19-Year-Old Found Dead in a Hotel Freezer 24 Hours After She Was Reported Missing
An investigation is ongoing after a Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel employee found Kenneka Jenkins, 19, dead in one of the hotel's walk-in freezers on Sunday morning. Jenkins had been reported missing by her family just about 24 hours earlier, the Chicago Tribune reports.
According to the Associated Press, Jenkins was last seen at a party in the same hotel early Saturday morning. It’s unclear if Jenkins tried to get out of the freezer, but there is an exit button meant to open the door if it gets shut behind someone accidentally. Authorities told the AP the button sometimes malfunctions.
Jenkins’s mother Tereasa Martin said police told her Jenkins let herself into the freezer while intoxicated and died inside, though she doesn't believe that because if Jenkins were so intoxicated, she couldn't have "just [popped the freezer's double steel doors] open." Sunday’s initial autopsy did not determine an exact cause of death and further toxicology reports are pending.
Another part of the investigation revolves around a now-trending Facebook live video seemingly shot in the hotel the night Jenkins went missing. In it, Jenkins appears to be sitting on the bed with a group of people around her, leading many of the video's 4 million viewers to believe there was foul play involved in her death.
Rosemont police spokesman Gary Mack told the Tribune most people in the video have been identified and that investigators “are leaving no stone unturned as far as trying to corral everyone they can and talk to them and interview them about what happened and what was going on that night.”
It’s unclear who found Jenkins and how exactly her body was discovered.
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