What happened to Denver teen Kenia Monge? Chilling crime explored ahead of Lifetime's #TextMeWhenYou

Publish date: 2024-06-20

Lifetime's #TextMeWhenYouGetHome is all set for a premiere on June 6, 2022, focusing exclusively on women who were preyed upon, beginning with Denver's Kenia Monge and her spine-chilling case from nearly a decade ago. The true-crime docuseries will premiere on Lifetime at 09.00 pm ET.

On April 1, 2011, 19-year-old Kenia Monge was reported missing after going out for a party with her friends the previous night. The recent high-school graduate disappeared without a trace, baffling authorities for months before investigators could finally pinpoint the location of her body with the help of the killer's alibi. She was allegedly assaulted and killed by a local baker, Travis Forbes, who initially evaded suspicion by providing a solid alibi for himself.

Travis Forbes was later sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder. Read on for more details about the gruesome murder of Kenia Monge.

Who was Kenia Monge and what happened to her?

Kenia Monge was a typical 19-year-old girl from Denver, who went out drinking with her friends at the 24K Lounge, a downtown Denver hotspot for teenagers, on March 31, 2022. According to testimonies from her friends, she excused herself to go to the washroom, but never returned.

According to the Denver Police Department, she was spotted at a gas station several hours later. Kenia's stepfather Tony Lee later received a message on Kenia's phone asking if she had reached home.

This was from Travis Forbes, who allegedly came forward and told the police that he gave her a lift that night. He said that on the way, Monge wanted cigarettes, so they stopped at the Conoco gas station, where Monge met an Asian man and wandered off with him. Forbes also said that this was the last he had seen of her and maintained that he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

Investigations initially focused on getting hold of this Asian man, and despite some suspicions, Forbes' airtight alibi meant that he was not a suspect for many months to come. Meanwhile, there was no sign of Kenia since that night of March 31.

How did Kenia Monge Die?

Denver Police Detective Nash Gurule allegedly suspected Travis Forbes of the murder of Kenia Monge and tried to get him to confess, but to no avail. Travis was arrested for a different crime months later. He was arrested by Fort Collins authorities for allegedly beating and assaulting a 30-year-old woman, Lydia Tillman.

After initially investigating him, authorities did find certain odd things, like the newly remodeled interior of his van, but nothing solid to press charges against him.

After being taken into custody for the Lydia Tillman assault case, Travis was allegedly "done running." He admitted that he wanted to confess and made a deal with the authorities that he would give his testimony in exchange for not being labeled a "s*x offender." His compliance also meant that he would avoid the death penalty.

He pleaded guilty to Monge's murder and admitted that he did pick her up in downtown Denver, while Monge was extremely intoxicated. While in the van, Monge passed out and Travis took the opportunity to sexually assault her. When she woke up, they got into a scuffle that ended with Travis strangling Kenia to death. In his confession, he said:

"I definitely took advantage of her being drunk...She kinda came to and she realized that we had had sex. And she started hitting me, and I started hitting her back … And then she started to scream...And I strangled her, I strangled her, I strangled her. I killed her.

After killing her, Travis put her body in a cooler and drove around with her body for an entire day before burying her in a shallow grave far away. He led the authorities to the site where they found the remains of Kenia.

He was sentenced to life with no possibility of parole.

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