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Netflix Announces Documentary On Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel

Kimberley Bond

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Netflix Announces Documentary On Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel

Featured Image Credit: Cecil Hotel

Netflix has announced a new true crime series exploring the mysterious disappearance and death of Elisa Lam.

The streaming platform will launch the four-part series on 10th February, according to Variety.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel comes four years after Elisa's disappearance was examined in Amazon Prime Video series, Horror at the Cecil Hotel, which also looked at other paranormal activities and unexplained phenomena at the now infamous Downtown Los Angeles Hotel.

It was Elisa's strange behaviour that alarmed people before she died (Credit: Cecil Hotel)
It was Elisa's strange behaviour that alarmed people before she died (Credit: Cecil Hotel)
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The notorious case, looking at the disappearance and death of Canadian student Elisa Lam, garnered international attention in 2013 when the last known CCTV footage of the 21-year-old went viral.

The footage appeared to show Elisa by an elevator, talking and gesturing wildly in the corridor nearby, before entering and exiting the elevator several times and even appearing to hide in it.

Many felt deeply unsettled by Elisa's actions on the tape, with some claiming paranormal activity could explain her strange behaviour.

A month after disappearing (with Lam reportedly having left all her belongings in her hotel room), Lam's body was recovered from a water tank atop of the hotel.

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Joe Berlinger is overseeing the new series (Credit: PA Images)
Joe Berlinger is overseeing the new series (Credit: PA Images)

The new docuseries, from Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes producer and director Joe Berlinger, will feature interviews with hotel employees and guests, as well as with some of those who investigated the case.

Speaking about the project, Berlinger explained: "As a true crime documentarian, I was fascinated in 2013 when the elevator video of Elisa Lam went viral and legions of amateur detectives used the internet to try to solve the mystery of what happened to her, a 21-year-old Canadian tourist on her first trip to Los Angeles.

"So, when journalist Josh Dean, who is also a producer on the project, brought us his research into this case, we realised there was as an opportunity to do something different by not just telling the story of Elisa's disappearance, but to create a series that explores a particular location's role in encouraging or abetting crime - or the perception thereof.

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Elisa Lam's death is still a mystery (Credit: LAPD/Facebook)
Elisa Lam's death is still a mystery (Credit: LAPD/Facebook)

"My past projects have leaned into individual crimes and criminals, but I have never explored the role a particular location has played in creating an environment in which multiple crimes seemingly take place over and over again. The fact that Elisa disappeared in a location that has a multi-decade history of crimes is what made her case fascinating to me."

While the first series focuses on Cecil Hotel, subsequent seasons of the true crime series are thought to look at other other locations and phenomena.

You may recognise Cecil Hotel if you've been watching Netflix's Night Stalker, as it is where Richard Ramirez is thought to have stayed when he committed his killing spree.

Topics: Entertainment News, True Crime, Documentaries, TV News

Kimberley Bond
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