 3.5/5

Netflix’s latest true crime docu-series, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, covers the history of Los Angeles’s notorious Cecil Hotel and the investigation of Elisa Lam’s tragic death in a way that seems to almost bury the facts in the name of conspiracy series and web sleuths.

On Jan. 31, 2013, Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old student from Vancouver went missing midway through a solo trip around California. At the time of her disappearance she had been staying at the Cecil Hotel. First opened in 1927, the Cecil Hotel was once a luxury destination. But when the Great Depression hit, its fortunes fell along with the surroundings. Now, it has become a cheap place for people to stay who have nowhere else to go. The only clue Lam left behind based on her disappearance was a strange elevator security footage. In the video Lam makes a series of frantic and erratic movements. When the LAPD released this tape, it had been dissected and interpreted numerous times. Nineteen days after her death, she was found in the hotel water tank after guests complained that the water that day had a strange color and taste.

Websleuths are an internet community who focus on crimes and missing people. This documentary balances between telling a gripping story about a historical landmark and web sleuth commentary on the nature of the true crime. The series follows police and investigators as they try to uncover this mystery. For this case, the operation involved 18 detectives, scent-tracking dogs and a helicopter to search the hotel roof. The documentary goes through Lam’s old Tumblr blog posts where she shared her thoughts on being diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder as well as her excitement about traveling. This adds a lot to the story because the viewers get an inside look on Lam’s thoughts.

During the first three episodes, there is a lot of background information on the hotel, and the docu-series almost turns the main focus over to the web sleuths who were drawn to the case. It takes three episodes of buildup for the show to finally get somewhere and show the possible reason for the mystery and interviews of people involved. In its fourth and final episode of season one, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel finally gets to the point. Personally, I think the last episode is the only one worth watching because it explains the case and suggested reasons for Lam’s death, especially diving into her mental illness.

The web sleuths have devoted a lot of time and money to finding justice for Lam and solving the crime. What I find as another “mystery” is why the internet cared so much that they actively destroyed at least one person’s life. Known by his stage name of Morbid, Pablo Camilo Vergara was someone who got caught up in the internet sleuthing at the time of Lam’s death. Web sleuths have collectively decided that Vergara was one of the main suspects for the murder of Lam. In the last episode of the series, Vergara is interviewed and we see the result of what happens when accusations are thrown at the wrong person. In the documentary Vergara spoke about receiving death threats and making worldwide news for a crime that he didn’t commit. He mentioned having to deal with being made a suspect by crime sleuths all over the internet and how it had affected him and his career. People online were so obsessed with this case that they targeted a person who had stayed at the Cecil Hotel one year before Lam.

When it comes to what really happened the night Lam disappeared, we might never really know. At the time of this case there were so many theories floating around and there were other aspects of the case that the documentary doesn’t cover. The series could have talked more about Lam’s mental illness and how it could’ve possibly connected with her death. The show considers the crime to be solved, but I think there could be more to this case and there are many more questions left unanswered.

Watch ‘Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel’ on Netflix