Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel

Watched all four episodes of the USA's Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021), about the mysterious disappearance of Canadian college student Elisa Lam during her brief stay at the notorious Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Wanting to explore the West Coast on her own, she toured San Diego before visiting L.A. in 2013. The last her family heard from her was on January 31, and she was declared missing February 13.

This Netflix series retraces Elisa's adventure via her insightful Tumblr entries, a hotel  elevator video that went viral, and interviews with officers of the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division, the hotel manager, a hotel maintenance employee, hotel guests from the UK, a bookstore employee, journalists, bloggers, a medical examiner, a neuropsychologist, and a black-metal musician   

The series is interspersed with Elisa's reflections on the Internet, contributions of Web sleuths, conspiracy theorists, a history of the Cecil Hotel, shots of the denizens of Skid Row, and amazing synchronicities surrounding Elisa's disappearance. Its most important feature, perhaps, is how Elisa managed to touch the minds and hearts of thousands of viewers all over the world, and even continues to do so.

This is a well-made documentary based on facts. It has an objective narrative, avoids melodrama, does not contain over-dramatized scenes, and exposes the dangers of  electronic mass hysteria.