Investigation into death of Chicago woman found in freezer officially closed

The Rosemont Police Department has officially closed its investigation into the death of Kenneka Jenkins, a 19-year-old Chicago woman who was found dead in a hotel’s walk-in freezer.

Officials released photos, surveillance videos, audiotapes and a timeline of events to the public on their website Friday.

Authorities determined her death was accidental and said there was “no evidence that indicated any other conclusion.”

However, lawyers for the teen's mother, Teresa Martin, say the photos “raise more questions about what happened to Kenneka Jenkins than they answer.”

'Frozen solid'

Graphic pictures showed parts of Jenkins’ body exposed in the hotel freezer where she was found dead. The Arizona Republic will not publish the photos due to their graphic nature.

An officer who went into the freezer — after a hotel worker found Jenkins’ body — said she was “frozen solid,” according to police reports.

The teenager’s death sparked widespread outrage on social media after she was pronounced dead at the Rosemont Crowne Plaza Hotel Sept. 10, with many people speculating foul play and calling for justice. Rosemont is a Chicago suburb. 

“While there were many theories, rumors and much speculation floating around social media regarding the death of Ms. Jenkins, none were supported with facts,” Police Chief Donald Stephens III said in a statement. “What we have reported throughout the investigation and again, today, are facts.”

Foul play?

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said Jenkins died from hypothermia due to cold exposure in a walk-in freezer. Alcohol was listed as a “significant contributing” factor.

There was no sign of date-rape drugs in her toxicology reports, the office said.

“Our detective reported no signs of foul play throughout the whole investigation,” Stephens said in a statement. “There is no evidence that Ms. Jenkins was forced to drink alcohol or consume any narcotics while at the hotel.”

Jenkins was last seen by her friends at a party on the ninth floor.

Surveillance video from the hotel shows the teenager stumble into the kitchen area, before disappearing around a corner. The footage does not show her entering the freezer.

“Numerous requests for any and all videos and photos showing Ms. Jenkins going into the freezer of her own volition have not been forthcoming,” Martin’s attorneys Larry Rogers Jr. and Sam Adam Jr. said in a news release.

Timeline

Police released the following timeline of events.

Friday, Sept. 8

• 11:30 PM: Kenneka Jenkins leaves her home on the west side of Chicago.

Saturday, Sept. 9

• 1:13 AM: Jenkins arrives at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel, 5440 N. River Road, Rosemont, Illinois, to attend a private party in a hotel room.
• 3:25 AM: Jenkins is seen on CCTV exiting a lower-level elevator.
• 3:32 AM: Jenkins is last seen on CCTV as she moves through a first-floor kitchen.
• 7:14 AM: Rosemont Public Safety receives a call from Teresa Martin, Jenkins’ mother, saying that she can’t find her daughter.
• 12:46 PM: Jenkins’ sister arrives at the Rosemont police station to file a missing-person report. Jenkins is then entered into a law-enforcement database for missing persons. At this time, officers respond to the Crowne Plaza Hotel to investigate the missing-person case. Initial information obtained and searches conducted within the Crowne Plaza Hotel do not indicate whether or not Jenkins left the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
• 8:29 PM: Officers respond back to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Further searches are conducted as more CCTV is reviewed. Searches of the Crowne Plaza Hotel continue throughout the night. More resources are deployed to search the hotel as additional information is obtained through the CCTV.

Sunday, Sept. 10

• 12:25 AM: Jenkins’ body is discovered by a Crowne Plaza Hotel employee. Jenkins is pronounced dead at the scene by a Resurrection Hospital doctor via Medical Control.
• 3:08 AM: The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office investigator arrives.
• 5:10 AM: Jenkins’ body is removed from the Crowne Plaza Hotel and transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office. Jenkins' mother and sister view the body.

Friday, Oct. 6

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office releases an autopsy report that lists the cause of death as hypothermia and the manner of death as accidental. Alcohol and a prescription drug are listed as contributing factors in her death.