In 2013 a Canadian tourist in the United States mysteriously vanished and was later found dead in a water tower on top of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles.

Because of the nature of her death, miscommunication from the police about the water tower hatch, and some mysterious footage showing her behaving erratically on an elevator, the Internet took special interest in the case.

To this day it is considered an unsolved mystery by some. There are theories as far out there as blaming aliens or inter-dimensional beings for her death.

One early theory though was that she was killed by Pablo Vergara. Pablo, who went by the stage name Morbid, was a Mexican death metal musician. And he happened to stay at that same hotel about a year before Elisa's death.

At the time, however, he wasn't even in the country. He was in Mexico recording music. And he even had receipts from the recording studio to prove it.

That didn't stop people from latching on to him as the killer though. He received hundreds of death threats. The Mexican police came to question him. And his social media accounts (with his music and livelihood) were taken down by Internet activists who spam reported his accounts until they were deleted.

He eventually attempted suicid and has sense been unable to create new music.

This case received new attention because of a Netflix docuseries which actually interviews him and some of the prominent Internet sleuths who accused him early in the case.

The way it played out is no different from any other false accusation. He complains about the fact that his life was completely destroyed. And he didn't receive any kind of help or even an apology when it became clear that he was innocent. Everyone just kind of moved on and left him to pick up what was left of his life. Some of these Internet sleuths do admit that they jumped the gun when they accused him but they still don't seem to understand the magnitude of their actions and the effect that it had on Pablo.

In the end, Elisa Lam's death was ruled to be an accidental downing, although suicide is a strong possibility. She was bipolar schizophrenic and toxicology reports, in addition to physical evidence, show that she had recently quit taking her medication. Which likely explains her erratic behavior on the elevator that got everyone's attention.

It's obviously a sad case whenever anyone dies, especially when suicide is suspected. Lisa Lam was only 21 years old and she had a lot of potential to be a writer and go places in her life.

I have to wonder how many men and boys have disappeared or died in a similar manner and never received any attention though. And how many other Pablo Vergaras are out there who quietly ended their lives (or wound up on the streets) without anyone noticing.

The fact that she was a young woman clearly played into people's sympathies for her in a way that men rarely receive. People wanted justice. They wanted someone to blame. And Pablo Vergara became the target of that blame.

He did eventually get through it though. He went back to school to be a film maker and has since released a couple short films.

He has an ominous warning about the role of false accusations when it comes to cyber-bullying and "cancel culture" though:

"People shouldn't get away with that, and we have to be more responsible to what we say and do. I survived it, but... lots of people get cyber-bullied and they don't make it"

https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/web-series/morbid-band-singer-pablo-vergara-opens-up-about-being-accused-of-killing-elisa-lam.html