1 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: The world of horror is littered with unnerving locations, places 2 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,319 Speaker 1: that draw from and have in turn seeped into the 3 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:22,760 Speaker 1: public imagination. There are the places of what we commonly 4 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: call the natural world, seemingly imbued with a timeless spirit 5 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: that transcends the human imagination. The mystical Island mountain, the Luru, 6 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: also known as as rock found deep in the Australian Outback, 7 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: or the mythical rocky outcrops and abandoned mines of Cheshire's 8 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: Olderly Edge in England, as evocatively portrayed in the work 9 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: of Alan Ghana, to name but two. Then there are 10 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: the places of the natural world that we often find 11 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: portrayed metaphorically as extensions of our own site psychees. We 12 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: often talk of the dark, foreboding forest or the ominous 13 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: deep black lake. We like to consider them Youngian or 14 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:15,680 Speaker 1: Freudian locations of the subconscious that hint at something terrifying, 15 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: lurking deeper within or just below the surface, something unseen 16 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: pulling at us, daring us to confront an unsettled past 17 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: or innermost fear. Perhaps the psychological effect of these places 18 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: is generated by our own projections. They become in the 19 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: post modernist sense, not places but spaces whose ability to 20 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: unnervous is dependent on our own individual perspective. The fears 21 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: supposedly encapsulated within them are our own to decipher and overcome. 22 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: But in truth, as far as we know, such places 23 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: don't declare themselves to have any emotional meaning whatsoever. The 24 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: dark forest does not set out to be any more 25 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: foreboding than a white sandy beach, And if it did, 26 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: to ask if it intended to be ominous, eerie, or weird, 27 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: would require us to communicate in a language that we 28 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: don't currently speak. Far more chilling, therefore, are those places 29 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: that require us to cross a genuine threshold to enter, 30 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: Places that constitute worlds that are resolutely not our own 31 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: to interpret human constructions, locations that might not only house 32 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: our darkest, unconscious fears, but physically embody those of others too. 33 00:02:49,600 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard McLean Smith. In 34 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: his Gothic masterpiece The Fall of the House of Usher, 35 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: Maestro of the Macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, presents to us 36 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: as stately building, as alive with eye like windows, and 37 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: as foreboding as any of its gloomy inhabitants. Its manifestation, 38 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: which is also a metaphor for the Usher family themselves, 39 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: is so inextricably linked with the souls of the eponymous 40 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: Madeline and Roderick Usher, that, upon their death, it is 41 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: immediately split in two by a great fissure from its 42 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: roof to its base, before it crumbles to pieces. Moving 43 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: from the realms of the weird towards something a little 44 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: closer to horror. If we travel along Route thirty nine 45 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: towards Ashton, turn left onto Route five, past the small 46 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: village of Hillsdale, and up into the high lands beyond, 47 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: we might, if we are unfortunate, find ourselves chancing upon 48 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: the gates of Hill House. This most unnerving of places 49 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: marks the main location for Shirley Jackson's chilling classic The 50 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: Haunting of Hill House, often considered one of the finest 51 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: haunted house stories ever written. In Jackson's novel, Hill House, 52 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: seen of a number of troubling deaths throughout its eighty 53 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:30,479 Speaker 1: year existence, becomes the focus for a paranormal investigation led 54 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: by psychical researcher Dr John Montague. Montague is aided by 55 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:40,919 Speaker 1: a group of assistants selected because of their past paranormal 56 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: experiences in the hope that they will be especially receptive 57 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 1: to anything supernatural that may or may not be occurring there. 58 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: It is primarily through the perspective of Eleanor, one of 59 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: the assistants, that we become acquainted with the number of 60 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: increasingly disturbing events that take place. However, as the novel 61 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: reaches its tragic conclusion, we are left to wonder whether 62 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: anything at all had occurred, or if we had merely 63 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: been witnessing the unraveling of Eleanor's mind. Doctor Montague insists 64 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: the evil is the house itself, and whether it had 65 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: been by design or simply the idea of the house's 66 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: ghoulish history pressing in something of the building had got 67 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: inside her head. A similar theme emerges in many true 68 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: life cases of alleged domestic supernatural disturbances, such as those 69 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: that took place at thirty East Drive in Pontefract or 70 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: at number two hundred and eighty four Green Street in Enfield. 71 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,359 Speaker 1: In these stories, we find the recurring notion that any 72 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: new resident of the property is an invader, occupying a 73 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: space that isn't theirs to occupy. At time times, it 74 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: might seem that in some way or another, the property 75 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: itself has developed a spirit all of its own. For me, 76 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: although Robert Clatworthy and Joseph Hurley's iconic Bates Mansion as 77 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: depicted in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, comes a close second, the 78 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: true House of Horror comes, complete with its own abbatoirs, 79 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:35,799 Speaker 1: bespoke skin clad interiors, and a fridge stocked with bloody meat. 80 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: You may recognize it as the family home of Leatherface, 81 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: disturbingly depicted in Toby Hooper's mesmerizingly deranged The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 82 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: Leaving aside the more cerebral interpretations of Hooper's classic, such 83 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:58,720 Speaker 1: as it being a metaphor for the cannibalistic tendencies of capitalism, personally, 84 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: on a simply sceral level, watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 85 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: for the first time was to be exposed to a 86 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: level of horror previously beyond the comprehension of my teenage mind. 87 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: What all the aforementioned fictional buildings have in common is 88 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: that they are locations so inextricably linked to their original 89 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: occupants or to the unsavory events that occurred within them, 90 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: they have become inseparable from them. There is the sense that, 91 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: even if they were empty, they continue to incubate the 92 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: things that have happened inside. They are places of events 93 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: so unfathomably monstrous that no level of will can expunge 94 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: them from the space. Incidentally, Psycho and the Texas Chainsaw 95 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: Massacre were partly based on the life of murderer Ed Geene, 96 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: whose proclivity for manufacturing ornaments and furniture from human bone 97 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: and skin can tee U news to shock the world. 98 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: More than sixty years later, after Geene's conviction, it was 99 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: decided that his house should be torn down. So incapable 100 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: were the local community from separating the location from the 101 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: events that had taken place inside, there was no other 102 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: option but to remove it entirely above all other locations. Surely, 103 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: the hotel is the creepiest of dwellings, both in fiction 104 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: and fact. It's little wonder when you consider all the 105 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: daily comings and goings of hundreds of unrelated guests, not 106 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: to mention all those who'd come before them, so many 107 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: events and bodies criss crossing through time. The hotel is 108 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: a chaotic clash of psychical intersections, all held together in 109 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: one singular place. Some may be familiar with HH Homes 110 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: and his Murder Castle, formerly located on the corner of 111 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: South Wallace and sixty Third near Jackson Park in Chicago. 112 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: Holmes began construction of his two story multi purpose building 113 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty seven, which was home to a variety 114 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: of commercial properties and private apartments. Five years later, he 115 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: added a third floor with the apparent intention of taking 116 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: advantage of the many tourists due to visit the city 117 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: for the World's Columbian Exhibition later known as the World's Fair. 118 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: That Holmes was a ruthless serial killer is in little 119 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: doubt as to whether he really killed over two hundred 120 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: people squirreling their bodies away in secret passages and channels 121 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: that he'd built purposely into his infamous hotel. Is anyone's guests. 122 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: Holmes's Murder Castle was eventually burned down by the man 123 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,840 Speaker 1: himself in an insurance scam shortly before his capture in 124 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety four and subsequent execution two years later. Fans 125 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: of Stephen King have the Stanley Hotel of Esther's Park 126 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: in Colorado to thank for inspiring his most iconic location, 127 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: situated overlooking Lake Esters in the shadow of the Rockies. 128 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: It was there, in nineteen seventy four that King spent 129 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: a fortnight terrorized by nightmarish visions of his three year 130 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: old son being chased through the hotel's corridors by something 131 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: dreadful and unseen. As you may have guessed, these night 132 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: terrors would inspire King to write The Shining, with the 133 00:10:54,320 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: Overlook Hotel replacing those disquieting halls of the Stanley. There 134 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: will be few who've peered down the corridors of King's 135 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: Overlook who don't feel something of those nightmares he experienced 136 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: back in seventy four, or who fail to sense something 137 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: of the strange and eerie in almost any hotel they've 138 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 1: stayed in. Since there is one hotel that, for reasons 139 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 1: we will soon explore, holds a special place in the 140 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: pantheon of hotels with a strange and sinister past. In 141 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, this place became host to one of the 142 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: most disturbing and tragic deaths of recent times, a mystery 143 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 1: that remains to this day unexplained. Sarah Scandalesa's Facebook and 144 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: Twitter pages. Again knowing her sister's avid use of social media, 145 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: it seemed unuws usual that she hadn't posted anything in 146 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: the last twenty four hours. Meanwhile, her father, David tried 147 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: Elsa's number one more time as her anxious mother, Yena, 148 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: watched on. David held the phone to his ear and 149 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: gazed out at the window as an afternoon sun threatened 150 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: to break through the clouds. Concern rippled across his face 151 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 1: when the call once again clicked through to voicemail. Ordinarily, 152 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: it wouldn't be unusual that a twenty one year old 153 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: woman on a solo trip to Los Angeles might forget 154 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:42,319 Speaker 1: to call home once in a while. But this was Eliza, 155 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,559 Speaker 1: and they had an agreement. She could take the trip 156 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: on one condition that she called in with her parents 157 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:53,319 Speaker 1: every day to let them know she was safe. And besides, 158 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 1: Eliza was happy to do it, she knew how difficult 159 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: the last few years had been on them. Sarah scrolled 160 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: through Elsa's pages again. Her last tweet was from twenty 161 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: seventh of January twenty thirteen, five days ago. It read 162 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: speakeasy in block capitals, but that was back in San Diego. 163 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: Then there were the photos from the zoo, also in 164 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 1: San Diego, and finally, the live recording of a conan 165 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: O'Brien show in La that she'd attended two nights back. 166 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: She seemed to be having a great time. Sarah told 167 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 1: her parents not to worry, that it was probably nothing, 168 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: but suggested they'd try calling the hotel just in case. 169 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: Where did she say she was staying again, She said 170 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: the Stay on Maine. David pulled up the number and 171 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 1: called it, immediately, relieved to finally have a voice to 172 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:57,560 Speaker 1: speak with on the other end of the phone. Yina 173 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 1: and Sarah watched expectantly as David spoke to the front desk. 174 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 1: Their relief at the prospect of finally getting some information 175 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: soon turned to worry at the look on David's face 176 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: as he hung up. Elisa had been due to check 177 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: out that morning, he explained, only she'd never appeared and 178 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: wasn't in her room with a new guests set to 179 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: use it. The hotel would keep her things in the 180 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: basement until she returned. He shouldn't be too concerned, they said, 181 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 1: there could be any number of reasons why his daughter 182 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: wasn't there. David tried to remain optimistic, but couldn't shake 183 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: the gnawing in the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong. 184 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: Friday evenings were one of the busiest at Pause on 185 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: Hastings Street, North Burnaby, the Chinese restaurant owned and run 186 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: by David and Yena. It was a small but popular 187 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: place in the quiet Vancouver suburb, distinguished by its large 188 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: yellow light box at the front. The family had arrived 189 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: from Hong Kong in two thousand and three, and since 190 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: then they and their restaurant had become a much loved 191 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: asset to the local community, serving some of the best 192 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: valued Chinese food that side of Vancouver. On that night 193 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 1: of Friday, February first, however, Yina and David were finding 194 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: it increasingly difficult to focus, and as the customers continued 195 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: to arrive, their distraction was becoming noticeable. Unable to hold 196 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: off any longer, the pair decided to make the call. 197 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: A short time later, David stood in the kitchen waiting 198 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: to be put through to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 199 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: to make an official report that his youngest daughter, Elisa Lamb, 200 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: was missing. Though there was some relief to finally have 201 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: the police involved, it was quickly tempered when they were 202 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: told that nothing much could be done until the following morning. 203 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: That night, the Lamb family failed to get any sleep 204 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: as they waited desperately for any contact from their daughter. 205 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: Having made the call on a weekend, it wasn't until 206 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:28,720 Speaker 1: Monday that the Los Angeles Police's Missing Persons Unit was 207 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: alerted to Elisa's disappearance, and it wasn't until the following 208 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: day that a call was put through to detectives Wallace, 209 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: to Nelly and Greg Stearns of the LAPDS Robberies and 210 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: Homicides Division to formally begin the investigation. The timing could 211 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: not have been worse. The department would never want to 212 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: be seen to prioritize one case over another, but it 213 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: had been understandably distracted. Two days previously, in Orange County, 214 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: a young woman and her fiance had been shot in 215 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: their car after a night out. Such a killing was 216 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: rare enough, but that the woman, twenty eight year old 217 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: Monica Quan, happened to be the daughter of former LAPD 218 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:22,439 Speaker 1: Captain Randall Quan had hit the department hard. When a 219 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: manifesto claiming responsibility for the crimes appeared online the following day, 220 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: written by former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, all hell broke loose. Nonetheless, 221 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: the Lambs couldn't have had a better person for the 222 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: job than detective to Nelli, a man who knew only 223 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: too well what they were going through. In two thousand 224 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 1: and seven, on a mild May evening, Wallace to Nelly, 225 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: had just wandered out to his garage when a young 226 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 1: girl trembling and with tears in her eyes approached the house. 227 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: Wallis recognized her as his neighbour and a friend of 228 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 1: his youngest son, Bryant. He recognized too the bloodstained cap 229 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: clutched in her hands, which belonged to Bryant. Wallace learned 230 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: soon after that his eighteen year old son had been 231 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: shot in the head at point blank range, only blocks 232 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: away from their home. He died later that night. To Nellie, 233 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: a diligent and methodical worker, listened patiently in his Los 234 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: Angeles office to the missing person's officer on the other 235 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: end of the line in Vancouver, making a note of 236 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: the important details. Age twenty one Chinese Canadian, five foot 237 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: four with long black hair and brown eyes, and weighing 238 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: approximately one hundred feet fifteen pounds. Name Elisa Lamb. Last 239 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 1: known location stay on Maine Hostel on South Main Street, 240 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: part of the Cecil Hotel building. To Nelly knew it Well. 241 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:21,919 Speaker 1: It's located on Seventh and Maine Downtown, formerly a major 242 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: business and financial district, once referred to as the Wall 243 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: Street of the West. By twenty thirteen, it was home 244 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: to the city's skid Row neighborhood, one of the largest 245 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:39,880 Speaker 1: stable populations of homeless in the United States. Although there 246 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: are many who be quick to portray it as a 247 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: no go area for that very reason, that wasn't an 248 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: immediate concern to Tonelli. Yes there was crime there, much 249 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: like any other bustling city of the world, but petty 250 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,199 Speaker 1: theft and drug dealing was one thing. The possible murder 251 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: of a Canadian tourist, if that was what he was 252 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:06,199 Speaker 1: dealing with, was quite another. In fact, due to a 253 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: recent relaxing of development laws, the area was experiencing a 254 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: quiet upturn in fortunes and had become an increasingly popular 255 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 1: location for tourists keen to take advantage of its comparatively 256 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: low rates. As for the Cecil Hotel, that remained something 257 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:29,400 Speaker 1: of a local oddity, a stubborn but long since faded 258 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:34,439 Speaker 1: paean to a distant, more glorious past. It's hard to 259 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,200 Speaker 1: imagine it now, but the Cecil, built at a cost 260 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: of one million dollars, was once considered one of the 261 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:46,640 Speaker 1: more glamorous establishments of the area. Opened in nineteen twenty 262 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: five to great fanfare in all its Beaux Arts grandeur, 263 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: the Cecil, comprising of seven hundred rooms across fourteen floors, 264 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 1: was opulently decorated throughout with marks, bubble, and pretty mosaic patterns. 265 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: Its lobby a grand Art Deco fantasy of the finest 266 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: stained glass and brass. No more than five years after opening, however, 267 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:18,639 Speaker 1: a global depression triggered by the Wall Street Crash took hold. 268 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: Within ten years, many of the city's banks and businesses 269 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:27,679 Speaker 1: had gone under, taking with them the vibrant nightlife and 270 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: movie theaters of Downtown's Broadway district. As the wealthier residents 271 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 1: of Downtown LA flocked to the suburbs in the forties 272 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:50,360 Speaker 1: and fifties, the region's bubble had well and truly burst 273 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: over the next fifty years, Although you might have still 274 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,680 Speaker 1: found fragments of its former majesty peeking out from under 275 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,760 Speaker 1: its yellowed and peel wallpaper, the Cecil eventually became home 276 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:08,120 Speaker 1: to a number of transient and low income residents. Its 277 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: once pristine facade steadily fading along with its prices. In 278 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: two thousand and seven, three floors of the Cecil were 279 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 1: given over to a team of designers hoping to capitalize 280 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: on Downtown's recent gentrification. The following year, the Stay on 281 00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: Maine opened its doors for the first time, covering floors 282 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,359 Speaker 1: four to six of the original building. It promised a 283 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: boutique hotel experience for the cost conscious traveler. Despite some 284 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:46,920 Speaker 1: early teething problems, the Stay on Maine quickly established itself 285 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: as one of the better low cost hostels in Los Angeles, 286 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: and it was easy to see why it might have 287 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: appealed to Elisa. But there was one other thing about 288 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: the Cecil, something that you wouldn't find on any hotel listing, 289 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: something rather unsavory. The first to die was forty six 290 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: year old W. K. Norton. His body was found in 291 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: his room in November nineteen thirty one after ingesting poison capsules. 292 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: Next came twenty five year old Benjamin Dodditch, found by 293 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: a maid one morning in September nineteen thirty two, dead 294 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the 295 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,200 Speaker 1: remnants of which remained stained on the walls for months. 296 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: Former Army Medical Corps Sergeant Louis Borden fifty three, was 297 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: found dead in July nineteen thirty four. After Borden checked 298 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: in one evening, he proceeded to write suicide notes to 299 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: various members of his family, then slit his throat with 300 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: a razor. The first of the jumpers was Grace maygro 301 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: in March nineteen thirty seven. She dropped from the ninth 302 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: floor of the hotel, only for her four to be 303 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:21,520 Speaker 1: broken by telephone wires strung across main street below. She 304 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: later died at a nearby hospital. In January the following year. 305 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:31,159 Speaker 1: Marine fire fighter Roy Thompson had been staying at the 306 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: hotel for several weeks when maids discovered he hadn't been 307 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: in his room for days. He was found dead on 308 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 1: the skylight of a neighboring building, having presumably leapt from 309 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: the top floor. Robert Smith and Helen Gurney jumped from 310 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:53,120 Speaker 1: the seventh floor in nineteen forty seven and nineteen fifty four, respectively. 311 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,919 Speaker 1: Julia Francis Moore did the same from the eighth in 312 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:03,399 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, and later that year police investigated what 313 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: they assumed to be the double suicide of twenty seven 314 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: year old Pauline Otton and sixty five year old George Giannini. However, 315 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: they later concluded that it was Otton who leapt from 316 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: the building and accidentally collided into Giannini on the street below, 317 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: killing him instantly. In December nineteen seventy five, a still 318 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 1: unidentified woman is believed to have leapt to her death 319 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: from a twelfth floor window. Then there were the other 320 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: suicides through poison. W. K. Norton's being the first Navy 321 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,600 Speaker 1: officer erwin Neblett in nineteen thirty nine and Dorothy Scheiger 322 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: the year after, both found dead in their rooms by staff, 323 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 1: And although there is no putting a grade on such 324 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: a litany of tragedy, perhaps the most shocking death to 325 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: occur at the Cecil was that of a newborn baby 326 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty four. Nineteen year old Dorothy Purcell had 327 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: recently moved in with Cecil resident thirty eight year old 328 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: Ben Levine when she found herself going into labor. Unaware 329 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 1: that she had even been pregnant, and not wanting to 330 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: disturb Levin, she stumbled to the bathroom and almost immediately 331 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: gave birth to a baby boy, apparently in a state 332 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,879 Speaker 1: of post natal shock, Dorothee believed the child to be 333 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:39,719 Speaker 1: dead and threw it out of the window. In the 334 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen sixty four, retired telephone operator and full 335 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 1: time resident of the Cecil, Goldie Osgoode, was found raped, stabbed, 336 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: and beaten to death in her room. Her murder remains 337 00:26:54,760 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: unsolved to this day. All in all, fourteen deaths by 338 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:14,120 Speaker 1: unnatural causes, and that wasn't everything. According to former Cecil 339 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:19,199 Speaker 1: hotel resident Raoul Enriquez, in late July and August of 340 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five, when rates had dropped as low as 341 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,679 Speaker 1: fourteen dollars a night, he lived next door to a 342 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,399 Speaker 1: man on the fourteenth floor who introduced himself to him 343 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: as Richard. Richard said he was from Sia Dad Juarez 344 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: in Mexico. This Richard would turn out to be twenty 345 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 1: five year old Richard Ramirez, who between April nineteen eighty 346 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: four and August nineteen eighty five brutally murdered at least 347 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 1: sixteen people, raping and mutilating many of his victims before 348 00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 1: his eventual capture and arrest. His horrific crimes often perpetrated 349 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: after walking into people's homes at random would land him 350 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: the nickname the knight Stalker. Then in nineteen ninety one, 351 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:15,880 Speaker 1: it is thought that Jack Untervega stayed at the Cecil 352 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: Hotel over a period of time in which he terrorized, raped, 353 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:26,360 Speaker 1: and murdered at least three women. Untevega had previously been 354 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: convicted for murder in Austria after strangling an eighteen year 355 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:35,160 Speaker 1: old woman to death in nineteen seventy four. While in prison, 356 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: he began to write about his experiences, reflecting on the 357 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: nature of his crime. His work earned plaudits from the 358 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: country's literary elite, with his novel Purgatory even becoming a 359 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 1: best seller. By the time of his release in nineteen 360 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: ninety he was a national celebrity and widely heralded as 361 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 1: a model of rehabilitation. A year later, Unterevega was commissioned 362 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: to write a radio piece about sex work. It was 363 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: during a research trip for this piece that he murdered 364 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: the three women. Having gone on the run after committing 365 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: the murders in Los Angeles, Untevega was eventually caught and 366 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: arrested in Miami in February nineteen ninety two, when it 367 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 1: transpired that he had in fact killed at least eight 368 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: women since his release in nineteen ninety. Some have suggested 369 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:34,600 Speaker 1: that Untervega decided to stay at the Cecil because of 370 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: its association with Richard Ramirez, as if the hotel had 371 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: effectively drawn him in with the screams of its past, 372 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 1: a sinister siren call broadcast on only the rarest of frequencies. 373 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: There are some, too, who claim it was no accident 374 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: that Ramirez himself found its way to the Cecil, nor 375 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: why so much dead and depravity had been concentrated in 376 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: this forgotten corner of La. They say there was always 377 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 1: something unsettled about the place, something dark and unfathomable that 378 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 1: lingered within its many dimly lit corridors. To some, it 379 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: seemed sometimes as though the building itself was alive. You've 380 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: been listening to part one of Unexplained Season seven, episode fourteen, 381 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 1: If These Walls Could Scream. Part two will be released 382 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: next Friday, January twenty sixth. This episode was written by 383 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: Richard McLain smith. Unexplained as an Avy Club Productions podcast 384 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: created by Richard McClain smith. All other elements of the podcast, 385 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:00,280 Speaker 1: including the music, were also produced by me. Richard McLain 386 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: Smith Unexplained. The book and audiobook, with stories never before 387 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: featured on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. 388 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and 389 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever 390 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in 391 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've 392 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 1: heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of 393 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: your own you'd like to share. You can find out 394 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online 395 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: through Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, 396 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast