayed with. Gloria. They wore full hazmat gear, protective suits, respirators, face. shields. They looked like astronauts. From the other side of the plastic. sheeting, the rest of the hospital just. watched. Doctors in scrubs, patients in. gowns, nurses frozen in the hallway. All. of them at a safe distance watching. their co-workers die. One nurse [music] prayed, patients were. crying, but nobody moved closer. The. crew inside the sheeting worked on.

Gloria. They pushed drugs into her body. They tried to restart her heart, but the. poison worked too fast. 45 minutes after. she arrived, Gloria Ramirez was dead, and whatever poison that room was still. there. >> [music]. [music]. >> The parking lot became a decontamination.

zone. Staff stripped off their scrubs. and stood shivering in the dark while. firefighters hosed them down, bagged. their clothes as hazardous waste, >> [music]. >> and they scrubbed their skin with. chemical neutralizers. It looked like a. nerve gas response. 23 people reported symptoms that night. Five went to intensive care. Dr. Julie. Gorchinsky suffered the worst. She spent. two weeks in the ICU. [music]. Her body shut down piece by piece. She. developed hepatitis. Her pancreas shut. down. She couldn't hold a fork to eat,

but the worst damage was inside her. bones. Doctors called it avascular. necrosis. Her bone marrow died. The. tissue that produces blood cells rotted. from the inside out. Whatever came out of Gloria's blood was. potent enough to destroy tissue cell by. cell. The Riverside County Coroner's. Office was terrified. They had a body. that was a biological weapon and no idea. what made it dangerous. They refused to. perform a standard autopsy. Instead, they called in specialists and built a.

sealed examination chamber. Three pathologists suited up in airtight. hazmat gear and entered the chamber. They moved slowly, carefully, taking. samples of everything. Blood, bile, lung. tissue, liver, kidneys. Every sample. went into a sealed container. Every. container into a sealed box. One of the pathologists later said he. held his breath the whole time. The air. in the chamber felt thick. They expected. to find something obvious, a pesticide, an industrial solvent, or a drug.

overdose. Something that explained how. one woman's blood could take down an. entire ER. They ran every toxicology. test available. The results came back. clean. No poisons, no heavy metals, no. chemical weapons, no illegal drugs. Just. normal therapeutic levels of Tylenol and. lidocaine. Standard medications for. someone in her condition. The county didn't know what to tell the. public. They didn't have any answers. So, [music] they lied. They held a press. conference and announced that the.

hospital staff suffered from mass. hysteria. They said the garlic smell was. from medical equipment. They said the. nurses fainted from stress and the. others followed suit. A psychological. chain reaction. The medical staff was. furious. Mass hysteria doesn't cause. seizures. Stress doesn't cause bone. marrow necrosis. Panic attacks don't. land five people in intensive care for. weeks. They knew what they experienced. They smelled the chemicals. They saw the. crystals in the blood. They felt their. lungs burning. Several of the staff from.

that night on never worked in an ER. again. Some developed chronic health problems. A few left medicine altogether. Then. there was the investigator. The county. coroner's office assigned their top. investigator to the case. She was good. at her job. Sharp, thorough. One month. into the investigation, she killed. herself. Her boss said she may have been under. pressure from the case. He didn't say. what kind of pressure. Meanwhile, Gloria's family demanded answers. They.

hired a private pathologist to do their. own autopsy. When he arrived at the. morgue, the county refused to release. the body. They said she was too. dangerous to handle. For 2 months, Gloria Ramirez lay in a. deep freeze while lawyers argued over. her remains. When they finally released. her, they took no chances. She didn't. get a standard coffin. They placed her. body in a sealed aluminum container and. welded it shut. They told the family to. never open it, not ever.

Then they buried her body deep. underground, just like they do with. radioactive waste. Gloria had cervical cancer. She lived in. constant pain. Investigators traced it. to dimethyl sulfoxide, a solvent people. put on their skin in the '90s as a home. painkiller. When paramedics gave her. oxygen in the ambulance, the DMSO.

reacted. It converted into dimethyl. sulfone. Dimethyl sulfone crystallizes. at room temperature, the same beige. crystals the nurse saw in the vial. Then. the defibrillator shocks converted it. again into dimethyl [music] sulfate, a. compound used in chemical warfare that. destroys cells on contact [music]. and smells like garlic. Even trace amounts can be fatal. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore tried. to recreate [music] the reaction in a. lab. They couldn't. Nobody ever did.

They tried every combination of. temperature, pressure, and chemistry. they can think of. The quantities. involved made no sense, far more DMSO. than anyone would smear on their skin. for pain relief. The math never worked. The reaction that killed Gloria Ramirez. only happened once, that one time. The case went into textbooks as an. unsolved toxicology puzzle. And 30 years. later, nobody has an answer. The. physical evidence is gone. They. destroyed the blood samples. The syringe. with the crystals got thrown away. And.

the body is buried deep underground. Gloria Ramirez entered history [music]. as the toxic lady, a medical curiosity, a cautionary tale. But, she was more. than that. She was mother of two. She. went to the hospital because she was. scared and in pain. She went there for. help. Instead, she became a biohazard. The hospital is still there. It changed. its name, but the building stands. The. ER is still open. Trauma Room 1 is still. in use. Patients come in with broken. bones and chest pains and lacerations,

just like they did back then. >> [music]. >> And nurses wheel them right through that. very same door. Most of the staff from 1994 have moved. on. A few veterans remain. Nurses and. technicians who worked [music] that. night, who remember what happened, who. never got the answers. They still work. their shifts. They still walk those. halls. But, they don't use Trauma Room 1. for the sickest patients anymore. They. say it doesn't feel right. The aluminum. container is still buried deep under. Riverside. Nobody's ever broken the.

seal. Gloria's family never asked, and. the county never offered. Whatever's. left of her, whatever made her body a. weapon that night, it's still down. there. And nobody is brave enough to find out. why.

Gather round. This happened on January. 31st, 2013. A security camera inside an. elevator at the Cecil Hotel in Los. Angeles recorded 2 and 1/2 minutes of. footage that still hasn't been. explained. A 21-year-old woman steps. inside. She presses every button on the. panel, every single one. Then she backs. into the corner and waits. The doors. don't close. She leans out, looks both. ways down the hallway, and ducks back. in. She steps out and begins talking to. someone, her hands moving in strange.

gestures like she's explaining something. urgent to a person who isn't there. She. backs away slowly [music]. then disappears down the hallway. The. elevator doors close then open, close. again. No one is there. 19 days later hotel guests started. complaining that their water tasted. sweet.

The Cecil Hotel opened on December 20th, 1924 on South Main Street in downtown. LA. 700 rooms, marble lobby, crystal. chandeliers, built for traveling. businessmen and tourists. >> Within 5 years the stock market crashed. and the Great Depression turned the. neighborhood into Skid Row. The Cecil became a flop house, cheap. rooms and drifters, a place where people. went when they had nowhere else to go. The deaths started almost immediately. In the 1930s alone, six people jumped.

from the upper floors. A soldier fell. from the top of the building. A. telephone worker swallowed cyanide. inside his room. In 1944, a teenage. mother gave birth on one of the upper. floors and threw the baby from the. window. In 1962, a woman jumped from the ninth. floor. She landed on someone walking. past the hotel. Both died on impact. In. 1964, a retired telephone operator named. Goldie Osgood was found dead in her. room. She'd been raped, stabbed, and. beaten. A suspect was picked up walking. nearby in bloody clothes but released.

Nobody was ever charged. Then the serial. killers moved in. In 1985, Richard Ramirez rented a room. on the top floor for $14 a night. The. Night Stalker. He killed at least 13. people across LA that summer. Home. invasions, sexual assaults, mutilations. After each murder, he'd come back to the. Cecil in the middle of the night, strip. off his bloody clothes in the alley, and. walk through the lobby in his underwear. The other residents saw him, nobody. called the police. At the Cecil, you.

minded your own business. Six years. later, an Austrian journalist named Jack. Unterweger checked into the Cecil Hotel. He said he was writing about. prostitution in LA for an Austrian. magazine. He was charming. He even. convinced the LAPD to let him ride along. with vice cops. The police had no idea. they were taking Unterweger on scouting. trips. Unterweger had already served 15. years in an Austrian prison for. strangling an 18-year-old girl with her. own bra. He was finally released. He said he was a changed man, but the. only thing that changed was his address.

He strangled three women in his room at. the Cecil, same method every time. The. hotel earned a nickname, Hotel Death. Then in 2013, a 21-year-old college. student from Vancouver checked in. Elisa Lam was a student, the daughter of. immigrants from Hong Kong. She [music]. was outgoing. She had a blog where she.

wrote about fashion and life. She called. her parents every single day. On January 26th, she checked into the. Cecil, recently rebranded as Stay on. Main. The hotel wanted to attract. younger travelers who wouldn't Google. the building's history, and it worked. The Cecil may have had a new name, but. it still had the same hallways, the same. walls, and the same dark history. Elisa was on a budget, so she was. assigned a room with a few other. students. But within 2 days, her. roommates asked to have her removed. She. was leaving notes on their pillows, "Go.

home. Go away." She would lock her. roommates out of the room, then ask them. for a password to be let back in. The. hotel moved her to her own room. Elisa. was on five medications to treat bipolar. disorder. If she stopped taking her. meds, she would have episodes. A few. days before she disappeared, she went to. a [music] live taping of Conan in. Burbank. Security removed her for her. disruptive behavior. On January 31st, the day she was. supposed to check out, her parents. didn't hear from her. They called the. police. [music]. They flew to LA. Police searched the.

hotel with dogs. They went through the. hallways, the stairwells, the roof. Nothing. The manager of a local bookstore was the. only person who remembered seeing Elisa. that day. She was friendly, talkative, buying gifts for her family. Nobody else. saw her leave the building. Two [snorts] weeks later, the LAPD. released the elevator footage. The video. went viral. >> [music]. >> News outlets around the world picked it. up. This surveillance video shows the UBC. student acting strangely the night she. went missing. >> Now, let's take a look at the footage. that is, by all accounts, quite bizarre.

It shows 21-year-old Elisa Lam acting. erratically, getting into an elevator. and pressing several buttons. At one. point, she appears to hide and also gets. in and out of that elevator a number of. times. But then, the video takes a. strange turn. She punches all of the. buttons on the control panel, then. waits. She steps in and out several. times. She even appears to be gesturing. in the hallway, although it's not clear. if someone is there or not. >> That's this. Take [music] a look as. 21-year-old Elisa Lam riding an elevator.

at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. So, she peers out the doors, runs back in, and then presses several buttons. Strange behavior, but what happened. afterward is even more bizarre. For 19 days after the footage was. recorded, the Cecil kept operating. Guests checked in and checked out. They. slept in their rooms. They brushed their. teeth. They drank from the tap. Then the. complaints started. Low water pressure. Water coming out of faucets [music]. dark, almost black. Guests said it.

tasted strange. Some said sweet. Others. said it smelled like something organic. On the morning of February 19th, a. maintenance worker climbed to the roof. to check the water supply. The Cecil had four large tanks up there, each holding a thousand gallons. He. found one of the hatches open. He looked. inside. Elisa Lam was floating face up. in the water. [music]. She was naked, her clothes floated next. to her, the same outfit from the. elevator video, coated in sandy residue. Her watch and room key floated nearby. Her body had started to decompose. She'd.

been in the water tank for 19 [music]. days. The Cecil had about 600 guests. during that period. Every one of them. had been drinking, showering, brushing. their teeth, and cooking with water from. a tank containing a decomposing human. body. The coffee shop had been making. coffee with it for almost three weeks. Health officials issued a do not drink. order after the discovery, [music]. 19 days too late. The tank was drained to remove her body. The coroner said she died from. accidental drowning. Bipolar disorder. was listed as a factor. There was no.

sign of physical trauma, no sexual. assault, no drugs, no alcohol. It was an. accident. That was the official answer. But there. were problems with the official answer. The roof access doors of the Cecil were. locked. An alarm was supposed to go off. if anyone opened them. No alarm went off. the night Elisa disappeared.

The water tank sat on elevated. platforms. The only way up was a ladder. bolted to the side. The hatches were. heavy, designed to keep debris and. animals out. Elisa weighed about 115 lb. She was found naked inside a sealed. water tank. No one could explain how she. got up there, opened the hatch, or got. inside. The elevator footage has been watched. hundreds of millions of times. Footage. of Elisa talking to someone. People. still slow it down frame by frame, [music] looking for a shadow in the. hallway, a second person just out of the.

camera's view, a hand reaching toward. her. They never found anyone. Then there were the coincidences. At the. time of Elisa's death, a tuberculosis. outbreak was spreading through Skid Row, just a few blocks from the Cecil. Health teams were screening homeless. people within walking distance of the. hotel. The test they used to detect TB. was called LAM, Elisa. The same name and. the same order [music] deployed within. walking distance of where her body was. decomposing in a water tank. In 2005, a. horror film called Dark Water was.

released. Tenants of an apartment. building noticed their water has turned. dark and taste foul. Someone traces the. problem to a rooftop water tank. Inside. the body of a young girl who'd been. reported [music] missing. The plot of a. horror movie played out in real life 8. years later in the Cecil Hotel in hotel. death. Accident, coincidence, a building. with a body count. >> [music]. >> Nobody was satisfied with the official. answer, but nobody had a better one.

The coroner said accident, the police. closed the case, and the evidence. supports it, but it takes some work to. get there. The elevator footage is the. reason this case went viral. It looks. like a woman being stalked by something. invisible. But if you watch it knowing that Elisa. had bipolar disorder and had stopped. taking her medication, it looks. different. The button pressing, the hiding, the.

conversation with nobody. These are. symptoms. Psychomotor agitation, paranoid. behavior, disorganized speech. The. footage isn't a mystery, it's a medical. event recorded on camera. The roof. access is the other big problem. The. doors were locked, the hatches on the. tanks were heavy. >> [music]. >> A 115-lb woman getting into a water tank. alone seems impossible. But investigators found that the alarm. on the roof door had been broken for. months, and the fire escape gave direct. access to the roof from outside of the. building. No locked doors required. The.

Cecil was not a secure building. People. climb to the roof all the time. The hatch was open. The lid wasn't. locked. She could have lifted it. And. most of the photos of the roof make it. seem impossible that Elisa could climb. into the tank. But there's one photo. that people rarely see. Right next to. the water tank was a ledge. She could. have easily hopped from the ledge onto. the tank. She was on the roof taking. pictures, we know this. Maybe she was. trying to get a better view. Why were. Elisa's clothes off? That could be. something called paradoxical undressing.

Hypothermic people can actually feel an. intense but false sensation of heat. They start taking off their clothes even. though they're freezing to death. This is most often found in hypothermia. cases. And the water in the tank was. cold. The medications in her system. support the timeline. She'd been taking. her meds inconsistently. [music]. Bipolar episodes can escalate quickly. when medication is interrupted. Paranoia, risk-taking, altered. perception of danger. A water tank on a. dark rooftop might not register as a. threat to someone in that state. There's.

no evidence of foul play. No defensive. wounds. No DNA from another person. No. sign of sexual assault. Nobody on the. hotel's cameras who shouldn't have been. there. The coincidences are just. coincidences. The TB test was named Lam. Elisa decades before Elisa Lam was born. Dark Water was based on a Japanese short. story from 1996. [music] These things. line up the way things sometimes do when. millions of people are looking for. patterns. Maybe the coroner was right. A. young woman in crisis, off her. medication, wandering a building in LA. A building that's the worst place for. someone [music] to lose touch with.

reality. A building where serial killers. walked the halls in bloody clothes and. nobody looked twice. But the elevator footage is still out. there. She presses the buttons. She. hides in the corner. She talks to no. one. The doors won't close. And then she. walks away. This case is probably. solved, but something about it doesn't. sit right. For 19 days, the body of a dead girl. floated in a hotel water tank. For 19. days, hotel guests drank the strange. tasting water. And for 19 days none of. the guests at Hotel Death.

thought to ask why. Thank you so much for hanging out today. My name is AJ. This is the Wi Files, and. that was a campfire story. No debunking, no analysis, just a creepy story to. scare you and the kids. And that one is. true and unsolved. [music] If you had. fun, I'd appreciate if you can like, subscribe, comment, and share. That.

stuff really helps. And like most topics. we cover here today is was recommended. by you. So, if there's a story you'd. like to see, go to the wifiles.com/tips. or send us an email. We'd love to cover. that story. And if you'd like to hear. any of these campfire stories expanded. into a full episode, there's a few I'd. like to do, then definitely let me know. Remember, the Wi Files is also a. podcast. You can take us on the road. I. post deep dives into the stories we. cover on the channel. I also post. episodes that wouldn't be allowed on the. channel. Podcast is called the Wi Files. Operation Podcast, and it's available. everywhere. And if you're listening on.

an audio platform, do me a favor, hit. the thumbs up or the like or the follow. or whatever those buttons are. Those. really do help. Now, if you need more Wi. Files in your life, check out our. Discord. We're about to hit 100,000. members over there. [music]. It's a lot of fun. It's a really. supportive community. There's someone on. there 24/7, and it's free to join. Speaking of 24/7, check out our 24/7 I'm. I'm plowing through the plugs. Speaking. of 24/7, make sure you check out our. 24/7 stream in the Wi Files Backstage. Over there, we run episodes back-to-back. with some fun content in between, [music] and the live chat is super super.

fun. Special thanks to our patrons who. made this show possible and make every. episode of the Wi Files happen. [music]. Every episode is dedicated to our. Patreon members. I could not do this. without you. If you'd like to support. the channel, keep us going, consider. becoming a member on Patreon. For as. little as three bucks a month, get. access to perks like videos early with. no commercials, exclusive merch, and. [music] two private live streams every. week just for you. To hear the whistle. in my teeth. It's cuz I'm I'm going too. fast. The The private live streams are a. lot of fun. For members only. Um my webcam is on.

Everyone [music] on the team has their. camera on. You can talk to all of us. Turn your camera on. Jump up on stage. Ask a question. [music] It's a lot of I. think it's the best perk there is. Another great way to support the. channel. Grab something from the Wild. Files store. That is [music]. shop.thewildfiles.com. You'll find it. But if you got to buy. merch, become a member on YouTube. YouTube members get 10% off everything. in the Wild Files [music] store forever. So if you got to spend 40 bucks on. t-shirts and mystical mugs, become a. member on on YouTube for three bucks. Pays for itself. And that money goes to. the team, not to [music] me. Those are. the plugs. I got through them as fast as.

I could. And that's going to do it. Till. next time, be [music] safe. Be kind. And. know that you are appreciated. >> [music]. >> Oh. Oh. Oh. Yeah. I played Philippians in Area 51. A. secret code [music] inside the Bible. said I would.

I love my UFOs and paranormal fun, as. well as music. [music] So I'm singing. [singing] the light out show. When [music] another conspiracy theory. becomes the truth, my friends. And it [music] never [singing] ends. No, it never ends. >> [music].

>> I [music] fear the crack cat I got stuck. inside Mel's hole with MK Ultra. I fear. [music] only two are aware. Did Stanley [music] Kubrick fake the. moon landing alone on a film set? Or. were the shadow [music] people, where? The rats were aliens kissed by the. smiling [singing] man, I'm told. And his name was cold. And [music] I can't believe. I'm dancing with the.

fish fish. hepta [music] fish on Thursday nights. with their J's on and the weapons are. beating up through the night. All I ever wanted [music] was to just. hear the truth. So the. world falls apart beating up through the. night. >> [music].

>> The mothman [music] sightings and the. solar storms still come to Agartha, the. secret city underground. Mysterious number stations, planets. [music] that were supposed to project. stargates and what the dark watchers. [singing] found. We're in a simulation, [music]. don't you worry though. The black knight satellite it shows.

me so. I can't [music] believe. I'm dancing with the fish. fish hepta fish on Thursday nights with. their [music] J's on and the weapons. are beating. up through the night. All I ever wanted [music] was to just. hear the truth. So the world. falls apart beating up through the. night. Hepta fish on Thursday nights with their. J's. on and the weapons are beating [music].

up through the night. All I ever wanted was to just hear the. truth. So the world falls apart beating. up through the night. time. >> [music]. [music].

>> because she is a camel. >> [music]. >> and camels love to dance. when the feeling is right all the way. >> [music]. [music]. [music].