Just hours after being reported missing, a 19-year-old Chicago woman was found dead in a hotel walk-in freezer.
On Sunday, Kenneka Jenkins’ body was discovered in the freezer at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel & Conference Center in Rosemont. The Chicago Tribune reported that Jenkins was pronounced dead at 12:48 a.m. that morning.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Jenkins was reportedly inebriated at the time she walked into the freezer, according to her mother, Tereasa Martin.
“[I’m] horrified,” Martin told reporters. “It’s something that no one could ever imagine. It’s unbelievable.”
Chicago woman’s body found in freezer at suburban hotel; mom says police think she may have walked in while drunk https://t.co/E1ocs2Odif pic.twitter.com/o7kimNPnw2
— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) September 10, 2017
Around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, Jenkins left her home to attend a party on the ninth floor of the hotel.
Martin said that her daughter told her she was “going to the show and bowling.” It was only after friends called to tell her that Jenkins was missing that Martin found out about the party.
Jenkins’ sister last spoke to her around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, the village of Rosemont spokesman, Gary Mack, stated.
The missing persons report was filed just after 1 p.m. on Saturday. Shortly thereafter, Martin contacted the hotel and requested that they review video footage. The mother was upset that the Crowne Plaza did not take address her claim more urgently.
“If they had taken me seriously and checked right away, they could have found my daughter much sooner and she might have been alive,” Martin said.
The police explained that Jenkins got into the freezer by herself but Martin is not convinced that is the way it happened.
“[Police] said she stumbled her way into the freezer,” Martin said. “Those were double steel doors, she didn’t just pop them open.”
An autopsy is being conducted in order to determine the official cause of death.
The hotel issued a statement to WGN-TV on Sunday night in response to Jenkins’ death.
“We are saddened by this news, and our thoughts are with the young woman and her family during this difficult time. The hotel staff will continue to cooperate fully with local authorities. All further questions should be directed to the Rosemont Police Department,” the statement said.
