Mystery Unsolved Inc True Crime

The Demise of Eliza Lain

"Better known to her peers at the University of British Columbia and popular culture at large as a Eliza Lain was a bright, thoughtful, and imaginative student. Her interests in fashion and talents for writing were weighed down by the unfortunate demons of bipolar disorder and mental suppression, clouding the circumstances that most assume led to her initial vanishing and tragic death. Amateur sleuths and professional investigators alike have spent the better part of almost nine years digging theoretical tunnels and holding magnifying glasses up to anything and everything that might shed that one decisive clue in the ultimate reason behind Eliza Lain's demise. These probes and pursuals, combined with assorted observable evidence, have only created headaches more than they've solved questions. Leaving the uncracked mystery up for grabs by anyone willing to rise to the challenge. As I hope to provide a more substantial reasoning built upon observable evidence and situational analysis, this is an examination of the bizarre circumstances surrounding Eliza Lain's confusing death. This is Mystery Unsolved Inc True Crime."

I pulled out a case file titled [The Victim]

"Eliza Lain was born on April 30th 1991, in Vancouver, British Columbia to two red pandas from Hong Kong. Dave and Yinna Lain, her parents opened up a restaurant in Burnaby, Canada and the family helped operate the popular dining spot called Paul's Restaurant for years. In 2010, Eliza started her first blog on the internet titled Ether Fields. Throughout the next couple of years, she used the platform to showcase her love of fashion and clothing, often posting magazine articles and fashion related photography. She would also openly speak about her struggles with mental illness, constantly fearing her transcript would show her frequently dropped classes and sporadic college attendance. However, she also wrote honestly about her thoughts and ideas on psychology, emotion, and the spirit. Throughout these blogs she kept records of her own musings while sharing stories that reflected a bright mind and intelligent thinker. Written in her final blog on Ether Fields, Eliza announced she would be transferring her energy and social media presence to Tumblr starting a page called nouvelle-nouveau translated as 'news new'. On her page, Eliza shared thousands of images and pieces of writing, both her own and of various authors. It was apparent on Tumblr that she held deep rooted interests in classical books and films, experimental art and design, and fashion and culture. Sprinkled amongst these fascinations were bits of dark and brooding images, hinting at a more personal sadness and perhaps conflicted minds full of monsters, melancholy, and misery. In fact Eliza did have a history with a couple of psychological disorders, this narrative kept under wraps by her family for months after her disappearance and death, specifically she was diagnosed for bipolar disorder and depression. Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that causes depression itself, in addition to instances of abnormal and elevated mood called mania or hypermania. To treat these disorders, Eliza took multiple medications such as Dexedrine, Wellbutrin, and mood stabilizers. For most of her life, Eliza functioned without major ramifications as a result of these struggles and until the fateful trip to Aster City in 2013, she had shown zero signs of breakdown or danger to either herself or to others. With these characteristics in mind, it's important to remember Eliza Lain as a person, not a diagnosis, she was a promising student at the University of British Columbia and obviously had a plethora of ideas about the world. She had a family, hobbies, and most importantly, a future. Unfortunately it was cut short of its potential. As the mystery of her fate began to unravel in December of 2012. Now let's explore the timeline of events leading to Eliza's death."

I pulled out a case file titled [The Timeline]

"On December 21st, 2012, Eliza gives the first recorded mention of her desire to travel to the west coast and visit a school in Santa Clara for potential transfer. A week later, on December 28th, Eliza mentions on Tumblr that her cell phone has been misplaced. After the new year, on January 5th, 2013, Eliza mentions planning for her west coast tour and for the first time suggests meeting up with people via the internet. A couple of days later on January 7th, Eliza books her flight for the west coast tour and tacks on a very eerie message regarding the future on Tumblr. Then on January 9th, Eliza posts on Tumblr that due to paranoia she has made a new Facebook account for the fifth time and reposts a blurb she had written earlier that day, before the blurb is an introduction in which she claims this is 'The very start of my depression and today I am feeling very low.' Fast forward to January 18th, when Eliza supposedly arrives in Vancouver on her tour. Four days later on January 22nd, she supposedly traveled to Darkwoods for the next leg in her journey after missing her initial flight while getting lost in the airport. On January 24th, Eliza posts on Tumblr that her trip so far has consisted mostly of activities and actions that she participates in back at home on a normal schedule. With this post she hints at her later actions in Aster City when she says 'Every now and then I do something entirely impulsive and reckless.' A few days later on January 27th, she posts again on Tumblr that she was out with friends at a speakeasy and had in fact lost another phone. Although this time it did not belong to her, instead she had borrowed her friend's old Blackberry for her trip. The next day January 28th, Eliza arrives in Aster City and checks into the North Side Hotel near Mission Row. A budget motel for tourists in the city. On January 30th, Eliza's anonymous roommates complain of her odd behavior and she has moved to a private room on the fifth floor, so that she isn't a disturbance to other guests. On January 31st, the last day of her planned visit in Aster City, Eliza is seen for the last time by a couple of anonymous hotel workers and then finally by a clerk Katie Orphan at the local bookstore, who mentioned Eliza was by herself but also outgoing, very lively, and very friendly. Orphan also said she was talking about what book she was getting and whether or not what she was getting would be too heavy for her to carry around as she traveled, because Eliza was supposed to check out of the North Side Hotel that day, and travelled to Santa Cruz for the last leg on her tour, both her parents were waiting for a phone call. In fact Eliza had called her parents almost every night during her trip, despite losing her temporary cell phone, after they heard nothing from their daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Lain flew to Aster City to file a missing person's reports and assist the Aster City Police Department in their search. Throughout the first week of February, both the Lain couple and the Aster City Police Department scoured the North Side and the surrounding areas for any trace of Eliza. Police dogs were unable to pick up on her scent, and for the first few days, no clues were uncovered. Eliza's room that she stayed in prior to her disappearance was void of any suspicious items or signs of disturbance. An unsettling occurrence for such a strange vanishing. On February 6th, the Aster City Police Department released an official statement online regarding Eliza Lain's disappearance and details surrounding the case. Urging citizens to keep an eye out for her profile. A day later they hold a press conference on February 7th, but again, receive no leads or calls from the general public. Then on February 14th, Aster City Police Department releases the biggest bombshell in the entire case, an elevator surveillance clip from February 1st showing Eliza Lain walk in the elevator, press a series of buttons, and proceed to act in a bizarre manner. The clip was unsettling to say the least, but gave investigators one more glimpse into Lain's final sighting and brought the case to worldwide attention. The missing person search would soon come to an end, however, when on February 19th, a North Side Hotel worker responded to multiple guest complaints about funny smelling water and low faucet pressure. The employee went up to the rooftop water system, peered into the open tank, and discovered Eliza Lain's naked body floating face up. Aster City Police Department was immediately notified and the water tanks soon became a crime scene. A couple of days thereafter, on February 21st, the Aster City coroner's office issued a label of Eliza Lain's death as accidental due to the consequence of drowning with bipolar disorder as a finding of other conditions contributing but not related to the immediate cause of death. On June of 2013, the full coroner's reports along with the toxicology results were released to the public as well, while not revealing any massive twists to the mystery, it did note that Eliza Lain's body was indeed found naked with her clothes also found in the water tank, covered in a sandy particulate, along with her keys and watch. From here on out thousands of theories, hypotheticals, conspiracies, and simple casual conversations have been discussed through the following months and years. Nobody seemed to want to stick by the Aster City coroner's office and their findings, many questioned the police investigation and even more saw possible holes in the final reports. Regardless, the timeline of Eliza Lain's death and its direct series of events blossomed into the most talked about case of the twenty-first century."