Police Have Interviewed 12 People In Kenneka Jenkins' Death, Will Show Hotel Footage To Her Mother

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 14, 2017 3:46PM

Kenneka Jenkins / Facebook

Amid intense social-media speculation, Rosemont police shared new details on Wednesday evening about their investigation into the death of Kenneka Jenkins. Police have interviews a dozen people in their probe. Authorities will also show Jenkins' mother hotel security footage by Thursday afternoon.

People said in a statement on Wednesday evening that 12 people have been interviewed in their investigation of the death of Jenkins, the 19-year-old Near West Side resident who was discovered dead inside a hotel freezer early on Sunday at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont. She hadn't been seen for nearly 24 hours when her body was discovered.

"Eight of those people interviewed were present the night/morning of the hotel gathering," police said. "Additionally, we have positively identified four others who were present the night of the gathering and are working to locate and interview them."

Meanwhile, authorities will show Jenkins' mother, Teresa Martin, hotel surveillance footage today, the Sun-Times reports. She will see "any of the relevant parts that would potentially include images of her daughter," Rosemont spokesman Garry Mack told the paper. Martin said earlier this week she was told by police that video footage from the hotel showed Jenkins "staggering" while intoxicated near the front desk.

The case has been the subject of rampant social-media speculation, which authorities said has slowed down the investigation to a degree.

Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens told the Tribune on Wednesday that, "It's unfortunate that some of that stuff's convoluting the investigation because all those leads have got to be followed up on."

Mack told the New York Times, "There are literally dozens of conspiracy theories that have been offered and countless people who are attempting to play detective and solve the case as to what happened over there."

Police earlier in the week confirmed that they were looking into the viral Facebook video that helped fuel speculation. In the clip, which has been viewed some 5 millions times, figures can be seen reflected in a woman's glasses inside what appears to be a hotel room.

Dozens of protesters reportedly showed up to Wednesday's announcement. "Our concern is that it was possibly foul play. I think that's what everybody's concern is, that there was a possible cover-up of her death," protester William Calloway told ABC7.

Mack told the Sun-Times that investigators had "no credible evidence at this point" that would lead them to reclassify Jenkins' death as a murder. “It’s a full-blown investigation, but it is a death investigation,” he told the paper.

Jenkins left her home on Friday night to attend a hotel party, family reportedly told police. Her friends called Martin at around 4 a.m. on Saturday and said they had lost track of Kenneka after they left her alone in a hotel hallway for a short time. Martin contacted hotel staff and police a short time afterward, but her daughter's body was not discovered until around 1 a.m. on Sunday.

An autopsy was performed on Sunday, but the cause and manner of death was not determined, according to the Tribune. It could take weeks for further information to be revealed from the medical examiner's office, as a study of the autopsy continues.