Police are searching for a missing 19-year-old woman who was last seen by friends walking into a restroom at a Colorado nightclub.
Kenia Monge, of Aurora, Colo., disappeared early Saturday morning after a night of drinking with friends at The Lavish Bar in downtown Denver, authorities said.
Witnesses told police that Monge left her cell phone and purse on a table before walking away to use the club's restroom.
A spokesman for the Denver Police Department told FoxNews.com that the last possible sighting of Monge was at a gas station at approximately 3:00 a.m. Saturday.
Police spokesman Sunny Jackson said that a man, whom he did not identify, claims to have offered Monge a ride home. The man told police that when he stopped at a gas station to buy cigarettes, Monge walked away with a different man, Jackson said.
"Our biggest concern is locating her," he said, adding that police are actively questioning the man who claims to have driven her in his vehicle.
"We’re not sure what he is at this point," Jackson said when asked if the man was a suspect. "It's an open investigation."
The legal drinking age in Colorado is 21. Jackson said that police are also investigating the nightclub and looking into what kind of ID, if any, Monge was carrying when she visited the club with two friends.
The woman's stepfather, Tony Lee, said in an interview with Fox 31 that he believes Monge was drugged and taken against her will.
"She would not get into that vehicle in a million years in my opinion if she was in her right mind," Lee told the station. "There's never been any drug issues. There's never been any runaway issues, any mental health issues ...She's always been a good girl."
Monge, who moved to the U.S. from Honduras when she was 12, graduated from Cherry Creek High School last June. She is described as 4-foot-11, weighing 115 pounds. Police say she was last seen wearing a black skirt, black jacket and red high heels.
Anyone with information on Monge's whereabouts is being urged to call the Denver Police Department at 720-913-2000.
DENVER -- An Aurora family is pleading for help in finding their missing teenage daughter, who disappeared from a downtown Denver nightclub.
Kenia Monge, 19, was last seen early Friday morning near 14th and Market Streets.
"I just worry every single minute, because I don't know what's out there, what's happening to her," said Maria Lee, Monge's mother.
Lee said Monge was partying with friends last Thursday at 24K Lounge. She left to go to the restroom and never came back, leaving behind her purse, cell phone and car keys.
"Something made her leave that bar not on her own will. I don't know if it was the date rape drug or somebody slipped her something. We don't know any of those questions," said Tony Lee, the missing teen's stepfather.
Monge is tiny, only 4 feet 11 inches tall and 90 pounds, family members said.
Police said witnesses claimed they saw Monge at a gas station near Speer Boulevard and Pennsylvania Street around 3 a.m. Friday.
Monge graduated from Cherry Creek High School and plans to attend Metro State to become a crime scene investigator.
After coming here from Honduras when she was 12, she was determined to make something of herself.
"She was of high intelligence," said Tony Lee. "She didn't make the right decisions all the time, but what teenager does?"
Denver police said they are taking the case very seriously.
They sent out a flyer to the media, checked local hospitals and interviewed Monge's friends.
They're asking anyone with information to come forward.
lousy damn reporting in this case also. one news outlet has her missing thursday night, one says friday night. they can't get a fucking thing right. :(
Police say the case is not a typical missing person investigation but has the hallmarks of an abduction. Officials from the Denver Police Department have called in the FBI and Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help in the investigation, an indication that they do not believe Monge simply ran away.
"We get lots of missing cases," said Denver Police spokesman Lt. Matthew Murray. "No one thinks this girl ran away. We have reason to believe that what took place is not good. We are very concerned."
"This," he added, "is a nightmare scenario."
DENVER -- As Denver police expand the investigation into 19-year-old Kenia Monge's disappearance, more information is coming out about what may have happened that night.
"It's a nightmare," said Lt. Matt Murray, about what the family is going through, not knowing what's happened to Monge. "Some of the facts of the case got our attention right away, and we began putting resources into it, and as we began following leads we became more concerned."
The case is serious enough, he said, that investigators have brought in outside help.
The National Center For Missing And Exploited Children and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force are assisting the investigation, said Murray.
It's been almost a week since the 4-foot-11, 90-pound teenager disappeared from a downtown Denver nightclub, leaving behind her purse, cellphone and car keys.
Earlier this week, Monge's stepfather told 7NEWS a "Good Samaritan" had come forward saying he picked up Monge near the club the night she disappeared.
"He told her he lived not far from her, so he would take her home," said Tony Lee, Monge's stepfather.
Lee said the person claimed to have dropped off Kenia with another man at the Conoco where police said she was last seen.
But Murray would not confirm that story or any details of the investigation.
He said police have interviewed numerous witnesses, but they are asking anyone with information on the case to come forward.
Through Crimestoppers, they can remain anonymous, and there is a reward.
DENVER -- Police searching for a missing Aurora teen and evidence of her whereabouts are searching in locations outside of Denver, including just outside a Weld County landfill.
Denver police said the Kenia Monge case is the police department's top priority.
On Friday, detectives released cell phone pictures of Monge at the 24K Lounge taken on the night she disappeared.
Click here to find out more!
7NEWS has learned exclusively that DPD investigators were at a landfill in Keenesberg earlier this week and were searching along County Road 59, just outside the landfill site, for evidence.
While Denver police won't get into specific search locations, they have made it clear, they're looking for Kenia in several different places, far from this nightclub in Lower Downtown.
Her family said the 19-year-old abruptly left the nightclub just around 12:30 a.m. on April 1. They said she left behind her purse and cell phone. Police said Monge was last seen at a gas station about two miles away at 3 a.m.
When 7NEWS asked police Lt. Matt Murray if Monge was in danger, Murray replied, "Anybody who has been missing as long as she has you would suspect would be in danger. With no contact with her friends and family, you'd have to be concerned."
The pictures released on Friday were taken from a cell phone but police won't say who took the pictures and whose cell phone was use.
"I hope folks take a look at these pictures," Murray said. "If they recognize or have any information about her, let us know right away."
Kenia was last seen wearing a black tank top, black skirt and red high heels. Police won't identify the people seen on the picture with her, and if they were her friends or if they were people she met that night.
Based on their discussions and investigations, police don't think Kenia ran away. Police are still calling this a missing person's case, unless they find some evidence that shows otherwise.
She hasn't talked to anyone since the night she disappeared and that's unlike her, her friends and family said.
The FBI and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children are assisting in the investigation.
Another confusing fact is which club she vanished from. Most stories say 24K, but her poster says The Lavish Bar. I imagine they had been at both. The photo of themsitting around a table looks like they're getting "bottle service" at one of the clubs. here's a snippet from an april 6 story: http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-19yearold-...6748.story
"The next time anyone had contact with her was at 2:15 a.m. a few blocks away," said her stepfather, Tony Lee.
He says a man claims to have seen Kenia walking with a homeless man and that he offered Lee's stepdaughter a ride. The man says Kenia accepted the ride, which makes her stepfather think she may have been drugged.
"She would not get into that vehicle in a million years in my opinion, if she was in her right mind," Lee says.
The man said he took her back to 24K to get her car, but says her car wasn't in downtown Denver. He says Kenia said she got a ride from a girlfriend after visiting a hookah bar near I-25 and Colorado Blvd, so he offered to drive her to her home in Aurora.
The man says he stopped to get her cigarettes at a gas station at Speer Blvd. and Pennsylvania St., and says Kenia left with a short Hispanic man who gave her a cigarette.
Here's a pic of the inside of the 24K. Looks like the same interior in that cellphone pic above. So they were having "bottle service" at the 24K at some point that night, if the photo is from that night. http://denver.metromix.com/content_image...180/314591
DENVER -- The search for a missing 19-year-old girl in Denver is now moving into its second week.
There has been no sign of Kenia Monge since she disappeared last Friday night while partying with friends in Lodo.
Denver Police were back at a gas station along Speer Blvd. this afternoon where witnesses reported seeing Kenia.
Crime Scene Unit Investigators took measurements and pictures of a silver VW Jetta sitting in the parking lot.
A worker said the car belongs to a friend of the owner of the station.
Police confirmed they have gone back to other businesses in the same area over the past 24 hours in the hopes of finding any evidence.
"We will not discuss the details of this on-going investigation. However, detectives are and will continue to pursue any lead or potential leads to find Kenia and return her to her family," Lt. Matt Murray said.
Tony Lee, Kenia's step-father, said he is no longer doing interviews at the police request.
Although (unlike LE) we don't know the ID of the "good Samaritan," a poster on a HuffPo article (in reply to someone who claims to be friends with the good samaritan) says he is a felon with felony warrants. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07...46386.html
The very first article on this page says she left her purse and LE wants to know if she had a fake ID? Would it not be in the purse? I read in another article she left out the back door with a guy she had been dancing with for hours and this came from the night club manager. Did she go to the restroom and the creep usher her out the backdoor with everyone watching? Then someone can ID him, right? If it was one of the dudes in the pic then someone must know something. Did he use her up and drop her off and the good samaritan do her in? She, sorry to say it, is IMO dead and from where LE has been looking I think they know it.
Because the stories are so confused about which club -- either 24K or the Lavish Bar -- I wonder if they were at both clubs. Her poster says she was seen at the Lavish at 1 a.m. -- no mention of 24K. But the cellphone photo looks like 24K.
The mgr saw her leaving 24K with a guy she was dancing with all night, but if they left 24K to go to Lavish, where she ultimately disappeared and was last seen, I wonder if the mgr et al actually only saw her with her boyfriend at 24K.
It's very confusing. Smart money says they'll break the good samaritan, yeah?
DENVER (CBS/KCNC/AP) - Investigators are searching outside of Denver and around nearby landfills for 19-year-old Kenia Monge, who has been missing since early April 2 in a downtown Denver nightclub.
According to ABC News, dozens of officers conducted interviews over the weekend and searched for clues both in and outside of Denver, including near a landfill in Weld County.
that girl is dead and the police know who killed her. they just need to find her body. and they are watching the guy i am sure. just my opinion.
KDVR
DENVER -- Still clinging to hope despite the odds, the mother and stepfather of Kenia Monge held a news conference at Denver Police headquarters on Wednesday, making an impassioned plea for the 19-year-old's safe return.
“I just want to find my baby,” said Maria Lee. “We won’t give up. We’re still looking for you.”
SNIP
Tomorrow marks two weeks since Kenia Monge of Aurora disappeared from the the 24K Lounge in lower downtown Denver. Police still consider her disappearance a missing-person case, but have revealed few details about the investigation.
Monge's mother, Maria Lee, and her stepfather, Tony Lee, said they believe their daughter is alive and someone is keeping her from contacting her family.
END SNIP
Much more at link....BUT... this story has her going out on Thurs and disappearing on Fri (I guess that's right, but like LC, I have seen Thurs/Fri/Sat), and disappearing from the 24k even though her Missing Person's poster says the Lavish bar. I'm still confused.
DENVER - A 31-year-old convicted burglar says he is the main suspect in the disappearance of 19-year-old Kenia Monge and says he's told police several times he did not kidnap, sexually assault or kill her, 9Wants to Know has learned.
"Being the last person so far to have seen her, my life has been turned inside out," Travis Forbes told Investigative Reporter Deborah Sherman. "I have a criminal record, so it's been very difficult. The detectives in this case are going through my life with a fine-toothed comb."
Denver Police told 9Wants to Know Wednesday night they do not have a person of interest or a suspect in the case and still consider it a missing person case.
"All of our focus is bringing Kenia home to her family," Lt. Matt Murray of the Denver Police Department said.
Murray says police do not know why Forbes considers himself the main suspect.
Forbes says he's very concerned about Monge but only knew her for 20 minutes in the early morning of April 1 when she disappeared.
Forbes say he was driving home from the bar Opal in his van with his friend Eddie after celebrating a friend's graduation from cosmetology school. He would not tell us Eddie's last name. He says they saw Monge around 15th and California Streets and pulled over to help her because she was drunk, stumbling around and crying.
"She was very inebriated and emotional and I was just trying to figure out where she had come from, who her friends were," Forbes said. "When we found her at 2:30 in the morning, she was drunk."
Forbes says his friend Eddie got out of his van and walked home while he drove Monge to the Lavish Bar, where she told him she left her car and her friends. They drove around, but didn't find either.
He says he let her borrow his cell phone so she could call her own phone to see if her friends would answer it. No one did.
Forbes says he agreed to take her home but she wanted to stop for cigarettes so he pulled over at a Conoco gas station along Speer Boulevard but it was closed. That Conoco is the last place police say Monge was seen.
Forbes says she wanted a cigarette so badly, she jumped out of his van to bum one off of a man who was at the gas station smoking a cigarette.
"They sat down, smoked cigarettes and all of a sudden, I was no longer important. I was just one stranger and then she was off with another stranger," Forbes said. "I didn't think anything of it. I didn't get any bad vibes from this person. He was clean cut. He wasn't homeless."
Forbes says he got a good look at the man and could pick him out of a lineup if necessary. He described him as possibly Asian, 5 feet 4 inches tall, thin, small build, round, boyish face and nice looking. He says the man was wearing jeans, basketball shoes, a silver jacket and spoke fluent Spanish with Monge.
"She walked off with him. There was no reason for me to have thought anything about it. And it was 3 in the morning. So I went home," Forbes said.
The next morning, Forbes says he texted Monge to see if she ever found her car. He says he never heard back from her.
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.
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