A 19-year-old girl was found dead in a hotel freezer Sunday after she went missing from a party in Rosemont, Chicago, reports said.

The body of Kenneka Jenkins was found in a walk-in freezer at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel and Conference Center where the teen was attending a party on the ninth floor on Friday night. According to ABC 7, her family was told by the police that Jenkins was intoxicated when she walked into the freezer. Jenkins let herself into the freezer in a drunken state and died inside, the family was told.

According to Jenkins’ mother Tessa Martin, the teenager had left her house to go to the party with her friends. She last contacted her family around 1:30 a.m. E.T Saturday when she called her older sister Leonore Harris.

Jenkins’ friends called her mother after 4 a.m E.T. to inform her they had left the hotel after searching for Jenkins but did not find her. They had Jenkins’ cell phone with them and had also taken the car that Martin had lent her daughter for the night, the Chicago Tribune reported.

During a press conference on Sunday, Martin said she went to the hotel around 5 a.m. E.T. Saturday to search for her daughter. However, the hotel rules required that she submit a missing person’s report before they could review surveillance footage.

When Martin called the Rosemont Police Department, she was asked to wait for a few hours to see if Jenkins turned up before filing the report. Later that morning, her elder sister filed the report and the authorities went to the hotel to check for Jenkins.

According to Gary Mack, a spokesman for the village of Rosemont, the 11-hour search was conducted across all public areas and the ninth floor, where witnesses reported to have seen her last. "The hotel staff and management (were) actively canvassing the area at that time," Mack said.

Jenkins’ body was found just before 12.30 a.m. on Sunday in the freezer which was switched on and was cold but was not being used to store food. Martin said she did not believe her daughter went into the freezer by herself.

According to WGN-TV, her sister Harris said: "The freezer door is heavy. So there's no way. If they're saying she's drunk, she don't have no strength. If she had enough strength to open that freezer door, she would have had enough strength to walk straight."

Her mother also suspects foul play: "I believe someone in this hotel killed my child," Martin said. "(I'm) horrified. It's something that no one could ever imagine. It's unbelievable." Jenkins had recently got a job at a nursing home and was in school, her family said. She wanted to become a lawyer.

An examination of the body was conducted by Cook County Medical Examiner and the cause of death is yet to be determined. An autopsy has been scheduled.

The hotel issued a statement about Jenkins’ death Sunday evening and said: “We are saddened by this news, and our thoughts are with the young woman and her family during this difficult time. The hotel staff will continue to cooperate fully with local authorities.”

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