National
WATCH: Mother of Chicago Teen Found Dead in Freezer Speaks Out
[THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE]
A 19-year-old West Side woman was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at a Rosemont hotel Sunday morning, about a day after she had gone missing from a party she attended with friends, police and her family said.
Kenneka Jenkins was discovered after an hours-long search and was pronounced dead at 12:48 a.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Jenkins’ mother, Tereasa Martin, said police told her Jenkins apparently let herself into the freezer while inebriated and died inside. An autopsy was performed Sunday but it wasn’t immediately clear whether foul play was suspected, according to Becky Schlikerman, spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office.
The cause and manner of the teen’s death remained undetermined.
Speaking to reporters outside the hotel Sunday morning, Martin said she was having trouble understanding what happened.
“(I’m) horrified,” she said. “It’s something that no one could ever imagine. It’s unbelievable.”
According to Martin and police, Jenkins left her house in the 2100 block of West Warren Boulevard around 11:30 p.m. Friday to attend a party with friends in a hotel room at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel & Conference Center in Rosemont. Gary Mack, a spokesman for the village of Rosemont, said Jenkins’ sister last spoke to her around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Mack said witnesses told police they saw Jenkins at a party on the ninth floor of the hotel.
Jenkins’ mother, Tereasa Martin, said police told her Jenkins apparently let herself into the freezer while inebriated and died inside. An autopsy was performed Sunday but it wasn’t immediately clear whether foul play was suspected, according to Becky Schlikerman, spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office.
The cause and manner of the teen’s death remained undetermined.
Speaking to reporters outside the hotel Sunday morning, Martin said she was having trouble understanding what happened.
“(I’m) horrified,” she said. “It’s something that no one could ever imagine. It’s unbelievable.”
Finish reading the story at The Chicago Tribune.
