Gone at Midnight: The Tragic True Story Behind the Unsolved Internet Sensation

The case that captivated a nation and inspired the Netflix series Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel!
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“The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles is a palpable presence in Gone at Midnight. Given the checkered history of the Cecil Hotel (which was recently named to the Los Angeles registry of historic landmarks), I wouldn’t rule out Jack the Ripper.”
—The New York Times
“Outstanding…true crime buffs won’t want to miss this gripping search for the truth.”
—Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW
A young woman’s tragic journey of self-discovery, downward spiral, and horrifying death in L.A.’s infamous Cecil Hotel sparks the birth of an internet urban legend—and for one determined journalist, a life-changing quest toward uncomfortable truths. Now in paperback, the critically acclaimed, definitive investigation into the mysterious death of Elisa Lam!
Twenty-one-year-old student Elisa Lam was last heard from on January 31, 2013, after she checked into downtown L.A.’s Cecil Hotel—a 600-room building with a nine-decade history of scandal and tragedy. The next day, Elisa vanished. More than a week later, guests’ complaints of poor water quality led to a grim discovery: Elisa’s nude body floating in a rooftop water tank. The only clue was a disturbing elevator video of Elisa, uploaded to YouTube in a plea for public assistance.
As the video went viral, journalist Jake Anderson set out to uncover the facts. In Gone at Midnight he chronicles eye-opening discoveries about who Elisa Lam really was and what—or whom—she was running from, offering stunning new insights into one of the most chilling and obsessively followed true crime cases of the century.
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