04-14-2011, 03:13 AM
Denver Post
The whole scene didn't look right to Travis Forbes.
There was an attractive young woman across the street from a nightclub called the 24K Lounge. It was 2:30 a.m. on April 1 and she was talking to a homeless man. Forbes talked with her, thought she was clearly drunk, and said he offered her a ride.
She eagerly jumped into his van. "She was really emotional, really upset," Forbes said.
The young woman was Kenia Monge, 19, who friends say vanished from a nightclub around 1 a.m. that morning.
But Forbes says he doesn't know what happened to Monge. He planned to give her a ride home, but said he ultimately dropped her at a gas station when she asked to stop for cigarettes. Last time he saw her, she was walking away with another man as he drove away, Forbes said.
Forbes, who said he got Monge's cell phone number from her that night, tried to call her later that morning. Then, he texted her to see if she was okay but never got a response.
Forbes, who spoke with The Denver Post a few days after Monge went missing, is the last person known to authorities to have seen her before she disappeared.
"I ... failed," he said. "If I had taken her to detox, life would just gone on and I would have never known that I saved someone's life."
But on that night, Forbes said he fell short. He was trying to help but he didn't do all he could have.
Forbes said he worries about her well-being because of how much time had already passed since she was last seen and because she didn't have her purse, car keys, cell phone.
"For some girls a cell phone is like an appendage," Forbes said.
Forbes said he was out that night celebrating his sister's birthday downtown with his friend Eddie. On their way home he spotted Monge wearing a hoodie and miniskirt.
When they approached her, Monge immediately wrapped her arms around theirs, he said. She had a thick accent. Monge was upset after splitting up with her boyfriend, Forbes said.
"'My heart is broken,'" he said she was saying while sobbing. "'Why do men treat women like that?'"
It was apparent she had been drinking heavily that night, he said. They sat in the van for a few minutes deciding how they could help her.
At first they concentrated on getting her to her car, then to her friends. She used Forbes' cell phone to call her phone, hoping her friends would answer, but there was no answer.
When they drove Monge around the block back to the nightclub it was closed. Forbes asked her where she lived and realized her home in Aurora was only blocks from the bakery where he works. He offered to take her home.
"She really didn't want to go home because she didn't want her dad to see her like this," Forbes said.
Monge asked Forbes and Eddie if they had girlfriends, which they both did. She asked Forbes if she could just go home with him. He said no but he would take her home.
rest of article here: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/c...source=pkg
The whole scene didn't look right to Travis Forbes.
There was an attractive young woman across the street from a nightclub called the 24K Lounge. It was 2:30 a.m. on April 1 and she was talking to a homeless man. Forbes talked with her, thought she was clearly drunk, and said he offered her a ride.
She eagerly jumped into his van. "She was really emotional, really upset," Forbes said.
The young woman was Kenia Monge, 19, who friends say vanished from a nightclub around 1 a.m. that morning.
But Forbes says he doesn't know what happened to Monge. He planned to give her a ride home, but said he ultimately dropped her at a gas station when she asked to stop for cigarettes. Last time he saw her, she was walking away with another man as he drove away, Forbes said.
Forbes, who said he got Monge's cell phone number from her that night, tried to call her later that morning. Then, he texted her to see if she was okay but never got a response.
Forbes, who spoke with The Denver Post a few days after Monge went missing, is the last person known to authorities to have seen her before she disappeared.
"I ... failed," he said. "If I had taken her to detox, life would just gone on and I would have never known that I saved someone's life."
But on that night, Forbes said he fell short. He was trying to help but he didn't do all he could have.
Forbes said he worries about her well-being because of how much time had already passed since she was last seen and because she didn't have her purse, car keys, cell phone.
"For some girls a cell phone is like an appendage," Forbes said.
Forbes said he was out that night celebrating his sister's birthday downtown with his friend Eddie. On their way home he spotted Monge wearing a hoodie and miniskirt.
When they approached her, Monge immediately wrapped her arms around theirs, he said. She had a thick accent. Monge was upset after splitting up with her boyfriend, Forbes said.
"'My heart is broken,'" he said she was saying while sobbing. "'Why do men treat women like that?'"
It was apparent she had been drinking heavily that night, he said. They sat in the van for a few minutes deciding how they could help her.
At first they concentrated on getting her to her car, then to her friends. She used Forbes' cell phone to call her phone, hoping her friends would answer, but there was no answer.
When they drove Monge around the block back to the nightclub it was closed. Forbes asked her where she lived and realized her home in Aurora was only blocks from the bakery where he works. He offered to take her home.
"She really didn't want to go home because she didn't want her dad to see her like this," Forbes said.
Monge asked Forbes and Eddie if they had girlfriends, which they both did. She asked Forbes if she could just go home with him. He said no but he would take her home.
rest of article here: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/c...source=pkg