Autopsy Set For Woman Found Slain In Luxury Hotel
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday for a Texas woman who was found slain in the Whitehall Hotel just off the Magnificent Mile.
As WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller reports, the family of the young woman – identified as Brianna Gardner, 22 – had gathered in their North Texas home Monday evening after they received word of the murder.
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A man who said he was her brother declined to comment.
Gardner was found Monday morning in room 713 of the Whitehall Hotel at 105 E. Delaware Pl. Police arrived about 10 a.m. Monday.
A source says Gardner woman was shot in the head.
CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports most of the hotel guests thought someone famous was staying at the hotel because of all the police and media presence. They were shocked to learn a woman had been shot to death in a 7th floor room of the hotel.
And as police investigated the woman's death, many hotel guests tried to remember if they had seen or heard anything strange.
Carolyn Such and Maryetta Palmer said they wonder if what they thought was someone trying to get into their room early Tuesday morning might have been connected.
Such said, "It could have been a cleaning person. They seemed to have a key."
Palmer said, "But they didn't announce themselves, and they didn't knock."
Another hotel guest was on the 7th floor just a few doors down from where the victim was discovered.
He didn't want to talk on camera, but he told investigators he heard something like a gunshot around 3:15 a.m. Monday.
Chicago Police said no one was in custody in Gardner's slaying as of Tuesday morning.
An autopsy is expected to be conducted later Tuesday at the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
