The Disappearance of Kenia Monge: How a White Van Unraveled a Killer’s Trail

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The following is for mature audiences only so if you want cool with dark disturbing and depraved

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You might want to keep it moving. Welcome to 10 minute murder

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10 minute

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It was a Thursday night in downtown Denver and 19 year old Kenya Monhe had a fake ID some bad luck and a group of friends who weren't

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Exactly keeping track of her by the next morning her boyfriend realized she had not made it home

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her phone and purse were still at the club and a random guy named Travis was texting her about his white creepy van

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And yes, that's what he called it. That is a direct quote

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What followed was a bizarre game of cat and mouse involving bleach a walk-in freezer and a man who thought he was just clever enough to get away with it all

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But Kenya's stepdad he wasn't about to let this slide

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This is a story of a family's relentless pursuit of answers a predator who couldn't help but leave breadcrums and how justice finally caught up

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But before we get into that story if you like your true crime brief and bingeable

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You found the right podcast tap the follow button now for access to at least two episodes per week and now let's get into it

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March 31st

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2011 was just another busy evening in downtown Denver the city hummed with the energy of nightlife

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Clubs overflowing streets bustling and drinks flowing a little too freely outside of the 24k lounge one young woman stood out from the crowd

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Barely under five feet tall Kenya moan hay lingered near the entrance her friends were still inside

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Partying on oblivious to the fact that Kenya had left without her phone her keys or purse all of which were still sitting on the table

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Kenya wasn't worried about her belongings though. She had bigger problems alone

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likely tipsy from the night's drinks

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She'd been separated from her group

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What began as a typical night out for a 19 year old with a fake ID was about to spiral into something far more sinister

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Kenya wasn't always a Denver resident. She was born in Honduras to a mother who was still a child herself

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Maria had Kenya when she was just 15 years old

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Life in Honduras was tough and Maria's family scraped together every bit

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They could descend Maria to the United States at 16 years old hoping she could build a better future

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Maria's journey to the United States wasn't glamorous, but it was a start

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She found her footing married Tony Lee and built a family that included two more daughters

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But Kenya wasn't a part of that picture yet

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It wasn't until 2004 when Kenya was 12 years old that Maria finally saved enough to bring her daughter out to join them

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For Kenya the move to America was life-changing

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She soaked up every bit of it the new language new culture and new opportunities

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She quickly adapted

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Excelling in school and forming strong bonds with her sisters and stepfather Tony

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In fact, it took only a few weeks for Kenya to start calling Tony dad

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Kenya wasn't just surviving in her new life. She was thriving after graduating high school

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She moved in with a boyfriend Lewis Easton ready to take on adulthood

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But like many 19-year-olds testing the boundaries of independence

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Kenya had a rebellious streak. She and her friends managed to snag fake IDs and

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Frequently sneaked into Denver's nightclubs. That's how Kenya found herself outside the 24k lounge that fateful night in March 2011

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Which should have been an ordinary night of bending the rules turned into a nightmare

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The next morning Kenya's boyfriend Lewis Easton woke up expecting to find her at home

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But her side of the bed was empty and Kenya was nowhere to be found

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Panic said in quickly he called her family and together they began retracing her steps from the night before

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Her friends were easy enough to track down. They still had her phone wallet and keys

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The sites of Kenya's personal belongings in her friends possession only deepened the family's unease

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Why would she leave without them where could she have gone with no money no ID and no way to call for help?

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The Monet family reached out to the police to file a missing persons report

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But instead of urgency they were met with indifference

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They were told to wait 72 hours in eternity for a family already fearing the worst

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Waiting wasn't an option for Tony Lee Kenya's stepfather

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He was determined to do something anything to find her while coming through Kenya's phone a strange text message caught his eye

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It was from an unknown number and read hey, this is Travis the guy who gave you a ride last night

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White creepy van smiley face. Did you get home? Okay?

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Most people might have zeroed in on the words white creepy van as a major red flag

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But Tony focused on the center who was Travis and why did he have Kenya's phone number and why hadn't Kenya made it home if she'd been given a ride home

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Tony wasted no time he began calling Travis repeatedly demanding answers after a day of dodging Tony's calls

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Travis finally picked up what he said did little to ease the family's fears

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According to Travis he'd spotted Kenya outside the club the night before talking to a homeless man

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She seemed drunk and lost so Travis and what he described as an act of kindness offered to give her a ride home

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Kenya accepted the offer but then changed her mind mid-ride

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asking Travis to stop at a gas station so that she could buy some cigarettes

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Here's where the story gets murkier

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Travis claimed Kenya didn't have any money to buy cigarettes

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Became angry and stormed off toward a man he referred to as

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Dan according to Travis Kenya walked away with this mysterious stranger and that was the last he saw over

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Tony didn't buy it for a second

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But he wasn't about to let Travis off the hook when Travis offered to meet Tony at the same gas station where he'd allegedly dropped off Kenya

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Tony agreed but not without preparing for the worst

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Tony tucked a gun into his waistband before heading out to meet Travis

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Maria terrified that the situation could turn violent called the police to intervene

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Although the family still wasn't allowed to file a missing person reports officially

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law enforcement sensed the brewing tension and sent an officer to the gas station to keep things from escalating

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When Travis showed up he stuck to his story

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But something wasn't right both Tony and the officer noticed a strong

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unmistakable smell of bleach

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Wafting from Travis's van it was suspicious to say the least the officer dug a little deeper and discovered that Travis Forbes

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Wasn't exactly an upstanding citizen at 31 years old Travis already had a rap sheet that included burglary

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harassment and a history of violating probation

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He'd even been on probation for domestic violence at the time Kenya disappeared

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Despite these red flags the police couldn't charge Travis with anything related to Kenya's disappearance

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Not yet and with no legal grounds to hold them they let him go

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When Kenya's family was finally allowed to file a missing persons report

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Investigators began piecing together the puzzle of her disappearance

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One of their first major breaks came from security footage at a bakery that Travis rented for his business

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The footage painted a chilling picture on the evening of April 1st just one day after Kenya vanished

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Travis was seen alone wearing long latex gloves

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He wheeled a duct tape cooler into the walk-in freezer before heading back to his van with a bottle of bleach

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Moments later he returned and shut off the bakery security cameras

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This was a flashing neon sign to detectives, but they needed more to connect Travis directly to Kenya's disappearance

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When they brought him in for questioning Travis doubled down on his story he'd given Tony at the gas station

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He claimed he dropped off Kenya at the gas station and then gone home to his girlfriend

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Conveniently his girlfriend backed up his alibi

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However phone records told a different story

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Travis's phone pinged in Keensburg over 40 miles away from the gas station during the crucial hours of Kenya's disappearance

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By the time investigators uncovered this though they'd already released Travis

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As news of Kenya's case spread Travis wasted no time inserting himself into the story

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He appeared in multiple media interviews playing the role of a helpful citizen and some of these interviews

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He even pretended to forget Kenya's name a calculated move to distance himself from suspicion

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But the pressure from both the media and law enforcement started to close in

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Feeling the heat Travis fled Denver and resurfaced in Austin, Texas where he was arrested for stealing a friend's car

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His friend later dropped the charges and once again Travis slipped through the cracks

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Back in Colorado

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Investigators grew increasingly certain that Travis was involved but without definitive proof he remained free

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On July 4th

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2011 just a few months after Kenya's disappearance

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30-year-old Lydia Tillman's life changed forever

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Lydia had recently moved to Fort Collins, Colorado and was still settling into her new home as she walked to her apartment that evening

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A man shoved her through the door and locked it behind them

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What followed was a brutal attack

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Lydia was raped beaten and strangled until her jaw shattered her attacker doused her in bleach and set her

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Apartment on fire before leaving her for dead but Lydia wasn't done fighting through the flames and

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Imaginable pain she crawled to her second-story window and jumped first responders arrived just in time to save her life

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Lydia suffered a stroke and spent five weeks in a coma but her resilience was nothing short of remarkable

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Detectives had their suspicions about Travis Forbes involvement in Lydia's attack and placed him under surveillance

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Early on July 10th officers watched as he approached a woman outside of a club

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When the pair began walking off together police stepped in worried the woman could be his next victim

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Travis tried to lie his way out giving officers a fake name which conveniently allowed them to bring him back in for questioning

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Meanwhile forensic results came back from Lydia's case the DNA under her fingernails was a match to Travis Forbes

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This was the turning point with undeniable evidence against him

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Travis could no longer bluff his way out

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Faced with the evidence from Lydia's attack Travis knew his luck had run out

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But instead of confessing to what he had done to Lydia he chose a different path and a bid to avoid being labeled a sex offender

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A designation he clearly feared more than life in prison

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Travis confessed to the murder of Kenya Moneye

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According to Travis the events of that night began with him and a friend spotting Kenya outside of the 24k lounge

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They initially tried to find her a cab to get her home

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But when that didn't work Travis decided to give her a ride himself

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After dropping his friend off Travis realized Kenya had fallen asleep in the back of his van

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That's when his predatory instincts took over he attempted to sexually assault her

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But Kenya woke up and fought back in response Travis strangled her to death

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Travis led investigators to a field in Keensburg where he had buried her in a shallow grave

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It was there that Kenya's remains were finally recovered giving her family the devastating closure they had been searching for

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In the courtroom Travis pled guilty to first-degree murder his confession spared him from the death penalty

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But it sealed his fate life in prison without the possibility of parole the evidence from Lydia Tillman's case couldn't be ignored and

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Travis was also convicted for her brutal assault

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Lydia's remarkable survival and her willingness to testify ensured that Travis faced consequences for both of his heinous crimes

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Travis Forbes case left an indelible mark on Denver and beyond

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Kenya's murder and Lydia's survival highlighted critical failures in the justice system that allowed a known predator to slip through the cracks

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multiple times

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Kenya's family has worked tirelessly to honor her memory and Lydia has become a symbol of resilience and strength

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Showing the world what it means to fight back against impossible odds

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