There has been a lot of discussion over the years about some of the more bizarre cases featured on UM such as the Blair Adams "murder" and Cindy James case. I find both of these cases very sad, but also compelling in a "that was riveting TV" kind of way. I sort of feel bad for enjoying the cases because I know a real person lost his or her life. But, I'll get back to the James and Adams cases in a moment.

I keep up, on and off, with more recent cases of bizarre murders or disappearances. One case that I found riveting (until I solved it 10 minutes later) is one I just ran across recently involving a young woman named Elisa Lam. This happened back in 2013 and has been a huge Internet sensation. There is even a major motion picture coming out about it sometime this or next year.

Now, you might ask what does this have to do with UM? Well, two things:

1) I mention it because it would be a very riveting UM case if Robert Stack were still around to narrate.

But I mainly mention it because:

2) I think it compares closely with the Cindy James and Blair Adams cases.

I will explain more about that in a second, but first let me give a run down of what happened in the Lam case.

In 2013, a 21 year old Canadian college student named Elisa Lam left her Canadian home and ended up in L.A. For reasons not totally known, she wanted to tour the west coast of the U.S. and even called it her "west coast tour" on her personal blog. She took buses and trains to get to California and finally ended up at the famous Cecil Hotel in L.A. near Skid Row. For those not familiar, it is an old hotel built in the 1920's that Richard Ramirez ("Night stalker") resided during 12 of the murders he committed back in the 80's. It is also the last place Elizabeth Short (Black Dahlia) stayed before she was found murdered. There have also been other murders and suicides at the hotel over the decades.

Elisa called her parents and told them she was leaving the hotel and heading to the next stop on her trip. She was scheduled to check out of the Cecil on Jan 31, but never appeared on the checkout date. Her parents called the police and the search began. Police found nothing after a search of her room and the case sort of went cold for a short while.

Then a few weeks later residents of the hotel began complaining about the water pressure and others complained about having a weird taste and color. The maintenance crew went to the roof and checked the water tanks. Inside one of the tanks, they found Elisa's decomposing body.

A bit later the security camera footage from the hotel was released to the media and it showed Elisa inside an elevator shortly before she disappeared. While in the elevator, she was acting very strangely. She entered the elevator, pressed the buttons, but the door wouldn't shut. She kept pressing the buttons, then peeking her head outside as if she was looking for someone. Then she hid in the corner of the elevator as if she was afraid of something. Finally, she exited and then went out into the hall and began waving her arms around in a random motion, almost as if performing a strange dance. It also appeared as if she might have been talking to someone out of the shot of the camera, but that's unconfirmed. You can see the video for yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TjVBpyTeZM

Now what does this have to do with Blair Adams or Cindy James? In case it isn't obvious, I think all three of these cases are not mysteries at all. Let me explain. When I first watched the Elisa Lam elevator video I said to myself "that poor girl is in the middle of a bi-polar crisis." I then did some more digging and it turns out that she said on her social media page that she was indeed bi-polar and just recently had to drop some classes because she had "relapsed." She was also on several medications which were found at autopsy (the autopsy found no illegal drugs, in case you're wondering).

How she ended up in the water tank on the roof is a mystery. The roof was protected by an alarm and a locked door. However, considering that there was graffiti on the roof, it is evident that the "security" wasn't very effective. Also, the roof was accessible by the fire escape stairway and it wouldn't have been that difficult for an able bodied person to make it up there. And considering Lam's strange behavior, it isn't too much of a stretch to assume she might made her way to the fire escape at some point.

Whether he death was a suicide or an accident is impossible to tell for sure. It is possible she had no intention of suicide and drowned accidentally after entering the water tank for reasons known only to herself. Considering she was psychotic at the time of her death, then the scenario of her stripping naked and jumping in the tank would not be considered "odd." Whether suicide or accident, it is obvious her mental state led to her death.

I feel Elisa's case is similar to the James and Adams cases because of the mental health aspect. I think Cindy was probably suffering from DID or Munchausen's and I think Blair Adams was a schizophrenic and quite psychotic during his trip. I think Cindy committed an elaborate suicide and I think it's possible that Elisa Lam committed suicide in such a way as to bring attention to her case after her death as well. For instance, Elisa set her Tumblr account to update itself after her death and some suspect she knew she would be dead.

I am not sure how I feel about a motion picture based on her case being released. I feel we are sort of ignoring the mentally ill by making it seem as if these cases all have some sinister or paranormal explanation. Bi-polar (especially Type I) is no laughing matter and there needs to be more awareness of the disorder and other disorders than can result in psychotic episodes.

Those are 3 complex cases that can't be solved that easily.

I'm very uncomfortable with the notion of labeling Elisa as "psychotic" because of the elevator video. I've said this repeatedly, but her movements in the elevator definitely appear to be because the elevator wasn't working properly. The door didn't close when it was supposed to, it didn't move when it was supposed to, etc.

As far as the water tank goes, the lid was very heavy and certainly couldn't have been moved and replaced by the wiry Lam.

Therefore, we can definitely rule out "suicide for attention".

Those are 3 complex cases that can't be solved that easily.

I'm very uncomfortable with the notion of labeling Elisa as "psychotic" because of the elevator video. I've said this repeatedly, but her movements in the elevator definitely appear to be because the elevator wasn't working properly. The door didn't close when it was supposed to, it didn't move when it was supposed to, etc.

I don't think that can account for her odd foot movements, her waving her arms around or her hiding in the corner of the elevator. I know I wouldn't act that way simply because an elevator was out of order and I doubt most non-psychotic people would either.

It also appears to me like she was paranoid (peeking her head around the corner), which is one symptom of psychosis. If she were truly being approached by someone, why would she stand in the open elevator for that long? Why would she go out in the hall and just stand there waving her arms without any apparent attempt to flee? None of that makes sense.

As far as the water tank goes, the lid was very heavy and certainly couldn't have been moved and replaced by the wiry Lam.

It could have been open already. And closing it would be much easier than opening it due to gravity.

Also, people make a big deal out of the tanks being roughly 10 feet high, but they don't mention that the tanks had an approximately 4 ft tall rail around them. It would be simple to get on that rail, then leverage oneself up to the top of the tanks. You could even balance between the wall and the side of the tank to work your way up. Elisa looked pretty agile and in shape.

Never heard of the Elisa Lam case before. I'd need time to research before I could comment fully, but certainly both the Blair Adams case and the Cindy James case have always both struck me as very disturbed people doing very disturbed things.

I don't think that can account for her odd foot movements, her waving her arms around or her hiding in the corner of the elevator. I know I wouldn't act that way simply because an elevator was out of order and I doubt most non-psychotic people would either.

The waving of the arms certainly jives with the elevator not working. Some doors have sensors that are supposed to be able to tell when a person is approaching. Since the door wasn't closing, she thought it didn't recognize her, and thus you get the arm waving.

It also appears to me like she was paranoid (peeking her head around the corner), which is one symptom of psychosis. If she were truly being approached by someone, why would she stand in the open elevator for that long? Why would she go out in the hall and just stand there waving her arms without any apparent attempt to flee? None of that makes sense.

She probably wasn't aware a camera was on her. Sometimes people make "odd movements" when they think they are alone.

It could have been open already. And closing it would be much easier than opening it due to gravity. Elisa looked pretty agile and in shape

Disagree.

Also, people make a big deal out of the tanks being roughly 10 feet high, but they don't mention that the tanks had an approximately 4 ft tall rail around them. It would be simple to get on that rail, then leverage oneself up to the top of the tanks. You could even balance between the wall and the side of the tank to work your way up.

I do not buy your theory that she was "psychotic" and went skinny-dipping in the water tank for unknown reasons and committed suicide for the "attention". That's just a wee bit far-fetched. You have not "solved" this mystery in "10 minutes".

I do not buy your theory that she was "psychotic" and went skinny-dipping in the water tank for unknown reasons and committed suicide for the "attention". That's just a wee bit far-fetched. You have not "solved" this mystery in "10 minutes".

The police and coroner seem to agree that it was an accident or suicide (I believe it was officially ruled an accident, but the M.E. said suicide due to her bi-polar was a possibility).

It's either my scenario or you can believe the Youtubers who think it was

1) A Ghost

2) CIA operation

3) Alien abduction

etc.. Also, it is doubtful it was a murder by some random killer because her cause of death was drowning. Why would a killer take her up to a roof and drown her in a water tank? Of course, this is possible I suppose, but I find it more likely she is the one who devised the scheme herself.

I do not buy your theory that she was "psychotic" and went skinny-dipping in the water tank for unknown reasons and committed suicide for the "attention". That's just a wee bit far-fetched. You have not "solved" this mystery in "10 minutes".

Yeah, the line about her committing suicide for the "attention"....:mad: I am really struggling to remain civil, because as someone who has struggled with suicidal ideation in the past, I think it's safe to say that suicide is usually a response to appalling pain, not some "Hey look at me!" response.

Plus the obvious flaw in your statement: people don't exactly behave rationally when they're psychotic. Their capacity to reason is shot to hell. We may never know what the hell she was thinking at the time. Heck, if somehow Elisa was rescued and put on meds or something, she'd probably be as baffled as everyone else by her behavior. The stuff you do when you're psychotic tends to only make sense when you're psychotic.

But I admit to not being an expert on this case. I imagine that there's really only so much that one can say, when all you have is secondhand information, but I have to agree with the person who started this thread: I don't think there's enough evidence to suggest murder. It could have been suicide or maybe she was psychotic and underestimated the dangers of what she was doing or something. It just seems like too elaborate and too much work for a murder. Unless you can name someone who would benefit from her death and why they would choose such a bizarre means of killing her as opposed to, I don't know, shooting her and trying to make it look like a robbery.

It's pretty obvious that it was a suicide or at the very least an accident.

There really isn't anything mysterious about it at all. A woman, with mental disorders, checks into a famous hotel with a morbid reputation, is seen acting very strange on an elevator video (that's not a woman trying to get the doors to close), and winds up dead shortly after.

The biggest red flags: she specifically called her parents to tell them she was checking out of the hotel coincidentally the day she dies, and she previously had set her Tumblr account to update immediately after she died.

I have to disagree about Blair Adams. He was killed by a violent blow to the stomach. Even if he was psychotic, he did not kill himself.

I think Elisa Lam committed suicide. It's a tragic case, and I admit that when it first happened I immediately wondered if it was foul play because of the area and the security barriers she needed to pass. However, after reviewing things and realizing how lax the security was and her past history, I think she did it to herself. I don't rule out an accident, either.

A girl on Unsolved Mysteries who ran off a cliff in the middle of the night was determined to have suffered some sort of mental crisis.

Even if you can get past the alarms that were supposed to go off, and the difficulty of replacing the lid, there's the issue of how difficult it was to reach the tanks in the first place. Workers had to use a ladder to get to them.

There's also the strange issue of some of the elevator footage is missing and such.

Here's a link to the autopsy report: http://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/02/24/el-autopsy/preview/page/1/

A girl on Unsolved Mysteries who ran off a cliff in the middle of the night was determined to have suffered some sort of mental crisis.

I thought of Wanda Mays as well, and Don Kemp walking back in his footprints, possibly to throw searchers off.

Heck, if somehow Elisa was rescued and put on meds or something, she'd probably be as baffled as everyone else by her behavior. The stuff you do when you're psychotic tends to only make sense when you're psychotic.

I agree.

It sounds like patrons could gain access to the rooftop via the fire escape. Based on photos of the cisterns, they were close together, and Lam could have opened the unsecured access hatch on the cistern (this hatch is mentioned on page 20 of the autopsy report). There's still the question about how anyone could get onto the cisterns; at least one photo shows a fixed red metal ladder that goes to the top of the small building immediately adjacent to the cisterns. There's also photos of a ladder chained to one of the other cisterns, but as far as I know it's not been officially corroborated that the ladder was there on the day she would have been on the roof. I don't think it was a homicide either, but I don't blame her family for trying to obtain more information about the security procedures at the hotel.

I have to disagree about Blair Adams. He was killed by a violent blow to the stomach. Even if he was psychotic, he did not kill himself.

Blair Adams is such a strange case. I'd put it right up there with Aieleen Conway as probably the top two most bizarre cases ever profiled on UM. But I agree that there is no way he committed suicide.

There's also the strange issue of some of the elevator footage is missing and such.

I saw an interesting youtube video about the time stamp in the elevator video. Although the stamp has been somewhat blurred out (why?), you can see that the seconds on the stamp move slower than in real life. So it looks like the elevator video has been slowed down for some reason, and, like you said, there is some footage missing. It makes it all a little questionable, JMO.

I think Elisa Liam was psychotic or having some sort of episode and she accidentally killed herself. I mean, to me, that seems like the most likely scenario. I find it hard to believe that someone was chasing her and was never caught on camera. Also, it seems like it would be more difficult for someone to haul her up a ladder and over the rail than for her to climb up there herself.

I agree it's a really bizarre and fascinating case. I think it's less mysterious than the other two you mentioned, though.

I generally don't like to fall into the "they weren't the type of person to commit suicide" trap, but I really don't get a suicide vibe here. She was on her "West Coast tour", visiting different cities and had plans to visit other ones after this. I just don't think she would (in the middle of this exciting time for her) commit suicide, and in such a bizarre fashion.

It's also important to note this happened near Skid Row. There are definitely no shortage of shady characters in this region, in what is one of the biggest cities in the country with a high crime rate.

However shady the characters in that area may have been, I'm still not convinced that it was murder. Mostly because I keep thinking why? I know there's no shortage of creeps in the world willing to kill for little if any discernible reason, but even so, I find myself thinking, why the hell would they go with such a bizarre means of death? There are probably easier ways of killing her than drowning her in the water tank, unless bullets and guns are really expensive in that area. Plus, even if they did decide to drown her, wouldn't there be marks of violence on her? Skin under nails or something leftover from the struggle?

Speaking of psychos, this is way creepy: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mother-who-pushed-dead-son-on-swing-cries-at-funeral/ar-BBkL5Hr?ocid=mailsignout

Much like the Dennis DePue/Jeepers Creepers thing, this case predates the horror film Dark Water.

Much like the Dennis DePue/Jeepers Creepers thing, this case predates the horror film Dark Water.

No. It's the other way around. Dark Water was released 8 years before this case happened.

It's too bad the residents complained about the taste of the water. Otherwise, if the reaction were positive, at least the relatives could have consoled themselves with a new money making venture.

It's too bad the residents complained about the taste of the water. Otherwise, if the reaction were positive, at least the relatives could have consoled themselves with a new money making venture.
That's totally inappropriate. We're talking about someone's daughter here, and I don't think you or anyone should be cracking jokes about her death.

I just watched the Kristi Krebs case and there is no doubt in my mind her case was self-inflicted as well. There is zero doubt in my mind that Kristi suffered from bi-polar disorder. None. I am sure any psychiatrist today would come to the same conclusion.

She had all the classic textbook symptoms:

1) Delusions. People in manic states can become psychotic and experience strange obsessions or delusions. One common delusion that textbooks often cite is they believe they have superpowers or are God. In Kristi's case, she was obsessed with a man. Obsessions with certain people is a very common symptom.

2) Manic pace. Her parents even commented on her "manic pace" and her tendency to work too long of hours. People experiencing mania often will work long hours and not sleep for days. This is classic and well known.

3) Euphoria. Her co-workers mentioned she was "euphoric" for no good reason at work. Euphoria (and excessive talking) is a well known symptom of mania.

When she was first admitted to the hospital after the first car wreck, the doctors there obviously had very little training in psychiatry. It took her several visits for them to even consider a mental health angle. They finally said she suffered a "psychotic break from trauma" which is obviously incorrect. She was bi-polar and having a manic episode. If they would have consulted a real psychiatrist, he would have came to this conclusion early on and saved the family a lot of grief. Sadly, even today, most doctors (ER docs) are not well trained to spot signs of mental illness. They will blame it on drugs, etc.

Bi-polar is mostly genetic (runs in families) but there are environmental factors as well. Bi-polar usually begins in the teens or early 20's. Sometimes it appears suddenly for no reason, but in some cases it is triggered by a traumatic event (death in family, etc). This is what happened in Kristi's case. Kristi was 21 years old at the time of her "breakdown" so that fits perfectly with textbook bi-polar.

The segment said Kristi got on medications in the hospital and "recovered." However, bi-polar is a chronic condition and the patient is never "cured." It's just like diabetes in that if you don't stay on medications forever, you can relapse at any time. I would bet my last penny this is what happened to Kristi; after she got out of the hospital she stopped taking her meds and relapsed.

The doctors weren't completely wrong when they said "psychosis caused by trauma." She was psychotic and she did suffer trauma. However, a lot of people suffer far worse traumas and don't become psychotic. Kristi's underlying problem was bi-polar disorder (aka manic-depression). I am surprised the doctors were not able to come to this diagnosis (manic-depression was well known in the literature well before the 1980's). I am confident doctors today would make the correct diagnosis (at least a psychiatrist would).

Being an untreated Bi-polar patient is very dangerous. Suicide is very common, especially in people who suffer from type I with psychotic features (the most severe kind). Most homeless people are severely mentally ill, and Kristi probably became a vagrant like so many other unfortunate mentally ill people out there. Most likely she died either to suicide or to a stranger who took advantage of her. Of course, there is a remote possibility she is still alive -- some homeless people can live many years on the streets. I just feel that with the Internet today that someone would have identified her by now.

Here's a rundown of cases I think were a result of mental illness:

1) Kristi Krebs (I am the most sure of her case). Classic Bi-polar type I.

2) Cindy James - likely Multiple Personality Disorder (now called Disassociative Identity Disorder) or Munchausen's Syndrome.

3) Blair Adams -- I believe he was psychotic. Likely schizophrenic, though also possibly bi-polar with psychotic features. He might have been murdered, but there is no doubt in my mind he was going through a mental health crisis at the time.

One case I thought in terms of this topic was that of Justin Burgwinkle (sp??) It's been a while since I last saw his case but I believe he was the soldier who mysteriously vanished after displaying some pretty bizarre behavior. His family thought he might have been on some sort of secret mission for the CIA. Again, my memory is a bit fuzzy but I do distinctly remember a reference to the movie White Sands.

I brought this case up because like the two cases mentioned (Blair Adams and Cindy James), there was some question about Justin's mental state as well. I tend to go back and forth but I'm starting to lean towards the missions being imaginary.

No. It's the other way around. Dark Water was released 8 years before this case happened.

Oops you're right. I misused the word.

I just watched the Kristi Krebs case and there is no doubt in my mind her case was self-inflicted as well. There is zero doubt in my mind that Kristi suffered from bi-polar disorder. None. I am sure any psychiatrist today would come to the same conclusion.

She had all the classic textbook symptoms:

1) Delusions. People in manic states can become psychotic and experience strange obsessions or delusions. One common delusion that textbooks often cite is they believe they have superpowers or are God. In Kristi's case, she was obsessed with a man. Obsessions with certain people is a very common symptom.

2) Manic pace. Her parents even commented on her "manic pace" and her tendency to work too long of hours. People experiencing mania often will work long hours and not sleep for days. This is classic and well known.

3) Euphoria. Her co-workers mentioned she was "euphoric" for no good reason at work. Euphoria (and excessive talking) is a well known symptom of mania.

When she was first admitted to the hospital after the first car wreck, the doctors there obviously had very little training in psychiatry. It took her several visits for them to even consider a mental health angle. They finally said she suffered a "psychotic break from trauma" which is obviously incorrect. She was bi-polar and having a manic episode. If they would have consulted a real psychiatrist, he would have came to this conclusion early on and saved the family a lot of grief. Sadly, even today, most doctors (ER docs) are not well trained to spot signs of mental illness. They will blame it on drugs, etc.

Bi-polar is mostly genetic (runs in families) but there are environmental factors as well. Bi-polar usually begins in the teens or early 20's. Sometimes it appears suddenly for no reason, but in some cases it is triggered by a traumatic event (death in family, etc). This is what happened in Kristi's case. Kristi was 21 years old at the time of her "breakdown" so that fits perfectly with textbook bi-polar.

The segment said Kristi got on medications in the hospital and "recovered." However, bi-polar is a chronic condition and the patient is never "cured." It's just like diabetes in that if you don't stay on medications forever, you can relapse at any time. I would bet my last penny this is what happened to Kristi; after she got out of the hospital she stopped taking her meds and relapsed.

The doctors weren't completely wrong when they said "psychosis caused by trauma." She was psychotic and she did suffer trauma. However, a lot of people suffer far worse traumas and don't become psychotic. Kristi's underlying problem was bi-polar disorder (aka manic-depression). I am surprised the doctors were not able to come to this diagnosis (manic-depression was well known in the literature well before the 1980's). I am confident doctors today would make the correct diagnosis (at least a psychiatrist would).

Being an untreated Bi-polar patient is very dangerous. Suicide is very common, especially in people who suffer from type I with psychotic features (the most severe kind). Most homeless people are severely mentally ill, and Kristi probably became a vagrant like so many other unfortunate mentally ill people out there. Most likely she died either to suicide or to a stranger who took advantage of her. Of course, there is a remote possibility she is still alive -- some homeless people can live many years on the streets. I just feel that with the Internet today that someone would have identified her by now.

I don't think there was ever really any doubt she was suffering from mental illness.

What exactly do you mean by "self-inflicted"? You seem to be suggesting she had control over her situation when in reality, she probably had none.

Here's a rundown of cases I think were a result of mental illness:

2) Cindy James - likely Multiple Personality Disorder (now called Disassociative Identity Disorder) or Munchausen's Syndrome.

3) Blair Adams -- I believe he was psychotic. Likely schizophrenic, though also possibly bi-polar with psychotic features. He might have been murdered, but there is no doubt in my mind he was going through a mental health crisis at the time.

You just mentioned these.

From what I can see on Elisa's Tumblr (yes its still up), she seemed to be a very disturbed young woman. She most likely had a mental breakdown or episode which contributed to her death. She probably found her way to the roof and fell into the water tank?

Btw, here is a picture of the water tanks. I'm still not seeing how Lam could have gotten to the tanks, opened/removed the lid, took a dive and replaced the lid.

I think it's very possible that she may have been tripping on something like LSD or Angeldust. She was definitely acting bizarre and of course it could have been just a psychotic episode, however being around Skid Row and on her sort of "freedom tour" could have led to her experimenting with some drugs.

Those types of drugs don't stay in your body for long, so by the time they found her and performed the autopsy they could have been gone from her system. Also, it would help explain her ability to get to and even remove the lid of the water tank, as psychedelic drugs are known to give people extra power when they're tripping hard.

Unless she was some sort of combination of Spider-Man and Super-Man (or should I say Spider-Woman and Super-Woman), I *really* don't see how she could have navigated her way up the giant tanks, removed the heavy lid and replaced it.

As Mr. McFall once said, "This is a murder. It needs to be investigated as a murder."

Unless someone helped her? Who knows what kind of crazy people are there and would do anything for money. But I find it hard to believe she could do that by herself especially if she was having a mental breakdown. I don't think we will ever know what happened. I feel for her family. Such a tragic end for anyone.

The elevator video has to be one of the most overrated things in the history of this planet. I can't tell you how many comments I've seen that say something like "It's frightening!" "It's mysterious!", "It's SUPERNATURAL!", BY GAWD!!, as I just wonder if people are popping a vein about it, literally

As I've said numerous times, the video is nothing more than somebody who can't get the elevator to work. Period. End of story. I work front desk at a hotel and our front entrance is locked at night. I've seen people do everything from wave their hands around the sensor to banging on the doors to yelling and swearing at it. All the time. Most of that is not rational behavior, but if said people would take a brief second to look around they would notice 1) the keycard machine right next to them that allows them to get in with their room key, or 2) the phone right next to them that allows them to call the front desk. I've also had dozens of people who go out the things and push the door open when it is an automatic door and there is no need to touch it. My point is: people often do weird things when doors don't open and close, or fast enough to their liking. There is nothing "mysterious" about the elevator video.

Easily the most whacked out theory I've come across was that there is a mist in the elevator that is the ghost of Richard Ramirez. I kid you not, somebody actually believed that and put it on you know where.

Has anyone mentioned Don Kemp? The general consensus is, despite his mother's assertions otherwise, that he died of natural causes. Kemp had suffered a massive head injury in a car accident and it's possible he had some kind of mental breakdown or whatever that made him hide from the people trying to rescue him. The guy who used his address book to call his friends...from what I can tell, dude may be a sleaze and a perv, but he's probably not a murderer. It's one of the more bizarre unanswered questions from that case, but in all likelihood, the guy was probably playing a sick prank. Just because someone likes sex hotlines make him a killer.

A girl on Unsolved Mysteries who ran off a cliff in the middle of the night was determined to have suffered some sort of mental crisis.
Fits the Dana point Jane doe. And not to hook
Anyone into that one again but that was as self inflicted as it gets. Rip.

Well, yeah, but people, substances, or circumstances may have driven them crazy.

Continuing this thread a bit, I came across another case recently that illustrates just what I was talking about in my original post. This case happened within the past week.

Basically, there is this woman in Louisiana about 35 years of age who recently began putting up videos on youtube making veiled threats against her former professors and administrators at LSU. Someone tipped these people off about the videos and they called the Police. As a result of the threats, they put the LSU campus on lockdown (remember we are in the aftermath of the Parkland, FL shooting and no one is taking chances). Since they had good reason to believe she was on the road and out of state, they called in the FBI. She was a Biology student at LSU.

Anyway, as she was traveling from Louisiana to the west coast, she made well over 100 videos and uploaded them to Youtube. Along the way she was staying in various hotels and just sitting in front of her phone rambling about incoherent things. In one video the hotel management knocked on her door and kicked her out for smoking in her room.

She talked about how she was put into a concentration camp for 15 months (she was in jail for 15 months for attacking someone). She claims her kids were abducted (they were taken away from her by the courts). She said Vlaidmir Putin was emailing her and asking for pics. She has a strange obsession with various chefs on the Food Network and mentions them often. Sometimes she was ramble incoherently about some strange topic and then suddenly explode with rage and scream about how she was abducted and how she's going to get revenge. Sometimes she speaks with a British accent and sometimes with a French accent. (I believe she really does speak multiple languages).

In any case, the cops finally caught up with her in Seattle and arrested her (thank God). The judge was so upset by her behavior that she set bail to $500,000.

The sad thing is that she sat for 15 months in a Louisiana prison with no psychiatric help. They let her rot there for over a year in a complete psychotic state. SHAME on them. She lost a lot of weight while in prison (looks like a different person). She needs psychiatric care, NOT prison.

What's my point in telling this story? I mention this to show you that illnesses like schizophrenia are serious business. It's rare that we get to see someone in a complete psychotic state in real-time video diaries, especially someone on the run from the FBI. I believe Blair Adams suffered from precisely this condition.

I will post a couple of her videos (NSFW - Language warning)

They GANGSACKED my house - This one got the FBI involved (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8dtQV57h-8)

Chik Fil A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wTKH48uJHw)

Strange video where she speaks with a French accent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K_gorbPQ1c)

Here Kitty Kitty Threat Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93jOTVR9AQ)

Very Strange rant about Jonas Borchet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVYjqtjWots)

Strange Vlog in a public place about Whole Foods (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gymmvi2Q-u0)

The whole thing is fascinating from a psychological point of view. Perhaps one day we'll find a cure. I'm just glad they found her before she hurt someone or herself.

They GANGSACKED my house - This one got the FBI involved (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8dtQV57h-8)


I can see why. She's crazier than a ****house rat!

Your first 3 examples (Lam, Adams and James) are all Canadian. You trying to say we're unbalanced??! :D

James Vernon albeit his resolution was gleeful.

Also this is sensitive but I did myriad research on the case of Kenneth frank. Apparently, according to official affidavits, the woman with the pseudonym patty on the show was not coughing due to ‘a cold’. She and the doctor were smoking marijuana hence her coughing fit. Not judging at all believe me....but I find it interesting when UM makes the circumstances of the story a bit more rosy to conceal potentially blemishing information.