Kenneka Jenkins was a 19-year-old from Chicago, Illinois, found dead in a walk-in freezer inside the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel located in Rosemont, Illinois, after being present at a party the day before her tragic death. Kenneka Jenkins was a resident of the West Side of Chicago in the U.S state of Illinois. On September 8, 2017, Kenneka borrowed her mother’s car, driving off from her house at 11:30 p.m. to attend the party at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare hotel. Kenneka was invited by her friends, and they first went into her friend’s room, which was in room 926 of the hotel. She arrived at the hotel room at 1:13 a.m. on Saturday, and later on, an acquaintance of Kenneka who was with her on the day of the party claimed to see Kenneka swaying back and forth when giving him a hug. Many people who attended the party noticed that Kenneka was spotted drinking cognac, and many reported that Kenneka wasn’t acting like her usual self because when she arrived at the party and then she began to dance, but a few minutes later, she appeared sad about something and went to sit down. Her sister spoke with Kenneka that night of the party at 1:30 a.m., not knowing that it was going to be her last time hearing Kenneka’s voice. As time passed by Kenneka was seen walking with other people throughout the hotel halls, when all of a sudden a few minutes later the hotel camera caught Kenneka intoxicated roaming near the front desk of the hotel at 3:20 a.m and then she was seen getting out of the elevator on one of the lower floors roaming around the halls bumping into walls and stumbling. Sadly, the camera caught her last few moments at 3:32 a.m., where you can see her arriving at the hotel kitchen, where she turned the corner walking towards the freezer. The freezer door was out of sight of the camera, so they couldn’t get a look of Kenneka walking into the freezer.
About one hour later, one of Kenneka’s friends called her mom letting her mom, Teresa Martin, letting her know that they couldn’t find Kenneka at the party and therefore her friend thought that Kenneka eventually left the party. The next day, Saturday morning around 5:30 a.m., Kenneka’s mom went to search for her at the hotel, and she went to the hotel management because she was going to request to see the security camera footage, but they didn’t let her because they told her that they couldn’t provide access to the footage of last night to her. They also told her that another reason why they couldn’t show her the footage was that someone had to report Kenneka missing to the police for them to be able to show the mother of Kenneka the video footage.
The next day at 7:14 a.m., Kenneka’s mother called the Rosemont Public Safety Department, which informed her that it would be wise to wait a few more hours before reporting her daughter missing, as often the individual simply turns up on their own. Then at 12:46 p.m., the older sister of Kenneka, Leonore Harris, filed a missing persons report with the police, who officially reported Kenneka as missing to hotel management at 1:15 pm The police eventually showed Kenneka’s mom the footage. The first check of the camera footage focused on the entrances and exits, where nothing showed up, but at 10 p.m., police spotted footage of Kenneka stumbling through the hotel. Her location remained unknown until an employee found Kenneka inside the freezer at 12:25 a.m. on a Sunday, and she was pronounced dead at 12:48 a.m. Kenneka was found lying face down on her side, with one shoe off. The police found no signs of trauma other than a small cut on her foot. The temperature inside the freezer was 34°F, approximately two hours after the doors had been left open. While the case was officially ruled as an accident, there are still circumstances of her death that continue to raise concerns. The mystery surrounding Kenneka’s death is likely to continue, leaving many to demand further investigation and closure.
