Reached Friday evening, Martin referred questions to her attorneys, who could not immediately be reached. She told authorities she checked the phone herself and found nothing suspicious police said an expert could provide a more thorough check, and Martin said she would consider it. The documents also revealed that Martin at least twice declined a police request to have her daughter’s cellphone analyzed. The surveillance camera made no further recordings until Jenkins’ body was discovered. 30, according to surveillance records police reviewed. The camera in the kitchen area was motion-activated, and the last time someone had been there before Jenkins was Aug. The employee who found Jenkins’ body said the hotel was not using the freezer, but that it was being leased to a group opening a restaurant in that part of the building. It remained unclear why the freezer was on when the rest of the kitchen was not in use. Lights in both chambers were apparently off when Jenkins entered. It could not be opened unless someone pushed a white, circular handle to release the latch, but the mechanism seemed to be working properly. The report said Jenkins was found lying face down on her side with one shoe off, and no indication of trauma other than a small cut on her foot.Īuthorities said the temperature of the freezer was 33 degrees and the cooler was 44 degrees, though they noted the doors had been open for some time when those readings were taken.Ī detective who inspected the inner freezer said the door was self-closing and latched shut. Jenkins was found by a hotel worker in what the reports describe as a walk-in freezer within a walk-in cooler the door was just outside view of the surveillance cameras that captured Jenkins staggering through the kitchen. One person who was with Jenkins at the party said she had moved from the city to a northern suburb because of harassment. The friend also said she believed the “help me” sound came from a Chief Keef song playing in the background of the video.įriends described receiving death threats from those who believed they had harmed Jenkins. The friend responded that Jenkins was concerned about having to pay a $200 fine if they didn’t have a parking ticket to use the hotel’s lot, as signs at the hotel warned. The officer also noted some observers claimed to hear someone say “help me” on the video. She claimed one of Jenkins’ associates was involved in a “blood gang” and could have accepted a $200 payment for her death.Ī police officer asked one of Jenkins’ friends about that, saying “some people are speculating that Kenneka was sold for $200,” noting a reference to that amount in a Facebook live video shot at the party. 11 by a woman who said she saw Jenkins at the party. One such theory was outlined in an anonymous call to police on Sept. They also show how police asked questions based on social media speculation. The reports show how police tried to track down those people, as well as others who were at the party or knew Jenkins. In some cases, they named specific people purported to have been involved. Family members have said they believe the initial response of police and hotel staff lacked urgency.Īlmost immediately, a social media storm erupted around Jenkins’ death, with online observers touting various theories about how she was the victim of foul play. The hotel ended up checking surveillance cameras, though at first just those covering the building’s entrances and exits, and police responded after the family filed a missing persons report. The reports also shed light on the efforts of her increasingly frantic family to find her after several friends contacted them to say Jenkins was lost. The police documents describe, through interviews with people who were with the Chicago woman the night she disappeared, how she attended a party in Room 926, drank heavily and then seemingly wandered off after her friends left her in a hallway for 10 to 15 minutes to look for her cellphone and keys. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office determined that she died of hypothermia with alcohol intoxication and a drug used for treating epilepsy and migraines as “significant contributing factors.” 10 in the walk-in freezer of an unused kitchen at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont after being missing for almost 24 hours. Authorities on Friday released dozens of police reports and witness statements into the death of Kenneka Jenkins, revealing new details about what officials say was a tragic accident and puncturing conspiracy theories that have circulated online.
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