IL - Kenneka Jenkins, 19, found dead in hotel freezer, Rosemont, 10 Sept 2017 #1

[rsd1200]

Thank you, I had wondered how long it would take her to die from just the cold alone. If this is correct, she could have already been dead when her friends were calling her mother. Very sad.

That's what I was thinking when I started reading this thread, and looking at the film. When they called her mother, then it went down the chain to contacting LE, going to search the motel. A motel that size with all those rooms, janitor facilities, maid facilities, etc... that she could have stumbled into, stairwells to check... It's just awful. I might not be totally on the nose with the hypothermia timeline but I think it's in the ballpark.

 

[Satchie]

I don't know about people seeing her stumbling around. I was referring to the person checking the security cameras.

I'm sure no one watches the video cameras, maybe back in the early days but now hotels just won't pay someone to watch people walking around the hotel.

Unfortunately, hotel security were probably not impressed by Kenneka's drunk friends claiming she was missing. These hotels are pretty snobby places, security staff wouldn't see it as their job to track down a young partier who wasn't even a guest. Naturally, it never occurred to them something like this could happen.

 

[CARIIS]

If one is scared a freezer would be good place to hide?

 

[Gardener1850]

This is from MSM media release does anyone see anything behind her?

I don't see anyone. But even if there is someone way down at the end of the hallway, what would that prove? The person would be way too far away to control her or influence her actions at all. She looks too impaired to even see someone at the end of the hall behind her. And this is a huge hotel. If anything, it's strange there are not other guests walking by her in the hall but that is probably because of the time of day it was.

 

[rsd1200]

I don't see anyone. But even if there is someone way down at the end of the hallway, what would that prove? The person would be way too far away to control her or influence her actions at all. She looks too impaired to even see someone at the end of the hall behind her. And this is a huge hotel. If anything, it's strange there are not other guests walking by her in the hall but that is probably because of the time of day it was.

Agree, and Chicago, like NYC, and other big cities, are kinda similar in that everyone goes home, who has come into the city to work, or for conferences, by Friday evening. Note the room rates for Sat/Sun vs weekdays. You don't have as many folks in the motels on the weekends so they drop the rates. This has been my experience anyway.

 

[Elainera]

Agree, and Chicago, like NYC, and other big cities, are kinda similar in that everyone goes home, who has come into the city to work, or for conferences, by Friday evening. Note the room rates for Sat/Sun vs weekdays. You don't have as many folks in the motels on the weekends so they drop the rates. This has been my experience anyway.

This hotel is close to OHare airport. Shouldn't there be more "foot traffic" so to speak, even at that time of night?

OTOH if the time stamps mentioned above are correct and she exited the elevator at about 3.25 and was seen in the kitchen at about 3.32 she wasn't stumbling around the corridors for a long time at all and was simply unlucky that she ran into nobody during those few minutes.

 

[JaimeInLA]

I'm sure no one watches the video cameras, maybe back in the early days but now hotels just won't pay someone to watch people walking around the hotel.

Unfortunately, hotel security were probably not impressed by Kenneka's drunk friends claiming she was missing. These hotels are pretty snobby places, security staff wouldn't see it as their job to track down a young partier who wasn't even a guest. Naturally, it never occurred to them something like this could happen.

Even if nobody was watching monitors live, once it was reported to security that she was missing, they should have gone back and checked the footage. She was right there for them to see!

And remember, these weren't just any old drunk teenagers. One of them was an employee of the hotel. I would hope that she would have a little bit more pull than a random guest.

(by the way, I have done a complete 180 since viewing the security footage. I no longer believe the friends were involved at all. So I do think they would have been sincerely pleading with security to help them look.)

 

[JaimeInLA]

This hotel is close to OHare airport. Shouldn't there be more "foot traffic" so to speak, even at that time of night?

OTOH if the time stamps mentioned above are correct and she exited the elevator at about 3.25 and was seen in the kitchen at about 3.32 she wasn't stumbling around the corridors for a long time at all and was simply unlucky that she ran into nobody during those few minutes.

Can we talk about those timestamps for a second? That means that she likely took an elevator straight down to the employee level where the kitchens are. There is not very much time at all between her being seen in the room, and then seen wandering the kitchen. About eight minutes. So why did she leave the room? And why did she go to the employee level?

(my guess is that she got on the elevator and accidentally hit the button that took her to the employee level. She was probably trying to reach the lobby, and went one level too far down. She probably stepped off the elevator, it closed behind her and left, and then she wandered around trying to figure out how to get out of the employee area and back up to the lobby. Any other theories?)

But why would she have left the party alone? Without her phone or keys?

And why did the friends tell authorities they got separated in the lobby when some of them returned to the room to get the keys? Why did they say they were preparing to leave together? We see them all in the room at 3:24, and the party does not look to be breaking up.

 

[Elainera]

Even if nobody was watching monitors live, once it was reported to security that she was missing, they should have gone back and checked the footage. She was right there for them to see!

And remember, these were just drunk teenagers. One of them was an employee of the hotel. I would hope that she would have a little bit more pull than a random guest.

(by the way, I have done a complete 180 since viewing the security footage. I no longer believe the friends were involved at all. So I do think they would have been sincerely pleading with security to help them look.)

bbm - and apparently (and unbelievably) they did that only about 20 hours later. I can totally understand why her mom is not only devastated but outraged as well. Yes possibly Kenneka succumbed to the cold within an hour, but maybe she didn't. And her mom will have to live now with the feeling that not all was done to help her daughter.

 

[Elainera]

Can we talk about those timestamps for a second? That means that she likely took an elevator straight down to the employee level where the kitchens are. There is not very much time at all between her being seen in the room, and then seen wandering the kitchen. About eight minutes. So why did she leave the room? And why did she go to the employee level?

(my guess is that she got on the elevator and accidentally hit the button that took her to the employee level. She was probably trying to reach the lobby, and went one level too far down. She probably stepped off the elevator, it closed behind her and left, and then she wandered around trying to figure out how to get out of the employee area and back up to the lobby. Any other theories?)

But why would she have left the party alone? Without her phone or keys?

And why did the friends tell authorities they got separated in the lobby when some of them returned to the room to get the keys? Why did they say they were preparing to leave together? We see them all in the room at 3:24, and the party does not look to be breaking up.

There was mention that she was seen staggering around the lobby. I think they all came down together and exited the elevator at the lobby floor. The friends then went back up to fetch the forgotten items and Kenneka wandered off and either took another elevator down to the employee level, or the stairs. jmo

I wish one of her friends would have stayed with her! (As I'm sure they do.)

 

[whereareyou]

<modsnip> I've done ALOT of really dumb things when I've been drinking, I can totally see how something like this could have happened to any person really inebriated. Of course it's sad that this happened to such a young girl but I also find it sad that her mother is trying to blame the police and hotel staff for her death. This is a hotel not an adult day care center, Kenneka could have been miles away with someone she left the hotel with when she was reported missing. I think the Chicago PD took quick action on their part and shouldn't be blamed for anything. This is all my opinion but I think this is a case of a "wild child" that got herself in a bad situation. If anyone should be getting fingers pointed at them, should be her friends but yet it was still up to her to get all <modsnip> up and stop putting the blame on other people.

 

[rsd1200]

This hotel is close to OHare airport. Shouldn't there be more "foot traffic" so to speak, even at that time of night?

OTOH if the time stamps mentioned above are correct and she exited the elevator at about 3.25 and was seen in the kitchen at about 3.32 she wasn't stumbling around the corridors for a long time at all and was simply unlucky that she ran into nobody during those few minutes.

Idk, at an airport, maybe, but back when I used to smoke, I'd get a smoke free room and go outside to smoke. Sometimes at 2-3 in the a.m. I was amazed at how few people I'd see in these motels in larger cities. I don't sleep much anyway so I'd go to the vending machines, get ice, wander down to the front lobby, just killin' time. Now, when I was staying through the week? There was always people coming and going and some sort of conference being held. It may be different now but since school is back in session and vacation crowds are over, I'd not be surprised to find it kinda quiet at that time of night. With that many people in their room, too, and no one complained about noise, there probably weren't many folks on their floor either. Just guessing.

Edit: But, if I'd seen someone staggering around, obviously intoxicated, I'd not have thought anything about it. I'd probably have thought they'd been to a conference and it was none of my business as long as they were not being violent.

 

[seamoss]

Look - I helped build restaurants and also worked in restaurants opening and closing...it is VERY unlikely that a waiter, cook, construction worker or hotel employee would ever consider leaving work with an empty freezer running. It is a waste of electricity. I've never seen an empty walk-in cooler with no food in it. Never happens.

She walked for quite awhile. She walked very far. Even an extremely drunk person (who I have been before) would eventually understand that they are not supposed to be in a closed kitchen. My take on this is...she wandered the hotel because she initially was looking for free food or any goodies left unsecured. I know my younger self would be the type of person to steal a raw loaf of bread from an abandoned kitchen in order to get sober.

When she found the freezer, if it was on then perhaps she just wanted to get a refreshing chill. If I went to my restaurant job hung over or tired, I would walk into the walk-in freezer and it would perk me right up. It is more likely, though, that the freezer was off when she found it. She opened it looking for food, noticed it was warm, dark and empty, and took a little nap. At some point before she was found, either the electricity kicked in through a timer, or a staff member turned it on while she was still passed out.

She was probably just thinking "Keep walking until you find some food or somewhere to take a nap where you definitely won't be seen". There you go. An inoperative walk-in freezer with no food. Perfect nap spot. You can fit five people in a typical sized one. And it was under construction or just renovated, so that does make it more plausible that it was off when she went in, and a staffer turned it on or the power kicked in at some point when she was still passed out, and she went into cold shock before waking.

Think about a few time factors:

1. Time she made the one-way trip to the freezer
2. Typical survival time of an intoxicated female of her bodyweight in a freezer of that temperature before shock. Probably at least an hour or so, probably 3-5 before death (someone comment)
3. Who originally turned the freezer on, and on what day? Was it on when she walked in it? Was it on when she was found?
4. Guaranteed there was a mechanism to get out from the inside - but was there a working light inside the freezer at the time? Meaning, is it likely that she tried to get out of a cold freezer but couldn't because it was dark in there?

Martin said the family members stayed at the hotel until after 1 a.m. Sunday, when police informed them they had discovered Jenkins' body in the walk-in freezer.

It was not clear who located Jenkins' body, but Mack said the hotel was doing some construction in the area where she was found. Martin said she was told the freezer Jenkins was in was turned on and cold but was not being used to store food.

"I just happen to know there's work being done on some new facilities over there, so there is some construction activity where a new restaurant is being built, and (she was found) in that vicinity," Mack said. "This is not an area where anyone would typically be who was a guest in the hotel."

It is not clear whether the construction area was blocked off in any way.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...found-dead-rosemont-hotel-20170910-story.html

 

[Satchie]

But she was seen on the Facebook live video with a timestamp of 3:24 AM. None of these timestamps add up! (it's possible the hotel security cameras are off by an hour because of daylight savings time or something.)

This report says the facebook livestream was 1: 36 am. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ns-hotel-freezer-timeline-20170912-story.html Perhaps version you watched had been time-shifted to a different time zone.

No to downplay this, but people frequently die while drunk/stoned: car accidents (including walking in front of one), fall off balconeys or other high places, drown, cause a fire. If any of those things had happened to Kenneka, it wouldn't be news. Unfortunately the unusual situation with a freezer makes it seem unique.

I don't think the hotel will be charged with being criminally responsible, they didn't break any laws. But I think they would probably be found liable for negligence if they were sued. The whole area of safety is regulated by civil law, not the criminal courts, so I think filing a lawsuit would be a reasonable action by the mother to force a change so that, in future, walk-in freezers aren't accessible to the public.

 

[rsd1200]

<modsnip> I've done ALOT of really dumb things when I've been drinking, I can totally see how something like this could have happened to any person really inebriated. Of course it's sad that this happened to such a young girl but I also find it sad that her mother is trying to blame the police and hotel staff for her death. This is a hotel not an adult day care center, Kenneka could have been miles away with someone she left the hotel with when she was reported missing. I think the Chicago PD took quick action on their part and shouldn't be blamed for anything. This is all my opinion but I think this is a case of a "wild child" that got herself in a bad situation. If anyone should be getting fingers pointed at them, should be her friends but yet it was still up to her to get all <modsnip> up and stop putting the blame on other people.

BBM
Raises hand. I'm fortunate to be alive.

However, I'll say it again, the person who rented the room had to be 21 according to the hotel site. One must be 21 to drink alcohol, in Chicago, IL. If anyone could be in trouble it could possibly be the person who rented the room/allowed/provided alcohol.

IL has a social host law that may also apply:

It is a $500 minimum fine (with a maximum $2,500 fine and up to one year in jail) to knowingly allow underage drinking to occur at a private residence. If serious injury or death occurs because of this activity, individuals are subject to a Class 4 felony (up to three years in prison and fines up to $25,000).

While a motel room is not your home, you have rented it for your private use for a period of time. IANAL so if any lawyers are out there, what thinks you?

 

[Satchie]

Look - I helped build restaurants and also worked in restaurants opening and closing...it is VERY unlikely that a waiter, cook, construction worker or hotel employee would ever consider leaving work with an empty freezer running. It is a waste of electricity. I've never seen an empty walk-in cooler with no food in it.

My thoughts are that, in a big chain hotel like the Crowne Plaza, individual employees might not take much responsibility for something like saving energy, or searching surveillance videos on the request of a non-guest. It caters to business travellers, so lower level staff are probably trained to be deferential and polite, but not act on their own initiative, leaving all the decisions to higher level executives, who don't work on weekends.

 

[MsFacetious]

A freezer of that size would take time to get to freezing temperature.
Even a standard fridge/freezer isn't that cold in a few hours.
An adult woman would take time to be frozen solid.
Clearly the freezer was on (likely cooling in preparation for food being placed in it) when she walked in.
I also believe the time stamps are off and she was wandering for an hour.
It was said that she was wandering for an hour trying doors and everything.
It's not reasonable to think she got down there in less than 10 minutes in her condition and had time to check doors.

 

[DatelineFan]

ANy one know impact of freezing has on sperm??

I think it just freezes them.

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[DatelineFan]

Bless her heart, she looks stumbling drunk to me. Alcohol and drugs can make you succumb to cold temps much more quickly along with fooling you into believing you are warm too.. Kinda looks like she's gotten herself lost and is trying to find the right floor (to me anyway).

They said there was a back-up button to push in the walk-in, but, if you go in there, in the dark, and don't know where that button is, along with being intoxicated, it's not a good combo.

If the person who rented that motel room is 21 or over, (and the Rosemont says you must be 21 to register a room), then I'd say they could be charged with serving alcohol to the under aged, and possibly other charges. I just started following so I may have missed where charges have been filed.

Her poor mother has to be beside herself. May KJ rest in peace.

Hypothermia, at one stage, makes one think they are warm.

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[tru2it4u]

Can we talk about those timestamps for a second? That means that she likely took an elevator straight down to the employee level where the kitchens are. There is not very much time at all between her being seen in the room, and then seen wandering the kitchen. About eight minutes. So why did she leave the room? And why did she go to the employee level?

(my guess is that she got on the elevator and accidentally hit the button that took her to the employee level. She was probably trying to reach the lobby, and went one level too far down. She probably stepped off the elevator, it closed behind her and left, and then she wandered around trying to figure out how to get out of the employee area and back up to the lobby. Any other theories?)

But why would she have left the party alone? Without her phone or keys?

And why did the friends tell authorities they got separated in the lobby when some of them returned to the room to get the keys? Why did they say they were preparing to leave together? We see them all in the room at 3:24, and the party does not look to be breaking up.

Yes!! The room they were partying in was on the 9th floor. All the articles I've read only refer the kitchen being in the "basement" of the hotel. But technically it should have a floor number, correct? Or did I miss an article where it did say that? So she could have easily went into the elevator and hit #10, 11 and only went down a couple floors.

But, she was roaming around the hotel for 60mins. Could most of that time been in the basement and that's why we're not seeing (clearly) anyone else in the footage?

I wonder what the entire basement floor looks like...


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