Page 30 - Kenia News Today

He was the bogey man. and thats what we called him. everybody was looking over their shoulders, looking who was behind them, looking who -- they were afraid of him. as long as he was on the street. >> reporter: the bogey man was travis forbes. the last person known to have seen kenia monge alive before she disappeared. the man whose strange behavior had ramped up detective gurules suspicions even though the evidence did not warrant an arrest. but now weeks after kenia vanished, gurule had two pr...

And he was like, im being serious, you need to call your parents and tell them to call the police and file a missing person report. and then i called my mom. >> i started calling my sisters and my -- all the family. i said maybe its a joke. and my sister got very worried. she said i dont think so its a joke. >> when i got the call from my daughter kim and she said that she had not heard anything from her that day, thats when i went into high alert. >> reporter: but when tony called kenias friend...

Kenia. >> we really couldnt -- i mean, we were getting there. we were still investigating. what i really wanted was for -- tell us where she was. so we could give closure to this family. >> reporter: but travis was now facing an attempted murder charge for the assault on lydia. and as his case started working its way toward trial, he sat silently, mute in his cell. especially when detective shaklee paid him a visit. >> he was looking at me like a caged animal. his eyes were huge. he -- it was re...

And i said theres some questions that need to be answered. and i said once those questions are -- once those questions are answered, then ill be happy. "all right, nash. i told you id do it. i told you i would do it." and i said, yes, you did. >> reporter: detective gurule sat down with travis for one last interview. after five long months out came the words he needed to hear. >> i killed her. i did not mean to kill her. i didnt pull over to kill her. i didnt pull over to rape her. none of that ...

>> reporter: word of traviss arrest also traveled quickly to kenia monges family. >> i was shocked. i knew that he would eventually hang himself. but i didnt think hed go out and try to murder again this soon. and i was shocked. we were shocked. >> yeah. >> reporter: but they still didnt know what happened to kenia. quickly, the lee family called a news conference and delivered a message to travis forbes. >> anybodys going to relay any messages to him, tell him, or if you guys talk to him, tell ...

Whatd that tell you? >> hes been on a dirt road. at least that van has. >> reporter: so gurule and lombardi pored through travis cell phone records to see where he was around the time of kenias disappearance. and they noticed he made and received several calls from a rural area near a little place called keenesburg, about 40 miles northeast of denver. not exactly one of the stops along travis granola bar delivery route. was he there for long? >> 3 1/2 hours. >> long enough to do something. poten...

Texting, calling. but not a single lead turned up. no tips, no clues, and no kenia. >> we were just trying to be strong because we dont want to think negative or anything. we had a lot of thoughts. i dont know. maybe we shouldnt have done that. >> done what? >> going out to -- you know, we were just 19. we were not 21. >> yeah. and you should have looked after her. >> yeah. she wasnt with me. because i know if she would have been with me, she would have been safe. >> reporter: even her sister ki...

>> reporter: it didnt sound right to the cops either. but they had nothing to hold travis on. hed been cooperative, forthcoming, concerned for kenia. so they let him go. as the meeting wrapped up, travis sidled up to tony and started talking. >> he was crying, telling me, i promised id take care of her. i wish i could have followed through on what id done. i feel responsible for this. wish i could have done more. >> reporter: travis certainly seemed sincere. his story, though strange, was consis...

>> it was really scary. since we didnt know who had done this, i kept looking out of the hospital room and seeing if someone would come to finish the job. and so we had to keep her completely anonymous in the hospital. we had a code that we had to say to go see her. only family members and only ones that were listed. >> you were always kind of looking over your shoulder. >> definitely. >> reporter: lydias family was quite unaware that police did have a prime suspect, travis forbes, who was also ...

I didnt think anything. i didnt think she was going to disappear. >> when the reporter asked him -- >> did you murder her? >> i did not. no. >> he says "no." >> reporter: then as the interview was wrapping up, travis, who seemed to remember every little detail that night, had trouble recalling one small but rather critical fact. >> um. whats her name? >> kenia. >> kenia. yeah. >> and we were all watching. and we lost it. that was the only name in town. and i wanted to go talk to him about that i...