Kenneka Jenkins Death Latest News: Police Rules Death as Accidental, Closes Investigation
Authorities have wrapped up the case of Kenneka Jenkins, the young woman who was found dead in a hotel's walk-in freezer in Chicago. Their investigation has led them to conclude that her death was an accident, with no evidence of foul play involved.
Police have been investigating the death of the 19-year-old, ever since her body was found in Sep. 10. She was missing since she attended a party at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, a suburb just northwest of Chicago.
Police have found no sign of criminal motive for her death, according to CNN. Police chief Donald E. Stephens III, assigned to the Rosemont Police Department, shared their findings as they closed the case on Sunday, Oct. 22.
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"Our detectives reported no signs of foul play throughout the whole investigation," he said.
"There is no evidence that Ms. Jenkins was forced to drink alcohol or consume any narcotics while at the hotel," he noted. Authorities have come to conclude that her death was accidental, based on clues left behind by surveillance video and interviews with the people she was with on the night of the party.
The videos, which was released by police days after she was found, showed the teen alone as she wandered through the hotel's kitchen area, according to Time. In the footage, she was shown staggering and impaired as she walks down the hallway.
She was later found about 24 hours after relatives reported her missing to the hotel and police.
An autopsy has determined her cause of death to be from hypothermia, from her time exposed to the cold of the walk-in freezer that she reportedly stumbled into.
Toxicology tests done by the Cook County medical examiner's office also revealed that Jenkins had alcohol, caffeine, and a substance found in epilepsy and migraine medication in her system when she died.
