A woman's body found dead in a water tank on the roof of a downtown Los Angeles hotel was identified as that of the missing Canadian tourist Elisa Lam, local police said.

A maintenance worker at the Cecil Hotel found the body Tuesday morning after guests complained of low water pressure.

The 21-year-old University of British Columbia student traveled to California alone on Jan. 27 from Vancouver. She was last seen by hotel employees on Jan. 31.

Videotape released by police after Lam's disappearance showed the young woman acting strangely in the hotel elevator the night she was last seen.

Investigators were trying to determine whether there was foul play in the woman's death or "a very, very strange accident" occurred, local police spokeswoman Officer Sara Faden said.

"The location of the water tanks is very small and configured in a very tight way so it's a little more difficult to get the body out," Faden said.

The body was discovered at about 10 am, but officials spent much of the day struggling to remove it from the water tank.

The hotel is located in downtown Los Angeles, which has long struggled against the creeping destitution of nearby Skid Row, where drug addiction and homelessness are rampant. At the time of Lam's disappearance, police said it appeared suspicious.

While there are about 3,200 missing person cases in Los Angeles every year, police there handled Lam's case differently because it’s an international case.

The reason Lam went to California is not known, but authorities say Lam intended to travel to Santa Cruz as her final destination, which is about 563 kilometers north of Los Angeles.

She was in touch with her family daily until she disappeared.

According to local police, Lam is a Canadian of Chinese origin.