Kenia Monge and the "Good Samaritan"

<p>As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kenia Monge with me today. <br>In the early hours of April 1, 2011, 19-year-old Kenia Monge disappeared after leaving the 24K Lounge in downtown Denver, Colorado. She had left her purse, phone, and keys inside the club. Travis Forbes, 31, later portrayed himself to police as a “good Samaritan,” claiming he had found Monge intoxicated and offered her a safe ride home in his white van. That account was a lie intended to distance himself from her disappearance.</p><p>Monge got into Forbes’s van after he approached her and offered help. After Forbes dropped off another man who had been in the van, Monge fell asleep or passed out. Forbes later admitted that he sexually assaulted her; when she woke up, a struggle followed and he strangled her. He then cleaned the van with bleach and burned clothing in an attempt to destroy evidence.</p><p>Forbes hid Monge’s body in a cooler, drove around with it for a day, and stored it temporarily in a freezer at the bakery where he made granola bars. He eventually buried her in a shallow grave near Interstate 76 outside Keenesburg, Colorado. Her remains were found in September 2011 after Forbes led investigators to the burial site as part of his plea agreement.</p><p>On September 26, 2011, Forbes pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received a mandatory sentence of life without parole in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty. He also pleaded guilty in a separate attack on Lydia Tillman, for which he received a consecutive 48-year sentence for attempted murder and related offenses.</p>