Parents Of Woman Found Dead In Water Tank Sue Hotel For Wrongful Death

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The parents of a 21-year-old woman whose body was found in the Cecil Hotel's rooftop water tank in February, are suing the establishment's owners.

David and Yinna Lam, parents of British Vancouver resident Elisa Lam, filed the wrongful death suit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The suit seeks unspecified damages against Cecil Hotel Management Inc. The Lams are also seeking burial costs for their daughter.

The suit says Cecil Hotel operators had an obligation to make the premises safe for Lam and "inspect and seek out hazards in the hotel that presented an unreasonable risk of danger to (Lam) and other hotel guests."

The coroner's office concluded that Lam died of an accidental drowning.

Lam was last seen Jan. 31 at the hotel, which is downtown near Skid Row.  Surveillance video of the young woman showed her acting bizarrely in the hotel elevator.

Lam had been staying at the hotel while on a holiday trip to California. Her body was found Feb. 19. Authorities had searched the roof earlier during an investigation into her disappearance but did not open the four cisterns on the roof.

After hotel guests complained of low water pressure, a hotel worker discovered her body.