Alcohol and topiramate found in her system were thought to have hastened the effects of hypothermia sustained by Jenkins remaining inside the freezer.

[2] Borrowing her mother's car,[3] she left the house at 11:30 p.m.[2] on Friday, September 8, 2017, to attend a private party at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare hotel in nearby Rosemont.

Camera footage later surfaced of her staggering, apparently intoxicated,[6] near the front desk at 3:20 a.m.,[7] and 5 minutes later she could be seen leaving an elevator on one of the lower floors.

Upon reaching the hotel management, she was told that they could not provide access to video footage from the night before until someone reported Jenkins missing to the police.

At 7:14 a.m., Martin called the Rosemont Public Safety Department, who informed her that it would be prudent to wait a few more hours before reporting her daughter missing, as often the individual simply turns up on their own.

[5] CNN reported that the motion-detecting security camera footage they received did not show Jenkins actually entering the freezer.

[11] However, community activist Andrew Holmes claimed that he was shown police footage of Jenkins entering the freezer alone, with no other persons nearby to assist her.

[5] Traces of topiramate, a drug used to treat epilepsy and migraine headaches, were found in her system, although she was never prescribed this medication.

Topiramate taken together with alcohol can enhance the effects of both, and hasten the onset of hypothermia, the presence of which was confirmed by lesions found in Jenkins' stomach.

The Rosemont police department issued a statement the same day, saying that while no foul play was suspected, their investigation had not yet been completed.

The attorney asserted that the hotel had the means to lock off the kitchen area, as it had a pair of plywood doors with a padlock.