Coroner says Canadian tourist found in hotel water tank died of natural causes

Coroner’s officials say that a Canadian tourist whose body was found in a Los Angeles hotel’s water tank died from an accidental drowning.

According to the Los Angeles Times, medical examiners found no signs of trauma on the body of Elisa Lam, and toxicology reports returned clean.

Lam’s body was discovered by a Cecil Hotel maintenance worker on Feb 21 after visitors complained about the building’s low water pressure.

Guests at the hotel had unknowingly used the water in which Lam’s decomposing body was found for three weeks, with some later acknowledging a brackishness in its quality.

Lam, 21, had been reported missing weeks prior after she traveled to the hotel from Vancouver.

The Los Angeles Police Department had previously released surveillance video of Lam from a hotel elevator. In the video, she was seen pressing various buttons on the control panel and stepping out of the elevator.

In order to get roof access, Lam would have had to access a locked door and a fire escape, facts which brought her death to the attention of amateur sleuths the world over.

Tests of the Hotel Cecil water system found no health risks posed to guests, although guests filed suit against the business after the discovery of Lam’s body was made.

Elisa Lam via screencap