Published: 2013 February 21 13:01:01 (6270 Views)

Tourists Michael and Sabrina Baugh, both 27, have told of their horror after a dead body was found in a tank holding the hotel water they had been drinking and bathing in for days.

They had complained to staff at the rundown Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday that water was only dribbling out of their taps.

When an engineer examined the cisterns on the roof, he discovered the body of Canadian tourist Elisa Lam, 21, who disappeared on February 1.

The student from the University of British Columbia was last seen at the hotel almost three weeks ago.

Her body is believed to have been floating and decomposing in the tank since then.

The water in the tank where Elisa was found feeds taps and showers in the hotel rooms, as well as a coffee shop and the kitchen downstairs.

LA Department of Public Health director Terrance Powell said: "Our biggest concern is going to be fecal contamination because of the body in the water."

Michael said: "The moment we found out, we felt a bit sick to the stomach, quite literally, especially having drank the water, we're not well mentally."

His wife Sabrina added: "The water did have a funny taste. We never thought anything of it. We thought it was just the way it was here."

The couple said their two-week holiday - their first trip to the US - was ruined.

Detectives are working to determine if Elisa's death was the result of foul play or an accident.

Police still don't know how Lam died or even how she ended up on the roof of the hotel – which is protected by locked doors and an alarm.

Tests are being carried out to see if the water is contaminated and if guests' health is at risk with results expected today.

The hotel, built in the 1920s once housed serial killers Richard Ramirez – nicknamed the Night Stalker – and Jack Unterweger, who murdered nine prostitutes in Europe and the US. 

- Sun

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