Off The Record /// Kenneka Jenkins | Forensic Files

foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] last year we covered the Kanika Jenkins
case we covered it in like September and she was found dead in that hotel in the
freezer of that hotel in September so for us it was like you know for as far as the garage is concerned Captain it
was like breaking news for us because usually we're talking about cases you know a year or two yeah sometimes
decades yeah some of them have already gone cold and this one was this one was crazy because there was so
much and pardon my language here but there was so much crap about this case on the
internet at the time dirty and a lot of this stuff was was junk information um there wasn't a whole lot of
information about the case the police there was such a uproar and that's one of the reasons why we decided to cover
it so early yeah and we did take some Flack you know some people were like what are you're
covering accidents now and now keep in mind that was like it's it's at the time it's whose perspective are you listening
to right was it an accident was it a murder and that's what we wanted to really look at was look deep into this
thing and find out if it was a murder because it's a very strange situation to see a
young woman just 19 years old right walking zombie style through the hotel hallways all by herself all by her
Lonesome and then eventually she's found dead inside this freezer and her family was in an uproar
rightfully so I think because her mother God bless her she wanted to answer she just wanted to know what happened to her
child well what's so sad about the whole thing is that the mom actually went down
to the hotel you know and said hey my daughter's missing and she's here and the hotel
said ah she's not here and if people would have went and looked for her and they would have searched all all the
areas of the hotel I think they would have found her and I don't think she would have been dead and I think uh you
know this would just be we probably never would have heard of this story if that's what happened right and I wish we
I wish that's how it turned out but that's not how it did well in the the wild thing here was you know the media
and the community and people wanted to the police came under Fire you know oh you're not really investigating this
very well and the hotel came under Fire and where my heart lied was in and I followed kanika's mother's good example
she said you know what her friends are the ones that I'm looking at and I followed her good
example because if what was this what was she out doing by herself you know she's clearly messed up is the best way
to put it when you watch that video of her walking around she is messed up and she's out walking by herself a very
vulnerable situation for her to be in and her friends her quote-unquote friends so-called friends weren't there
to keep an eye on her and I know they're not you know we covered uh Brittany Drexel recently and and one of her
acquaintances said you know I wasn't there to babysit somebody and I get what they're saying but still this is this is
this was weird to me that that not only did her friends let her walk around and wander the hotel but they I almost
almost dropped the F-bomb there because I got all worked up they left the hotel they their friend they don't know where
the hell she is and they leave well into their credit though they did call her mother yeah so that's one good
thing but also thank you for for talking me off the ledge there but when you also
have a situation where you can watch a lot of footage of Kanika walking through the hotel and it's very it is very scary
because we know that in result and it's very zombie-like it's very uh it's I mean I've seen drunk walking
before this is beyond that and so you just kind of wonder what was her actions beforehand what was how was she acting
in the hotel room beforehand and and that's where I questioned them as friends because you would have had some
sign that she was beyond talk intoxicated right I can't believe that this just like in the blink of an eye
she's all messed up all of a sudden this this so here's the thing though too which is wild because
where we had a few a few people saying hey what are you doing covering accidents now we had quite the reverse
by most of the people that heard our episodes and if you want to go back and listen to those that's episodes 144 and
145 we covered it September of last year but we had well on all the old episodes
are available for free on the Stitcher app well what we had the reverse of that was we had loads of people saying crying
screaming out for an update on kanika's case because there was good information that was learned once you sifted through
all the crap that was on the internet about this case there was good information that was learned and we'll
go through some of that today and discuss that now uh first being the Cook County medical examiner's report showed
that kanika's blood alcohol level was at .112 now the legal limit in Illinois is
.08 it's been reported that can was drinking cognac so we knew she was drinking you know we
talked about that Captain and we we actually speculated that there might have been somebody that drugged her
drink right um and this might have led to this unfortunate situation but I think her
mom also said that she had a kind of a I think the bomb had an interesting relationship with alcohol
where if she drinks she got a little more drunk than most people a little I think she said like she I what her words
were something to the effect of like we don't drink in this family because it messes us up so much like right she's
like I have one drink and I'm I'm severely intoxicated right so now we have a situation where Kanika is above
the legal limit so again it kind of explains the walking through the hotel in which in the manner
in which she did well moms and dads I don't mean to scare anybody Captain but uh I guess roughly 5 000 teenagers die
each year from alcohol related incidents um 5 000 teenagers and I know Kanika was 19
and she's technically an adult but lump her in with the teenagers here that's more than than auto crashes more than
homicides more than suicides so something to be aware of but on top of her alcohol blood alcohol level being so
high uh she had a quote therapeutic level unquote of top I'm going to try to say
this Captain this is why I didn't become a doctor because I can't pronounce the medications right that's the only reason
that that was the only reason why I didn't get into it the medical field with college or med school or any of
that for all those books all that reading you had to do it's Topiramate to pyromate
t-o-p-i-r-a-mate and this is something that she is uh prescribed no so this this drug is not prescribed to her but
it would be prescribed for things such as seizures migraines and I guess sometimes people use it to like for
weight loss don't I'm putting my stamp on this right here don't use prescription drugs for weight loss Nick
told you so sure um but anyway like you said she did not have a prescription for this drug uh I
guess this drug can be unsafe if mixed with alcohol like most drugs uh you wonder how she got this I mean maybe a
friend was saying hey take this before we drink because then that way you won't get a headache and I think there there
lies the issue there lies the problem was she drugged was her drink drugged um I here's the thing
we talked about this and I don't think that the the if that were the case police have not been able to prove that
right you know they would need people to say hey we saw so and so do this or after the fact we were told so and so
did this and they're quite proud of what they did now the official cause of death
for Kanika was hyperthermia um and like we said she was locked in a freezer um and
but Sheik very likely could have put herself in the freezer and that's the way that this situation looking back on
it now appears to have gone down that she put herself in that freezer that for days so
we saw the video footage of her walking into the kitchen area I guess that video
footage the clarification that they offered later after we covered it was that that those cameras had been running
their motion detectored motion censored cameras they had been running for days and not
had picked up anything because nobody went into that kitchen until she did right so she was the first one in there
last one in there and then they find an employee found her in the freezer this is after they're sent off looking for
her yeah so I mean what the police think and I believe what the family now thinks
is that she you know was roaming the hotel went in the kitchen opened up the freezer door when inside got locked in
yeah and I tell you what anybody that's worked in restaurants or um you know bars any of these big
walk-in freezers you can walk into them and they do latch behind you they do you
know it's a secured door it's it's sealing off airtight right and if it's dark in there
you know not always is it obvious how to get out of those things and I think it's also extremely
intoxicated she's intoxicated you know maybe a little bit above legal limit right but
for her and again what we know about her family her reaction to this is probably
above that and then we have a little bit of prescription pills if you mix that you know where where was her mind at she
gets into this uh situation and she might not be able to get out of it well and the hotel came under Fire and the
course they should have the reason being too I mean not only do they have a a kid that that died on their premise
but uh on their um property but we also have this suspicion of people saying well
you know the the video appears to be edited or somebody's image has been removed from the video right again to
remove somebody's image from a video would take hours upon hours and it would take extreme amount of Technology it's
not as simple as people try to make it out to be on the internet well and I'll tell you what I I have to I couldn't do
this at the time because we didn't have enough information but you know looking at this now here we are what nine months
later and I can say that I think that the police actually did a fairly decent job
on this thing I think this was not an easy case to look into I think that especially with people screaming
shouting from the hilltops of wrongdoing of possible police cover-up or the hotel
cover-up well because conspiracy of some level and we do know that they looked at
this quite a bit um you know Kanika was tested for all kinds of possible drugs being in her system
and no illegal drugs were found in her system which after seeing her walking in those videos is shocking to me
um they also double checked that it was not any type of date rape drug now I'm not gonna lie to you Captain I don't
know much about this type pyromate uh I don't know why it would be in her drink it it well nobody said it's in her drink
it's in her system thank you thank you so so again I I think if this is something that somebody was uh
prescribed one would know who's prescribed in that area or that group of friends with this drug and I'm sure they
know and it could be a simple explanation like I said if this is for migraines there's a lot of times that
I've you know headed out to the bar and I'll I'll take a couple Advil beforehand
chicken glass of water take a couple Advil so could it be something as simple as that and like we said we have a
situation where this um mom is claiming that she reacts to alcohol in a different way than most
people so let's just assume that she's going to act different with alcohol plus the prescription pills well and here's
one thing that we didn't know at the time either was that the uh police they did issue several search warrants in
this case and they also did multiple forensic cell phone searches including kanika's cell phone so yeah that's good
that's that's big obviously and so they obviously we know they didn't find anything suspicious to lead to this and
then here's where I start to wander Captain is this something where okay so sometimes when people are
selling illegal drugs or doing illegal drugs sometimes they're passing off prescription meds as such
could she have thought she was taking something to you know get her High yeah like ecstasy or something right and in
trade it's just it's just some jerk that's selling these pills off at you know 10 15 20 a pop yeah his son his
mother's uh migraine medicine right which causes dizziness so it might make you lead you to believe hey maybe I just
got some low-grade stuff it kind of messed me up a little bit oh I mixed it with this Cognac
and you know it's it's having double the effect I almost wonder if that's the case that we have here because we know
we have teens partying we have a whole bunch of people partying uh what else do we know about the case that leads me to
believe that it was investigated well was not only those forensic cell phone searches but that room I think it was
room like 9 9 26 or something like that is where they stayed well that room was rented with a stolen credit card there
were two men that were eventually taken into custody regarding this stolen credit card I
don't know I don't know if they were prosecuted or where that led but it certainly gave them a starting point for
investigating and it gave them a bit of the upper hand a little leverage when they're interviewing these people going
okay we don't really care so much about your stolen credit card we're here to figure out what happened to this girl
that turned up dead and nothing came of this well I think the biggest sign for me is the fact that
the Kanika Jenkins mother decides hey I'm going to step back I understand that there's a bunch of rumors Happening Here
I understand there's a bunch of stuff on the internet you know calling for some kind of conspiracy or tampering with the
tapes I'm going to take a step back I'm going to let the the police do their job
we're gonna we're gonna get an autopsy done let's figure out what the findings are
and let me see if I can see the evidence do I believe the evidence right and she
she does so I think to me that's a big sign that not only did they do a good job
um but they also did a good job of keeping her in the loop keeping her informed I mean we've seen we have
another accidental death Kendrick Johnson and that's a family that the police kept
in the dark and they're they're they're pulling a a third autopsy now they're gonna dig up his remains again to do
another autopsy and I think that that shows that in this case that the police were um kept the family in the loop kept
her lawyers in the loop did everything that they could and the mother believes the police well and you know where
conspiracy theorists on this case on the Kanika Jenkins case where they were shouting out that they had you know her
clothes being partially removed right you know that is it's part of the hypothermia me a process it's a natural
thing that that people will do when they're dying in that manner it's uh undressing them themselves as you know
and then the other thing too you know that that's not so surprising I think we all kind of knew that but the
the thing that I've learned since we've covered this was there were some uh sores that were were seen on her body
and so a lot of people attributed that to her having been beaten being attacked before death
um and I what I've learned is that those Legions those those are they're there are erosions that occur from
hypothermia so it's another frequently occurred thing that takes place during that process so she wasn't there where
that looks like there might be evidence of her being beaten or attacked beforehand that's just not the case I
love I love a good conspiracy I just always have and I think um I think in initially is there
was there cause for rumors yes is their cause to look into it as possibly a conspiracy definitely but now that we
have the autopsy now that we have the police findings now that we have the statements from her family I think you
can kind of put that to bed but it's sadly enough that's not what's happening we're getting emails
um every day and messages on Instagram and Facebook going hey do an update on this
well it's like one just Google it right but uh you know I I prefer to do an update on
something where there's new information on a case that's not solved right but but I think some of the people that I
said okay yeah we're gonna do update on this you know they're going okay yeah because I'm interested on the conspiracy
angle and it's just not there it's just not there right well and here's the thing nobody you know listening back to
our coverage of the case I don't know that there was anybody that's you know far removed from the case such as myself
that was more angry I wanted somebody to blame I thought that somebody was you know needed to be brought to Justice
well I still think there is somebody to be blamed and I think when the mother of
a 19 year old girl shows up to a hotel and says I was contacted by my daughter's friends that she's here and
that she's you know at a party she's drinking and she knows again she was super calm when she calls 9-1-1 she's
super respectful I mean you cannot applaud Kanika Jenkins mother anymore and she goes down there and says hey
she's here let's look for her right and I think if they would have done that we wouldn't have a 19 year old that died
from this we would have a 19 year old that would hopefully learn a lesson from this and um and so yeah I do think their
negligence is awful and look this is just a rant because I would I think when you pulled up to the garage
I was listening to the Nick Offerman book canoe your own paddle or something like that
canoe your own panel uh Paddle Your Own Canoe let's put it raining endorsement for his book yeah yeah it's called a
canoe your own Pato Um well hey this is a post show man so douche Your Own Canoe
no so I think that that's where I have a problem with the state of the union for America and I
don't want to get too preachy but if you have a job do it to the best of your ability
and and that's it put a bunch put effort in I don't give a [ __ ] if you're making
a you know double cheeseburger at McDonald's make it the best you can and and I think in this scenario is
people that came in if I'm working at a hotel and a mom says hey my daughter is missing and she's in here I understand
that the the hotel is big I understand there's a lot of ground to cover but get off your freaking ass man and
and and and try to help try to make the world a better place and I think I think that's what they could have done
that's what they should have done and I think again it would have been that story that we never would have heard of
and this girl would have learned something from this her parents would have learned something and her friends
would have learned something now it's it's a tragedy well and I I agree with you 100 and what I didn't
realize was when we covered it that I opened myself up to some good good and warranted criticism let's
say and you know I had several people point out to me saying hey look Nick you can't say the hotel should have done
this and that because you know they have certain privacy issues to adhere to for
their guests yeah and I get that I get that but let's let's talk about a couple things this room was booked under a
stolen credit card and of all I don't know that Kanika Jenkins was actually listed as a guest
in that hotel was not and then thirdly this is not like some dude running in there going my wife's in here with some
other guy yeah find him so I need to know what room they're in so I can choke this bastard yeah so I can douche his
canoe this is a mother that comes in there visibly upset and visibly concerned that her daughter who's only
19 is in there yes 19 is an adult but can we make an exception can we make one exception can can I go you know what
it out of who I understand that there are policies in place and I understand that these hotels have rules however I
also understand as a human being if I'm presented with that all I can offer to you is what I would do in that given
situation I would go and I would search the hotel and I would look for that young lady and I'm not saying that I
guarantee that I'd be able to find her but I would at least look for her try to offer that poor woman some information
some information to say hey look we've searched we don't think that she's here well let's go back a little bit I don't
think she was visibly upset I think that Kanika Jenkins mother showed up she was obviously concerned
but I I think her level of intent you know if a mom came in and she's just crying hysterically I could see maybe
that putting off the hotel staff but when somebody comes in with this intent that she is here let's find her I'm I'm
showing you a lot of respect wake up and do your freaking job right um and again like you said now maybe you
don't find her but at the end of the day you know Kanika Jenkins family could walk away and say not only did the cops
do everything they could in their ability to help figure out what happened here but they showed us a level of
respect and so did the hotel and the that the hotel did everything that they could to do to help us but we were
walking away from this tragedy and the family can I would say if I was the family one I'm gonna sue your ass but
you didn't show me a level or respect you didn't show my daughter to love or respect you this was in your power to at
least look for her and you didn't and look you have cameras you can just start start by sending one or two people out
and then start going back by looking through some of the footage and you know of course we're going to email saying
well they would had to do this or we had to do that I don't know how that hotel works but I know a lot of people could
have said that you got somebody monitoring it you could have somebody could have said you know what actually
Somebody went into the kitchen well and here's the thing too I don't know how that hotel works but I know how
all hotels work in the sense that people only want to stay at these hotels if they're nice if they're affordable
and if they feel safe while they're there and here's the thing the hotel other than not looking for they really
don't hold much blame however this was something that they came under Fire in the Public's eye and rightfully so the
problem with them is they're a business they have a business to run and now they
look very bad in the public right this is what they're famous for they're famous for a girl turning up dead on
their on their property that they didn't go and search for being lazy Beast is a
[ __ ] and so that I hope that I you know while I sit here and I still am angry and I still want somebody to blame
there's just there's no weight to any of these conspiracies where I think that where I I where I can feel a little bit
good about is that I hope that that business has suffered uh greatly because I don't think that they handled this the
proper way and I guess there's something the Chicago city council will pass some
ordinance that will punish hotels where like injuries or deaths are the result of
quote-unquote unsecured areas you know that they they they're supposed to secure these areas they're supposed to
lock them down and uh provide signage uh that's that's easily seen easily visible
and so they the city has taken this seriously but again I I think this thing has been investigated I don't think that
there's unfortunately I don't think that there's any criminal charges that can be
brought upon anyone I wish that her friends would have handled this better I wish that the hotel would have handled
this better and I you know I just say I say a little prayer for her mother [Music]
thank you [Applause]

Off The Record /// Kenneka Jenkins

Nic and the Captain discuss: the Kenneka Jenkins case.

Thank you for the support.

Cheers Mates

Brief Summary

The episode discusses the Kanika Jenkins case, her death, and the investigation's findings regarding intoxication and hotel negligence.

Key points

The Tragic Case of Kanika Jenkins. Kanika Jenkins was found dead in a hotel freezer, raising questions about her last moments.
Alcohol and Prescription Drugs. Kanika's blood alcohol level was above the legal limit, raising concerns about her state.
Investigation Insights. The police faced scrutiny but ultimately conducted a thorough investigation into Kanika's death.
Hotel's Responsibility Questioned. Discussion on the hotel’s failure to search for Kanika Jenkins raises ethical concerns.
City Council's Response. Chicago city council plans to pass an ordinance punishing hotels for unsecured areas.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Her mother just wanted to know what happened to her child.

Discussing the emotional turmoil of Kanika's family.

1:57WatchSep 18, 2023

Tension

60/ 100Some tension

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