Dateline: Kenia Monge – Denver Missing Person Murder

Kenia Monge was a 19-year-old teenager who went missing in April 2011. Kenia’s mother, Maria, was just 15 years old when she gave birth to her on January 26, 1992, in Honduras. The story was also featured on Dateline NBC.

Kenia and her companions were under the legal drinking age of 19, so they used fake IDs to get into downtown Denver bars and clubs. She went to the bathroom and never returned back. On the night she vanished, a stranger called Travis Forbes appeared to have made touch with her.

During the interrogation, Travis confessed to raping and strangling Kenia. He told officials that he encountered Kenia in downtown Denver when she appeared to be inebriated. He offered to drop her off at her house, which she accepted.

Travis took advantage of her passing unconscious in the back of his van and assaulted her. When she awoke, she began beating him, which escalated into a struggle that ended with Travis strangling Kenia to death.

Kenia Monge Hearing: What Happened?

Travis Forbes got charged with the murder of Kenia Monge on September 8, 2011, a day after the body was recovered. At the time, he was in Larimer County jail on a different charge.

Forbes agreed not to be designated a sex offender as part of the bargain he made with law enforcement organizations in exchange for guiding investigators to Kenia’s body. Furthermore, he was able to have the death penalty removed from his sentence.

Image

Forbes ultimately acknowledged the truth in his genuine confession, which was that he raped her, murdered her, and then deposited her body in a cooler, which he then kept at the bakery where he worked until he buried her in a shallow grave.

 

Where Is Travis Forbes Colorado Today?

Travis Forbes is being detained at the Colorado State Penitentiary, which houses the state’s most egregious, violent, and dangerous criminals. He got sentenced to life in jail for the murder of Kenia.

In July 2011, Forbes assaulted Lydia Tillman in Fort Collins, and she narrowly escaped with her life. For her attempted murder, he received an additional 48-year term.

Forbe’s sentence does not allow for parole, thus he will never be a free man who sees the outside of the prison walls.