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Video shows Chicago woman staggering through hotel kitchen, not entering freezer where her body was found

Source: Chicago Tribune / Getty

The mysterious death of Kenneka Jenkins kept us captivated well later on the xix-yr-old student was plant dead inside a Crowne Plaza hotel freezer. How could an average teenage girl, on a regular nighttime, just walk into a hotel freezer and never again be seen alive?

According to the Melt County Medical Examiner, Kenneka died from hypothermia with alcohol and a drug used to care for epilepsy and migraines listed as "significant contributing factors." Her death was ultimately ruled an accident, just that didn't end amateur sleuths who sought to solve the instance from conjuring up countless conspiracy theories that explained what Chicago detectives couldn't.

On the 1-twelvemonth anniversary of her death, we look dorsum the theories that kept us scrolling social media for answers.

MUST READ: What Happened To Kenneka Jenkins?

Conspiracy #1: She Was Being Raped While Her Friends Were On FB Live

Kenneka Jenkins was partying with friends on the 9th floor of the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel & Conference Eye in Rosemont earlier she disappeared. After a vigorous search, friends were unable to notice Kenneka and called her mother, Tereasa Martin, to see if she had returned home considering they couldn't notice her.

Hours afterward, a FB Live, showing Kenneka's last moments, was discovered on a friend'south page. Viewers believed they could hear what sounded like a woman's moans and screams in the background and that it was Kenneka crying out for aid.

Kenneka could be seen in the reflection of her friend'south sunglasses, but reports that she was being sexually assaulted proved to exist unfounded. Her friend Irene Roberts opened up virtually the night Kenneka went missing in an hour-long interview. According to Irene, they were all leaving the hotel with Kenneka, who was drunk. When they left the room, she realized she left her phone and keys in the room. When they went dorsum to find her belongings Kenneka slipped away.

Conspiracy #2: Her Friends Prepare Her Up

A theory began circulating pointing to Kenneka'southward friends. Co-ordinate to this narrative, her friends set her up to be raped for money. The incident turned fatal and she was murdered then dumped in the freezer. While this would explain why her clothing appeared to be falling off her trunk, information technology was debunked past surveillance footage that showed Kenneka walking alone. Skeptics bombarded her friends Irene and Monifa Shelton's social media pages, leading to Shelton posting an emotional message about their friendship.

"Tin can y'all please leave me alone bro we been bestfriend since 3rd course we did everything together literally everything we use to call ourself the nene twins 🤞🏾👭 we slept together ate together broke bread together that was my ace 💔😪it pain me I never thought I was be doin this nosotros suppose to be takin trips we had shit planned out I'g so distressing chiliad 🤦🏽‍♀️ we sisters for life."

Conspiracy #3: Information technology'due south A Cover-upwards

Tereasa Martin believes there was foul play involved in the death of her daughter. According to Martin, hotel employees wouldn't check security footage within the first hours Kenneka went missing. And when they released the crime scene photos of Kenneka'south body were released to the public, the positioning of her body and disheveled wearable raised what her female parent said was "more questions than answers." The horrific images show Kenneka's shirt lifted up, her pants pulled downward and a shoe missing. She also had abrasions on her pes and 1 side of her body.

Martin appeared on the Dr. Oz testify, where Oz attempted to explain why Kenneka's clothing could have been effected by the hypothermia with a phenomenon called paradoxical undressing. According to Oz, someone suffering fatal hypothermia may feel a blitz of oestrus when they endeavor to undress themselves. Notwithstanding, he stated, "more than than likely information technology's not what happened, but information technology's a possibility." At that place has been no resolve why her article of clothing appeared that way.

Conspiracy #iii: Someone Followed Her Into The Freezer

Public demand for footage of Kenneka Jenkins earlier her expiry reached a climax later on Chicago activist Andrew Holmes held a printing briefing claiming he saw footage of Kenneka physically walking into the freezer and not coming out.

"The important part of this we always wondered and wanted to know: Did anybody pull her down there, did anybody force her downwards at that place, was anybody on the other side in the room when she got down at that place, and the reply to that is no," Holmes said at the press conference.

Detectives released the footage to the public later on, but it didn't show Kenneka walking in the freezer like Holmes suggested. What the surveillance did show was Kenneka drunkenly stumbling around the halls of the hotel. The video ends with the intoxicated teen walking into a deserted kitchen area but not into the freezer, which added to theories detectives were covering-upward a murder.

Conspiracy Theory #five: The footage Was Altered

After police released footage of Kenneka meandering through the halls, skeptics weren't satisfied with the conclusion. They believe the footage was edited to embrace up her murder. Several videos popped upwardly on Youtube suggesting someone else tin be seen following Kenneka before the angles switch. Some even suggested the red lines on the footage show there'south another person in proximity.

While the case has been airtight and her expiry ruled an accident, the question, What happened to Kenneka Jenkins? notwithstanding remains. Rest in peace Kenneka.

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