'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel': Release date, plot and all you need to know about Netflix show on LA's 'deadliest hotel'

'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' is the first season of a new documentary series about the mythology and mystery surrounding infamous locations in contemporary crime
Hotel Cecil as seen in 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' (Netflix)
Hotel Cecil as seen in 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' (Netflix)

When it comes to true crime, we can never be satisfied, no matter how much content we get. Thankfully, Netflix is bringing more of its popular true crime shows and we already think the next one will be one of the best ones of 2021. 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' focuses on what is often known as Los Angeles's deadliest hotel.

Hotel Cecil, which is now known as 'Stay on Main', is a budget hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, built in 1924. The hotel's surrounding area began to decline in the following years, as suicides and other violent deaths on the premises became more frequent. Numerous residents reportedly committed suicide in their hotel rooms, and by the 1960s, the hotel became to be known as "The Suicide" by longtime residents.

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In addition to suicides, the hotel's history includes other kinds of violence and disturbing occurrences. One of the most famous appearances at the hotel is that of Elizabeth Short, known popularly as the "Black Dahlia" who was spotted drinking at the Cecil's bar in the days before her notorious, still-unsolved murder.

'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' (Netflix)

More recently, a young Canadian student, Elisa Lam was seen in surveillance footage behaving erratically in the hotel's elevator, pressing its buttons, walking in and out of the elevator, and possibly attempting to hide from someone. It was recorded shortly before her disappearance; her naked body was subsequently discovered in a water supply cistern on the hotel roof, following complaints from residents of odd-tasting water and low pressure. How she got into the cistern remains a mystery.

Netflix's docuseries will attempt to detangle the mystery of the Cecil Hotel. Read on to know more details about 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel'.

Release date

'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' will be available to stream on Netflix on Wednesday, February 10, at 12 AM PST.

Plot

The official synopsis for 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' states:

'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' is the first season of a new documentary series that deconstructs the mythology and mystery surrounding infamous locations in contemporary crime. For nearly a century the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles has been linked to some of the city’s most notorious activity, from untimely deaths to housing serial killers.

In 2013, college student Elisa Lam was staying at the Cecil when she vanished, igniting a media frenzy and mobilizing a global community of internet sleuths eager to solve the case. Lam’s disappearance, the latest chapter in the hotel’s complex history, offers a chilling and captivating lens into one of LA’s most nefarious settings.

Director

Joe Berlinger

Joe BErlinger (Getty Images)

Joe Berlinger is a filmmaker and producer known for his true-crime documentaries. He is known for his work on 'Brother's Keeper', 'Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills', 'Crude, Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger', and 'Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes'.

Trailer



 

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