Girl Found Dead in Hotel Freezer

Surveillance video may shed light on the mysterious death of a young Chicago woman whose body was found in a hotel freezer last week.  The case sparked accusations of foul play on social media. Police in Rosemont, Illinois said Kenneka Jenkins, 19, was last seen early Saturday, September 9, at a party at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel. Her family reported her missing later that day, and Jenkins' body was found in the walk-in freezer at the hotel shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday. The results of an autopsy by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office are pending. Surveillance video from inside the Crowne Plaza shows Jenkins staggering through the hotel's hallways early Saturday. In the footage, Jenkins is first seen walking through the hotel with several unidentified people around 1:13 a.m. on that Saturday. She appears to be steady. Two hours later, Jenkins is alone and visibly impaired, and staggers out of the elevator, briefly leaning on the wall for support before heading down the hallway. The last clip shows Jenkins stumbling through the hotel kitchen, which appears to be empty. She walks out of view of the cameras at 3:32 a.m., the last time she was seen before her body was found in the hotel's walk-in freezer. Jenkin's friends said they left Jenkins in the lobby while they went upstairs to grab something. When they returned, she was gone. They said she had "one cup, but that one cup was too much for her". How she ended up in the freezer is unknown. 

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Questions:

1. What do you think happened to Kenneka Jenkins? 

2.  If you were with Jenkins just a few hours before her death, how  would you feel now?

3.  How is this accident going to affect the hotel business?

Its hard telling what or whom made Kenneka go into the freezer. I think something happened during the party, and her friends wanted to hide the evidence. She could have been bribed into the freezer. I know freezer doors are heavy, so I don't think she could have gotten it open by herself. But intoxication, does crazy things to the mind and body. If I was with Jenkins, I would want the truth to be told. I would feel really bad if she had died because of intoxication. I think this accident will slow business down a little, however, this hotel is in a big city, so business will pick back up. 

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Replies

  • I think she was so drunk that she fell into the freezer or something

    Guilty in a way

    Having someone die in your hotel, and have it be in such a public space, not in her room or anything, would really hurt their reputation I think

  • 1. i think she either was put in there by the unknown people or she locked herself in there

    2.  I would say that the cup was not worth it and she should have went with her friends.

    3. If someone looks up the hotel is will come up with the news story. also they probably had t get rid of everything in the freezer.

  • My theory is she could have been "Guided" In a sense, towards the freezer, by her stupor and some outside influence, though it seems also like a not-so-happy coincidence. Probably terrible, knowing that I could have literally just taken her with me for 5 seconds to prevent this. I think the accident will definitely blemish the hotels image, knowing that someone died in their hotel.

  • If she was impaired really bad, she may have accidentally gone into the freezer herself. Another possibility could be that her friends, also impaired, could have accidentally killed her and thrown her in the freezer. If Jenkins was impaired, she might not have felt much, she wouldn't have known she was going die. The hotel probably has gotten some pretty bad publicity. It can't be good for their reputation.

  • I think that the beverage she had was too much for her and caused her thought process and mental capacity to be questionable. The cameras show only Kenneka Jenkins so I don't know why there's any question about any foul play. If I was with her a few hours before, I would take this as an eye opening experience because things like this happen all the time because of bad decisions. Anytime alcohol is involved people need to be smart about their decisions and their actions. If they knew that the one cup of alcohol was too much for her, then why did they leave her alone in the lobby? I'm sure the hotel business is getting a lot of attention and publicity right now, but I'm also sure that they've probably already made a statement regarding the incident. Eventually the story will blow over and be forgotten and everything will move as it did before the death of Kenneka Jenkins.

    • The cameras don't point towards the freezer, so someone could have been there and forced her in. I don't think her friends knew that the drink was going to be too much for her. Or they aren't telling the full truth. Thanks for the comment!

  • I don't really know why Jenkins ended up in the freezer or who put her there. If no one was caught on camera in that area, I would assume she went in their herself and ended up being locked inside. I would feel horrible if she was my friend and ended up dead several hours just after I saw her. Since she was drinking, you can't take everything personally about her death, unless you supplied her with alcohol. This story is going to affect the hotel, because now people will be scared that there is somebody there that kills people and gets away with it. This should be a reminder for people not to drink when you are a minor. 

  • I think the most likely thing that happened to Kenneka Jenkins is that her "friends" had something to do with her being in that freezer. It possibly could have been a dare that because everyone was intoxicated at the time, thought was funny. If I were with Jenkins just a few hours before her death, I would be very concerned about how she ended up in the freezer. This accident could possibly affect the hotel business by enforcing stricter rules of where people are allowed unmonitored. 

    • I agree with you. The story from the friends doesn't make much sense. I don't understand why her friends were gone for two hours. Its possible that they just forgot to return to the lobby and stayed in the room to party, but I definitely think her friends did something. I think the hotel will have better monitoring now. Thanks for the comment!

  • 1. I think she could have been intoxicated and she walked into the freezer thinking it was her room. Something could have happened at the party and it made her upset. 

    2. I would want to know what happened to her and if someone helped her in there or if it was just the alcohol. 

    3. I think it will slow down business but since it is in such a big city, the hotel should gain people back. 

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