Body in Hotel Water Tank Prompts Lawsuit

A couple has filed a class action lawsuit against Los Angeles’ Cecil Hotel after the body of a woman was found floating in a rooftop water tank, according to court documents.

The suit, which was filed by Steven and Gloria Cott on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, is seeking a refund of the cost of the couple’s hotel room for two nights, as well as $100 or more in medical costs.

The decomposing body of 21-year-old Elisa Lam, of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, was discovered by police in one of the rooftop water tanks at the hotel on February 19.

The lawsuit claims that guests at the hotel drank, brushed their teeth and bathed in the contaminated water, which had Lam’s body floating in it for over two weeks.

According to police, Lam checked into the hotel on January 26, and was last seen by hotel surveillance cameras on February 1. Officials are investigating Lam’s death as “suspicious” because the water tank was allegedly locked and inaccessible to the public at the time of her death.