Kenia Monge -- Deceased 4/1/11

Kenia Monge Disappears From Denver Nightclub, Cops Call Scenario 'Nightmare'

Girl, 19, Mysteriously Vanishes from Bar Leaving Behind Friends, Phone and Purse

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
April 8, 2011



Police say they are "very concerned" about the safety of a 19-year-old woman who went to a Denver nightclub with friends and mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind her purse and cell phone but few clues.

Kenia Monge, a recent high school graduate, went to the 24K Lounge, a downtown Denver hot spot Saturday night, where a group of underage friends had been drinking. Her friends told police that she excused herself from the table to go to the restroom and never returned.

Monge was last seen several hours later at a Conoco gas station a few miles from the club at 3 a.m. Sunday, according to the Denver Police Department.

Police say the case is not a typical missing person investigation. Officials from the Denver Police Department have called in the FBI and Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help in the investigation, an indication that they do not believe Monge simply ran away.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/kenia-monge-disappears-denver-nightclub-cops-call-nightmare/story?id=13330242

Missing Teen Case Leads Police To Weld County

Kenia Monge Disappeared After Night At LoDo Club

Posted by Kim Nguyen, Web Editor
POSTED: 4:09 pm MDT April 8, 2011

DENVER -- Police searching for a missing Aurora teen and evidence of her whereabouts are searching in locations outside of Denver, including outside a Weld County landfill.

Denver police said the Kenia Monge case is the police department's top priority.

On Friday, detectives released cell phone pictures of Monge, taken on the night she disappeared.

Read more: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27483658/detail.html

"seen at gas station"..........

no description at all of person[s] she was last seen with ?

John Prewett wrote:"seen at gas station"..........

no description at all of person[s] she was last seen with ?

~Snipped~

Monge's stepfather, Tony Lee, told ABC affiliate KMGH that a "good Samaritan" came forward and told police that he picked up the girl and was with her at the gas station early Sunday morning where she met and left with another man.

Police would not confirm that detail, or where the "good Samaritan" had found Monge to give her a ride, but Murray told ABCNews.com they were "talking with several key witnesses. We're working every lead."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/kenia-monge-disappears-denver-nightclub-cops-call-nightmare/story?id=13330242

The stepfather believes Kenia may have been drugged. He said the good Samaritan claims he found Kenia walking with a homeless man in downtown Denver around 2:15 am.

 

~Snipped~

The man said he took her back to 24K to get her car, but says her car wasn't in downtown Denver. He says Kenia said she got a ride from a girlfriend after visiting a hookah bar near I-25 and Colorado Blvd, so he offered to drive her to her home in Aurora.

The man says he stopped to get her cigarettes at a gas station at Speer Blvd. and Pennsylvania St., and says Kenia left with a short Hispanic man who gave her a cigarette.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-19yearold-disappears-from-denver-nightclub-20110405,0,166748.story

New photos of missing Aurora teen released

April 9, 2011

 


~Snipped~
But on Thursday, an employee of the “24K” nightclub spoke to FOX31 and provided the most revealing details so far.

"Our staff has confirmed Kenia was here that evening,” Johnny Coast, Director of Operations, said. “We recognized her. She has a very memorable face. She's also been here several times before. We can also tell you she was not drinking."

Earlier in the week, Kenia's father expressed concern over how she and her underage friends gained access to the club.

"There's got to be a false ID in this or there's a turn-you-head-the-other-way type of mentality or something," said Tony Lee.

But Coast disputes that allegation.

"Kenia presented an ID that showed she was 21. After a few hours of dancing with the same man, she left out the back door with him. Everyone remembers it. They watched her leave with him,” Coast said.

The last verified sighting of Monge, a recent Cherry Creek High School graduate, was around 3:00 a.m. Friday morning at a Conoco gas station at Speer Blvd. and Pennsylvania St. - roughly two hours after she separated from her friends to use the restroom at the Larimer Square nightclub.

She left her purse and her cell phone on a table that she was sharing with two girlfriends and simply vanished, the family said.

“We have been able to find numerous witnesses (from the nightclub) who could provide information and we have talked to them,” Murray said.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-aurora-missing-teen-case-gaining-national-attention-resources-20110407,0,843387.story

Conflicting stories - girlfriends said she went to the restroom, the employee says she danced with the same man for hours and everyone watched her leave with him...

Search Warrant Offers Clues In Girl's isappearance

Police Conduct Search Related To Man Who Gave Kenia Monge Ride Home On Night She Disappeared

Marshall Zelinger, 7NEWS Content Producer/Presenter
UPDATED: 10:48 pm MDT April 13, 2011

~Snipped~

7NEWS has obtained a copy of a search warrant Denver police filed in connection with her disappearance.

It describes police researching evidence connected to a man who has admitted to giving Monge a ride the night she disappeared. He said he dropped her off a gas station off at Speer Boulevard and Pennsylvania Street and watched her walk away with another man.

According to search warrant, the man sent Monge a text on the evening of April 1. 7NEWS is not naming the man because he has not been charged with any crime. The text message read, "Hey, this is (name), the guy who gave you a ride last night, white creepy van :) did you get home okay?"

The search warrant also details police searching the man's van. The officer reported seeing and smelling what seemed like new carpet. The man's friend who was with him the night they picked up Monge told police when he was last in the van on April 1, there was a black rubber mat covering the floor.

Read more: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27538430/detail.html

Man calls himself main suspect in case of missing teen, says he didn't do it

12:35 AM, Apr 14, 2011



DENVER - A 31-year-old convicted burglar says he is the main suspect in the disappearance of 19-year-old Kenia Monge and says he's told police several times he did not kidnap, sexually assault or kill her, 9Wants to Know has learned.

"Being the last person so far to have seen her, my life has been turned inside out," Travis Forbes told Investigative Reporter Deborah Sherman. "I have a criminal record, so it's been very difficult. The detectives in this case are going through my life with a fine-toothed comb."

Denver Police told 9Wants to Know Wednesday night they do not have a person of interest or a suspect in the case and still consider it a missing person case.

Read more: http://www.9news.com/news/article/193425/188/Man-calls-himself-suspect-in-case-of-missing-teen

I have to wonder how he could not recall her name. If you were the last one to see a missing person, wouldn't their name be seared in your mind? I don't know if he is involved, but he keeps saying "we" picked her up. Who is "we" and maybe the other half of "we" needs to be questioned more. Is it possible that he knows the other "we" left with her? This Eddie guy.

Also, the club is trying to do a little CYA. They allowed underage girls to drink in their club and one disappeared. Now, they didn't drink, and she left willingly. Of course, they all saw it, but none of her friends. And I always leave without my purse, don't you? I mean, what girl needs her makeup, lipstick, ID, and cell phone?

Exclusive: prosecutor refers to missing teen case as 'homicide'

Heidi Hemmat Investigative Reporter
4:59 p.m. MDT, May 31, 2011

 

GOLDEN, Colo. -- A Jefferson County prosecutor made a startling statement in court Tuesday during a hearing for a Denver man under investigation in the disappearance of 19-year-old Kenia Monge.

Travis Forbes, 31, faces a charge of motor vehicle theft after he was arrested in Austin, Texas on May 5 driving a car registered to a woman in Wheat Ridge.

During Tuesday’s advisement, a Jefferson County prosecutor referred to the Monge case as a “homicide investigation” in arguing that Forbes should be held on a higher bond amount.

Read more: http://www.kwgn.com/news/kdvr-kenia-monge-prosecutor-refers-to-monge-case-as-homicide-20110531,0,6909668.story

Griego: Missing woman's parents wade through 72 days of prayer, pain

By Tina Griego
Denver Post Columnist
Posted: 06/12/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT

Kenia Monge has been missing for 72 days now. A section of a living-room wall in her parents' Aurora home has been covered by pictures of her. Kenia at Cherry Creek High School. Kenia receiving an achievement award. Kenia laughing. Kenia making faces. Fliers with her photo and the word "Missing" are propped along the piano. Another 10,000 fliers, the latest batch, sit in boxes. The room is both shrine and television backdrop.

"I want you to see this," Kenia's stepfather, Tony Lee, says, and he swings the front door shut to display the wall behind it. A dried rose and a red lollipop are taped next to a sheet of paper. Kenia's 8-year-old brother, Anthony, drew a star upon it, with the words: "Dear Kenia, Welcome home. I really appreciate that you are home and I really love you."

If it is images that reporters need, Tony and Maria Lee will provide them. They will take time away from work. They will flip through photo albums. They will go upstairs to the bathroom where every day Maria prays, "Dear Lord, please bring Kenia home."

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_18256958

Kenia Monge's parents want 'answers' from Forbes

Heidi Hemmat Investigative Reporter
2:24 p.m. MDT, July 12, 2011

AURORA, Colo. -- Tony and Maria Lee were willing to give Travis Forbes the benefit of a doubt when he claimed he wasn’t responsible for the disappearance of their daughter, 19-year-old Kenia Monge. That is, until today.

“I need some answers now,” Lee told FOX31 Denver after learning that Forbes had been arrested in Fort Collins for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman, and then setting fire to her apartment on June 5.

“To me, there’s no doubt (Forbes knows what happened to Kenia),” he says. “Now all we want...is to have him ‘man up’ and tell us where our daughter is.”

Read more: http://www.kwgn.com/news/kdvr-kenia-monges-parents-want-answers-from-forbes-20110712,0,402418.story

Stepfather says police believe they have found body of Kenia Monge

By Jordan Steffen
The Denver Post
Updated: 09/07/2011 02:22:17 PM MDT

The stepfather of a 19-year-old woman who disappeared in April from a Denver nightclub says police have told him they believe they have found her body.

Denver police spokesman Detective John White said investigators were searching an area near Keenesburg for the body of Kenia Monge. He would not say what led the investigation there.

Tony Lee posted on a Facebook page devoted to the search for his stepdaughter that it was "with great, great sadness" that he had to "report to you that Denver police have called me and they believe they have found Kenia. I do not have any more info at this time."

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18843641

Coroner Identifies Remains of Missing 19-Year-Old Colorado Woman

Published September 08, 2011
Associated Press

DENVER – The remains of a 19-year-old woman who went missing after leaving a downtown nightclub earlier this year were identified Thursday afternoon, several hours after prosecutors charged a man with killing her.

The 4-foot-11 inch, 115-pound Kenia Monge disappeared March 31 from the 24K Lounge in lower downtown Denver, leaving her purse and cellphone at the club. She was wearing a black skirt, black jacket and red high-heeled shoes.

Police later discovered she had been at gas station two miles away at about 3 a.m. on April 1, with 31-year-old Travis Forbes.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/08/coroner-identifies-remains-missing-1-year-old-colorado-woman/

Police: Suspect in Monge slaying visited websites of missing women

By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
Updated: 09/10/2011 01:26:57 AM MDT

Police investigating the disappearance of 19-year-old Kenia Monge searched a computer at Travis Forbes' workplace and found he had visited multiple websites for women who had been reported missing.

Monica Poole, who rented space to Forbes at Deby's Bakery and Cafe in Aurora for his granola-bar business and is a witness in the Monge case, said Forbes often spent the night in her office, scanning the Internet.

He also had been recorded rolling a cooler into the back of the bakery at 2369 S. Trenton Way in Aurora and turning off a surveillance camera.

When detectives found the missing-person sites on her computer, Poole said, they began investigating whether Forbes was involved in the disappearance of any of those women.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18865042

Profiler: Confessed murderer may have killed others

12:06 PM, Sep 10, 2011



DENVER - Travis Forbes, who led Denver Police to the precise location of the body of a 19-year-old girl he allegedly murdered and buried, fits the profile of a sociopath and a serial murderer, a former FBI profiler tells 9Wants to Know. His former boss also calls him a "compulsive liar."

"The question for law enforcement is not, 'Is he capable of murder?' but, 'How many people he might have killed,'" Clint Van Zandt, a 25-year former behavioral profiler and recognized expert for the FBI, said. "For sure, he's a sociopath, a psychopath and an anti-social personality."

Forbes was charged Thursday with killing Kenia Monge on April 1.

Read more: http://www.9news.com/news/article/218302/207/Profiler-Confessed-murderer-may-have-killed-others-

Family Of Kenia Monge Prepares For Her Funeral
September 9, 2011 8:20 AM

AURORA (CBS4) – Five months after the reported disappearance of Kenia Monge, family members are trying to stay strong now that they know what happened to her.

Authorities say Monge’s body was found this week in a shallow grave near Interstate 76 in Weld County. Police say Travis Forbes, now the prime suspect in her murder, led them to the body.

Monge’s family told CBS4 they went to the Denver police station late Thursday afternoon and got the difficult news that the body was positively identified as Monge.

“There nothing you can do to prepare yourself for this,” said Tony Lee, Monge’s stepfather. “I had 5 months and 8 days to do so. It didn’t work.”

more: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/09/09/family-of-kenia-monge/

Griego: Daughter, Kenia Monge, was too young to need a final resting place

By Tina Griego
Denver Post Columnist
Updated: 09/15/2011 10:53:34 AM MDT

Kenia Monge was missing five months and seven days when the district attorney's office called her father to say they had found her body. Tony Lee is actually Kenia's stepfather, but the two of them never made that distinction. When Kenia was 12, newly arrived here from Honduras and learning English, she asked Lee for the words defining their relationship.

I am your stepfather and you are my stepdaughter, he told her. No, she told him, you are my father and I am your daughter.

Throughout these months of unknowing, Tony has been the one in control, a man who compartmentalized his emotions. He did so because he didn't want the kids to see him fall apart and because he believed that in maintaining such discipline, he could prepare himself.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/griego/ci_18897859

Texas Documents: Travis Forbes Wanted For Murder In May

Police Report Obtained By 7NEWS Shows Forbes Suspect In Missing Person/Homicide Investigation

Marshall Zelinger, 7NEWS Content Producer/Presenter
UPDATED: 8:01 am MDT September 21, 2011

DENVER -- Documents obtained only by 7NEWS show that Travis Forbes is suspected of murder - most likely the Kenia Monge disappearance - and when he was arrested in Texas in May.

Monge went missing from a Denver nightclub on April 1. Her body was discovered in a shallow grave near Keenesburg earlier this month. Forbes was charged with her murder on Sept. 8.

Forbes admitted to giving her a ride the morning she disappeared but told 7NEWS reporter Marc Stewart in April that he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

Read more: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/29250979/detail.html

Victim In Forbes Case Meets Supporters After Release From Hospital

Lydia Tillman To Face Forbes During Court Hearing Tuesday

September 26, 2011 8:52 AM

MASONVILLE, Colo. (CBS4) – A Fort Collins woman who was attacked and had to jump from her burning apartment in July was surrounded by friends and family during her first weekend out of the hospital.

Lydia Tillman, 30, is still recovering from a stroke and other injuries she sustained in the July 5 crime. On Sunday in Masonville she used a speech-assistance program on her iPad to communicate with those gathered at a benefit for her.

Read more: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/09/26/victim-in-forbes-case-meets-supporters-after-release-from-hospital/

Travis Forbes pleads guilty to murder of Kenia Monge

1:24 PM, Sep 26, 2011

DENVER - A man accused of killing a woman who disappeared in March after leaving a Denver nightclub pleaded guilty on Monday.

VIEW TIMELINE OF TRAVIS FORBES' CASE

Police charged 31-year-old Travis Forbes in the death of 19-year-old Kenia Monge. The plea agreement was that Forbes would forgo the death penalty, but will be sentenced to life in prison. As the judge read the plea agreement, Forbes was crying in his chair.

"Travis - why did you do this? What did my girl do to you for you to do this to her? You messed with the wrong person. The demons will haunt you for the rest of your life," Monge's aunt said in court on Monday.

Read more: http://www.9news.com/news/article/221398/339/Travis-Forbes-What-I-did-was-a-horrific-crime

Killer initially set out to aid Kenia Monge, her stepdad says

By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
Posted: 10/01/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT

Travis Forbes apparently had every intention of being a good Samaritan — at first.

He drove an obviously intoxicated Kenia Monge, 19, to a Denver club to help her reunite with her friends and also let her use his cellphone to attempt to call them.

But when she passed out in his van in the early-morning hours of April 1, his intentions suddenly changed.

"This is where things go south fast. He pulls off Fourth and Emerson near a park. While Kenia is passed out, he sexually assaults her," said Kenia's stepfather, Tony Lee.

Forbes would soon kill her.

Lee is speaking out to warn other young women about the perils of trusting strangers.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19018066

Travis Forbes DNA Collected During 4 Hour Texas Interrogation

DNA, Blood & Hair Samples Collected From Suspect In Kenia Monge Disappearance

Marshall Zelinger, 7NEWS Content Producer/Presenter
UPDATED: 12:25 am MDT October 14, 2011

DENVER -- For nearly four hours, Travis Forbes was interrogated in Texas about the disappearance of Kenia Monge.

7NEWS was the first to obtain the interview video recording from Austin Police.

Forbes was arrested on May 4, accused of stealing a car from Wheat Ridge.

According to a 57-page police report obtained by 7NEWS, the report revealed he was arrested in the late afternoon. At 7:45 p.m., Denver police had a search warrant for Forbes' DNA. At 11:15 p.m., a Denver police detective arrived at the Austin airport. One hour later that detective was interrogating Forbes.

Read more: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/29480953/detail.html

Colorado killer Travis Forbes played cat-and-mouse game with police for months

Updated: 11/27/2011 02:17:36 PM MST
By Jordan Steffen
The Denver Post

The two were alone in the room when Travis Forbes leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head and looked the detective in the eye.

"I'll tell you everything, but I want a deal," he said.

It had been five months since a 19-year-old Aurora woman went missing from a Lower Downtown Denver nightclub, and two months since a Fort Collins woman was attacked and left for dead. Police suspected Forbes in both crimes.

In that time, investigators had come to know Forbes as a well-read, charming liar. While they were skeptical of Forbes' sudden confession, they were certain that, given the opportunity, he would kill again.

To stop him, they would need his help.

Over five months, detectives systematically unraveled Forbes' lies, a process detailed here. They also caught some breaks — and took advantage of them — ultimately leading to the grim discovery of Kenia Monge's body and Forbes' conviction for her murder.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19419185

Travis Forbes' girlfriend allegedly faked his alibi for the hours of Kenia Monge's murder

Updated: 12/19/2011 01:15:40 PM MST
By Jessica Fender
The Denver Post

Travis Forbes' girlfriend allegedly gave the convicted murderer a fake alibi for the time during which he was killing and burying 19-year-old Kenia Monge, according to recently unsealed court documents.

Kerry Humphrey, 23, has been charged with two felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant. Humphrey today delayed her arraignment until Jan. 23.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19579330

Kenia Monge surveillance video shows several had a chance to help

Posted October 31, 2011, 11:42 pm MT

One of the last images of Kenia Monge is of the 19 year old wandering barefoot into the night outside a LoDo apartment complex. Minutes later, authorities believe she met her murderer, Travis Forbes, who’s now serving life in prison.

But before that, surveillance video released Monday by the Denver District Attorney’s Office showed at least a half dozen people who crossed the very young, very small and obviously intoxicated woman’s path.

None of the video includes audio, so it’s impossible to know whether any of the men Monge encountered in her final hours offered to call a friend or a cab for the young woman.

Authorities say that after Monge and an unnamed man were asked to leave a Denver nightclub in the early hours of April 1, the pair made their way to The Loft apartment building at 1555 California Street.





Read more: http://blogs.denverpost.com/crime/2011/10/31/kenia-monge-surveillance-video-forbes/2298/

This case will be featured on Dateline tonight at 9 PM EDT.

Dateline revisits Travis Forbes' murder of Kenia Monge

9:16 AM, Jul 13, 2012



http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/277378/346/Dateline-revisits-the-Kenia-Monge-murder-case

Kerry Humphrey pleads guilty to lying for Travis Forbes, Kenia Monge's murderer

By Michael Roberts Thu., Aug. 2 2012 at 3:29 PM

On April 1, 2011, nineteen-year-old Kenia Monge disappeared -- and she remained missing until September, when Travis Forbes, who originally portrayed himself as a good Samaritan, led authorities to her body outside Keenesberg. Forbes pleaded guilty shortly thereafter -- but it wasn't until this week that his girlfriend, Kerry Humphrey, did likewise, admitting that she lied to give him an alibi.

An affidavit for Humphrey's arrest, on view below, offers the details for her falsehoods, and many of Forbes's. The document notes Monge's disappearance after a night of clubbing, as well as the discovery that her purse, cell phone and keys had been left at the venue in question, 24K.

Read more: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/08/kerry_humphrey_lying_travis_forbes_kenia_monge_murder.php