The body of a woman in her 20s was being recovered Tuesday from the roof of a downtown Los Angeles hotel where a young missing Canadian tourist stayed before she disappeared several weeks ago.
At about 10:15 a.m., police were called to 640 S. Main St. (map) – the address of the Cecil Hotel. The Los Angeles Fire Department also responded.
Officials were engaged in a "body recovery" operation from a water tank on the hotel's roof, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman said.
Hotel guests had reported that the water pressure in the building was low, prompting a maintenance worker to visit tanks on the roof, where the body of a woman in her 20s was found, according to Officer Sara Fayden.
Officials were gathered on the hotel's roof at midday, and multiple emergency vehicles were gathered in front of the building, including sedan from the county coroner's officer.
LAPD homicide detectives had been investigating the disappearance of missing Canadian tourist Elisa Lam, pictured below at right in two photos. The 21-year-old from Vancouver, B.C., had stayed at the hotel during a visit to Southern California last month.
Surveillance video from the hotel had shown Lam in the hotel's elevator on Feb. 1. She seemed to push multiple buttons in the elevator, then stepped in and out and appeared to hide in a corner in what authorities described as "abnormal" behavior.
Watch: Surveillance Video
The surveillance video is the last known image of Lam, whose parents said she had called them every day until she disappeared., according to police.
Lam had stayed at the Cecil Hotel during a visit to LA that began Jan. 26, but when it came time for her to check out, she could not be found. She was last seen Jan. 31.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said the agency was investigating the water tanks to determine whether the hotel's water supply had been contaminated.
Fire Capt. Jaime Moore said a water sample had shown "no biohazard" and that the hotel's water tanks were not connected.
Longtime hotel resident Bernard Diaz reported flooding on the fourth floor at about the time Lam disappeared, saying he heard a thump so loud one night he "fell out of bed."
The water tank was about three-quarters full when the body was found, according the Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD. He said the tank's metal latch could be easily opened but added that the roof is secured with an alarm and lock.
An urban search and rescue team was working on extracting the body while trying to maintain evidence.
The building, located near Skid Row, is described on its website as a "beautiful vintage European-style hotel built in the 1920s."
The single-room-occupancy hotel has an unusual history. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, who was found guilty of 14 slayings in the 1980s, lived on the 14th floor for several months in 1985. And international serial killer Jack Unterweger is suspected of murdering three prostitutes during the time he lived there in 1991. He killed himself in jail in 1994.
In 1962, a female occupant jumped out of one the hotel's windows, killing herself and a pedestrian on whom she landed.
