Confession and Lessons in Safety

You survived the Miami weekend, nailed the speech, and maxed out your credit card in the name of friendship. Now, you've got one hangover, four pastel dresses, and zero reasons to wear them again seellll them on deepop, just snap a few photos, and we'll take care of the rest. And you at least get some of your dignity. money back Someone on DepPop wants what you've got startart selling now. Te pop where taste recognizes taste Hello everybody. Wlcome to twenty twenty The Aftershow. I'm Deborah Roberts. and as always, it's so good to have you with us as we dig a little deeper into our most recent twenty twenty report. And today we're going to take a look at our episode which aired Friday night. You saw it, and if you saw it, I'm sure you haven't forgotten it It's the heartbreaking story of Kenya Monhee who went missing After a night out dancing with friends in downtown Denver back in April of twenty eleven She was only nineteen years old and she could have been the sister or the daughter of somebody you knew. I mean, a young girl whose life was Really just all before her. She was active in her church, close to her family And as I said, her life was unfolding. She had graduated high school and was about to go off to college. The only thing that made Kenya a target, it seems, was that she was a young, unsuspecting woman Well, Anna Garcia, a frequent twenty contributor whom you've seen on many of our episodes brought us this story. She's here with me today to give us some exclusive details from Kenya's family and detectives whom you met in our reporting and more that we weren't able to share on Friday night. Anna, so good to see you. So good to see you, Deborah. I see you on the air all the time. We don't get a chance to talk face to face like this, but before we do, I mean folks here Know you as a hard charging reporter. You've been a serious news reporter for a long time. You've been in true crime for a long time on podcast and certainly they may have seen you on our reporting. And I'd love for folks to hear a little bit more about you and what it is that intrigues you about this kind of reporting because all of us have come to it in different ways Debah, we can all see ourselves in a situation like this, right? I have children, you have children and No one thinks that when you go out the door to have a good time with your friends, that you're not coming home. That's just not on your list of how your day and night. to go. And that's for me what crime reporting is about. It is about the stories of survival These moments of forgiveness and going forward and surviving something. that I learned so much from the survivors.. And you always do it so poignantly too. Well, let's talk about what happened after this because her stepfather, Tony, jumped in. He managed to get a hold of her phone. He found a message from an unknown number It said something like, hey, this is Travis, the guy with the creepy white van just checking to see if you made it home okay. I mean, creepy white van right away. That's that's pretty bizarre, right That is creepy. It's creepy and it's scary, right? Because your daughter is missing. She's been separated from her phone, her belongings, herer girlfriends brought these belongings to the parents And you're trying to figure out what happened to your daughter. And let's complicate this, Deborah. It's April Fools. So on the day that Kenya goes missing, it's the day of prank, right? So you have to factor that into, you know, did she just take off with someone? You know, is she coming right back? Is she sleeping it off R the kind of I guess the lesser harmful things that you hope for right. You never jump to, oh my God, she's been killed. R. That is not where your thoughts jump to So when he sees this text message, obviously he freaks out as a dad and he actually calls him Travis Forbes, the person who sent this text message, actually waits until Saturday to call back, Tony, the stepdad And Tony gets right on it and says, hey Where did you last see her? How do you know my daughter? And he explains that he picked her up because he saw her crying outside and he gave her a lift. She didn't have her phone, she didn't have a wallet or anything. And she said she wanted a cigarette, so I drove her to a gas station and then she sees this is the story that this guy is telling the dad, right retty detailed pretty detailed, right? And that she sees a guy kind of homeless and she bums a cigarette off of him. his name is Dan, and she takes off with him. and that's the last I saw of her So the dad says to Travis, can you meet me at this gas station? And he's like, Yeahah, I'll meet you right there. So now you're kind of thinking, okay, so maybe this guy really is just like a good Samaranian. I to be help like a witness. Yeah. Maybe he can help me piece what happened to my daughter and he may know what happened to Kenya, right? I mean, that's kind of reasonable, isn't it Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you would think so. And also to add to it, he is a sharp looking guy, you know attractive and so forth. Where police in the middle of all of this? So police have been contacted and the family said, look, our daughter's missing, but she hasn't been missing that long. And sadly, Deborah, you know from lots of experience and the status of cases No, the most important time when someone goes missing is the first twenty four to forty eight hours, but that's also when you're dealing with an adult When unless there's something very specific that leads you to think that she's in danger You know, police have to factor in free will. Yeah, they may run off Exactly, right? Yeah. So in this gap of time when police are trying to figure out what it is, is it really serious dad and mom are not wasting any time at all and they're going straight to the last person they think may have seen her. Yeah. Yeah. and that Travis Borb. So Travis Borbes starts to factor in. initially, folks are thinking he wants to be helpful. He agrees to a police interview and blames himself essentially for not helping Kenyan bringing her home. Let's listen to part of our report from Fr tonight find that Travis is somebody who's been arrested a few times, did some time. So it was nothing that jumped out and said, Hey, this guy murdered It's nothing like that You know, when you go through your mind, all the things that you should have done things he could have done. He's laid back, he's easy going, he's charming Remember, before meeting Travis, Kenya is seen on surveillance video first at the apartment building of the man that she'd met at the bar. Then she's crossing the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel across the street Police say soon after that Travis sees her outside n the night that Travis met and ran into Kenya, he wasn't alone. He was with a friend When they drive up, they see Kenya talking to this guy. Kenya is crying, she's upset. They get out, they talk to her ed weird. I mean, it looked sketchy. so we intervened. homeomeless guy walked off. Okay, then what happened? You know wanted, you know to get her home, take her somewhere. Travis drops off his friend and drives away alone with Kenya. Th are you? Okay. She asks me for a cigarette. I tell her I don't smoke. I don't have any cigarettes I saw a cononanico on the other side. so I turned around This is the big moment in his story. They pull up to the gas station and this mysterious man, Dan, is there There was a guy, a man that was walking by. He was smoking a cigarette. She asked him for a cigarette and asked him to sit and smoke with her. She immediately like attached herself to this guy. She put her arm through his arm like while they werere sitting there smoking And they walked off and that's it. What did you make Anna of that? interview that Travis gave initially. It was so interesting. He's kind of blaming himself for the fact that Kenya iss missing blaming himself saying, my gosh, if I'd known this was going to happen, I should have insisted on driving her home, inserting himself into a role as the good Samaritan, but maybe taking it a little too far because You know, this is a stranger taking responsibility for someone else's life. It seems a bit extreme, but okay, maybe he's a reflective soul. Exactly, exactly. And that's what we started to think early on. Well, Anna, I want to dig a little bit more. I want you to just stay with this. We're going to have to take a quick break, But things started to shift pretty quickly in this case because of surveillance footage, which plays a big role in a lot of our stories So when we come back, we're going to take a look at this investigation shifted. So stay with us. We'll be right back This show is sponsored by Quince The start of summer is a time to rethink what you' wearing day to day. You want to be outside enjoying the warm weather, but you need clothes that feel lightweight and breathable. That's why so many people seem to love shopping with quQs Quint specializes in high quality essentials like Breathable linen, soft organic cotton, and washable silk. The clothing's perfect for wherever your summer takes you Lightweight, one hundred percent European linen pants, dresses and tops started at just thirty two dollars And they offer other staples like soft, comfortable denim and layer worthy organic cotton sweaters for cool summer nights Whether you're spending your summer eating a brunch alfresco or riding a bike around the park Qins can help you make the most of it Cothes that make you feel ready for anywhere the summer takes you. Elevate your summer wardrobe Go to quQince dot com slash twenty AC for free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Now available in Canada too That's QuiNCE dot com slash TW E N T Y BC. Free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. ince dot com slash twenty ABC This episode is supported by the podcast Doctor Death. There are people you're told to trust, lawyers, teachers, especially doctors. But what happens when you put your life in someone's hands and they betray you? The hit podcast Doctor Death is back, and this season is unlike any other. Doctor Death, the cowboy, is the story of a charming neurosurgeon who rode into western towns selling a persona confidence and care, he wore cowboy boots in the operating room and became sought after by patients. He promised to heal them. Instead he left a trail of broken bodies This is the story of a doctor who was never truly held accountable for the patients whose lives he ruined. A story of greed, betrayal, and a fight for justice that will leave you questioning who to trust. Listen to Doror Death, the cowboy wherever you get your podcasts, or binge the entire series right now only with Audible Welcome back to twenty twenty, The After Show. I'm sitting here getting details from our last twenty twenty report with Anna Garcia, a contributor and true crime reporter who brought this story to us on Friday night's episode. It centers around the mysterious disappearance of nineteen year old Kenya Monj. Just two days after she goes missing, a woman who owned a Denver area bakery called police about Travis Forbes. Anna, this was a big moment that began to help investigators connect some dots in this case Travis Forbes was a baker of granola bars, and he rented some space in this bakery And that van, that creepy white van is what he would use to deliver his granola bars around Denver So now you have The name of Travis Forbes popping up twoo times Once claims to be the last person to have seen penya alive and now The woman that he rents the space from is accusing him of stealing money from the office because she reviewed surveillance video and she sees this video of her office And she sees Travis walking in, he's got these big rubber gloves on. And she's like, what the heck is he doing in my office? Why is he turning off all the security cameras? Almost all the security cameras. And she's got some money missing. So she calls police and it turns out to be, you know, the motherlad of evidence, digital evidence. That Travis wasn't exactly this clean cut guy that everybody thought he was. It's amazing to me how surveillance video plays such a huge part in these investigations in so many of these stories that I have done and that you have done too. Well, the local media gets wind that police are doing this investigation, that things are sort of turning in this case. and then Travis starts talking on television, which is like really shocking. Why would he do that? That is the question of the century, Deborah Why would you do this? Why send the text message? He inserts himself into this. You know, if he had never sent that text message, if he had never spoken on TV Chances are We may never have connected Travis to this case. Isn't that bizarre? Yeah. It's so strange. So here he is on television, kind of like the good Samaritan. He gave her a ride. He's telling his story. and he's being asked on camera you know, lots of details. And then the reporter goes right at him and says, Did you murder her? Did you attack her? Did you sexually assault her? assault her. And each time he's saying no But his head is slightly going up and down. Yeah, which is making everybody like really nervous. At some point he interrupts and he says to the reporter, this is about Kenya, the victim here What was her name again? Wow De. Wow, yeah Wow. Wow. A you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Well, Anna, when watching this story, I was certainly thinking it and I'm sure many of our viewers were thinking it like to for police, like just arrest this guy already because It seems pretty obvious, but this goes on and on in terms of the investigation. Travis is still out there of moving around and police have not, but I guess it's not always that easy when we think that they should have it. But we know that they've got to have more than you, just a suspicion to arrest somebody Correct. It would be months before he is arrested for Kenya's murder. And the reason is that even though they have evidence that looks very suspicious and all points toward Travis, there's a lot of evidence that's really missing here. His van, self described creepy was cleaned with bleach. I mean, it was spotless. He took the carpeting out of there. So There were no remnants, if you will. There was one hair I believe the police found in the van. But keep in mind, Ebra, he's already told She told everyone, the police and anyone who will listen, Ohh yeah, I picked her up. She was in my van. Yeah. So of course there's going to be some DNA of hers there. It's a great explanation. Yeah, I picked her up. Yeah, prettyty clever there. But the cleaning of the van and yanking out the carpet, how many times have we seen that in our stories, right? Okay, so it's just a matter of time, of course, before police do move in. But in the meantime, the thing that really turns this case is a crime that involves another young woman on july fifth, twenty eleven Lydia Tillman was viciously attacked, sexually assaulted, And then our own apartment set on fire So to save her life, she throws herself out a second story window And it's just a horrific case, but then it eventually connects to Kenya's case It's extraordinary. What ends up happening is that Lydia fought for her life. She fought for her life. and in doing so, she was able to gather some skin cells, some DNA evidence under her fingernails. And so when the police swab her hands, they get some DNA evidence. Now they have to figure out who it belongs to Who does it match Travis Forbes. And Travis Forbes is a person of interest in Kenya's disappearance He's also a man who has a thing for bleach. and for fires and poor Lydia, pord bleach on her to destroy whatever evidence he could and whatever the bleach didn't get, he figured that the fire would destroy, and he was wrong. He was wrong. Absolutely. that DNA was unmistakable. Well, he still tries to explain himself and and how this this is how it kind of connects to Kenya Let's take a listen to the police interview that part of the interview that you didn't get to hear on Friday night There is no way You didn't have time to cle up this one I wish I could tell you about it I too. That's your choice survivor Wh's that? Let you arrived, thank God for her Thank thank God for her strong will Excuse me, becauseuse you would have killed Noone Yeah you was If that fire were to spread up there? If she got out, you would have killed her. When everything comes al, it's gonna be horrific Horrageous Oh is. Oh yeah. You gonna make things for us Breen River Killer made that liieutenant famous when he interviewed Breen River Killer. when the BTK killer got caught and he confessed to that detective made him famous I you want anything? I want to confess. I want to confess so bad So Travis, Anna, I mean, that interview was just so obvious. He ultimately confesses to Kenya's murder, but then it's under one condition that he doesn't have to go to prison as a sex offender. And of course, we know that's a dangerous label to have In prison, talk a little bit about that confession and how he would even have the nerve to ask for a condition Oh, he definitely has the nerve, the gall to ask, not only that he not be labeled as a sex offender, but he also wanted to avoid the death penalty. This is the part Deborah, I do not understand about convicted killers You have no problem taking someone else's life, but when your very own life is threatened, o No, I got to preserve myself. I mean, come on Come on, some human decency. But another reason he didn't want the sex offender label is because You know, in prison, there's a whole different justice system And he's there's a hierarchy there Yeah, and you were talking about how there's a whole different system there're set up and sex offenders are targeted And he knew that would happen. He's also asking police about the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath What was that all about? Yeah, it's almost like it was stream of consciousness. He's just talking out loud. Am I this? Am I that as if he is a reflective individual. You know, clearly, he knows who he is He's a monster. This man is the devil without question Sometimes you got to do a deal with the devil. to get something extremely important. and in this case was finding Kenya and truly what happened to her. And I want to talk more about that. We're going to get another quick break in, Anna so don't go anywhere we're going to be right back Support comes from Yise, the smart way to manage the currencies you need around the globe Ifet up with losing out to hidden fees when you send money abroad with your everyday bank? Choose the smart way, wise. You can count on the exchange rate you'd usually find on Google, no unwelcome surprises. Plus, ditch that whereere's my money feeling? Most transfers arrive in under twenty seconds. Join millions saving billions on hidden fees. Be smart, get wise. Download the wise app today T's and C's apply Welcome back to twenty twenty The After Show. I'm here with Anna Garcia, a true crime reporter, one of our contributors here at twenty twenty who reported on our most recent episode on Friday night centering on the murder of nineteen year old Kenya Monet. I love love hearing your analysis. I mean, you don't just talk to us about the facts, You go behind that and talk about You know, maybe what psychologically might have been going on. And let's talk about this story in particular, going back to april first when as we said, it was the early morning hours, Kenya had been separated somehow from her friends after she'd been out for a night of a few drinks. So this was a young girl out drinking with her friends. The big tip off was her belongings were left behind at a nightclub U It wasn't that she decided to ditch her friends. Nobody seemed to think that was the case immediately, right? Yeah, absolutely. She was nineteen years old. She and her friends were using fake IDs. They were out for the night. They're in a club, twenty one and over And what ends up happening is, according to the security at the club, is that she was getting a little out of hand, maybe had too much to drink And she gets kicked out of the club and that's how she gets separated from her purse and her phone. Women, I mean certainly whoever lets go over their phone. Especially teenagers. Exactly So it was circumstances that separated them. I've got kids and I remember my daughter or a teen daughter, you know going out and so forth and being worried. It was devastating for her family. of course, Anna. talkk to us a little bit about her family. You mentioned her stepfather got involved. Her mom was so devastated byy this, give us a sense of what the family was going through while all of this was playing out. You know, they never lost hope in the sense they thought that there was a strong possibility that Kenya was alive, that she would come back to them. because it's been something like five months or so since her disappearance. And we have covered cases in which people disappear for years and come back alive. So that's what they were holding on to So when they got the news that they had found Kenya's body They were devastated. They were just devastated. It was the worst news that they could get. Although there was a little bit little bit of help in the sense that now they could bury her properly. But that was not the news they wanted. They wanted to hear that she was alive. Yeah. And I like that you avoided saying closure because there was no closure. Forbes eventually pleaded guilty to first degree murder in September of twenty eleven. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole You know it's always hard to know what's in their minds and you want to hear from these folks. Sometimes they agree to an interview, sometimes they don't. In this case, actually, our team was able to reach out to Travis in Prison. He sent one of our producers an email, Anna. Let me tell you a little bit about it and read a little bit from what he wrote Viewers and listeners didn't get to hear on Friday night. I wish I knew how to forgive myself, but I'm just not able to. I don't know if I ever will be, but maybe it doesn't matter either. My heart hurts all the time and I'm okay with that My heart, my soul is supposed to hurt Kenya was a human being too, and I failed at seeing her I will never forgive myself for that I am deeply sorry for all the people I hurt. I think about it every day. I am sorry for not helping Kenya I did the complete opposite of what I was supposed to do Kind of interesting. You said, I'm sorry for not helping her. He doesn't really quite to it to the murder What do you make of it? No It's all I me, I how I feel, poor me, I'm the victim here. Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't do better, but really, let's get back to me again. It's all about him. And you know what else is interesting, Deborah He had been writing to Kenya's younger sister. and it was the same stuff. and then going on about how he's an evil person that he's you know he says, I'm not a monster. For some reason, a monster bothers him, but evil he's okay with. Wow, crazy. Absolutely crazy, and to think that he was even in contact with her. What do you say? you covered so many of these stories, and oftentimes at the core are women who are victimized, right any lessons this case, for Kenya's case, this was a case of opportunity. She was standing outside, Travis is driving around, and that's how he got her There there were so many circumstances to this crime, right? She'd never expected to be kicked out. She never expected to be separated from her phone. But one thing I see all the time that drives me crazy is when I see women of all ages running or walking And they've got headphones on or their earbuds in and they're not paying attention know Yeah. There's so many times I just w to pull over in L.A and scream, please take those out of your ears. And for those of you who are saying, o my God, you just sound like an old fashioned mother, let me put it to you this way. Think of the animal kingdom, right We always see animals and we see how their ears are always turning in the wild, right? Imagine if those animals had headphones on We would decimate entire species because they would never hear the predator coming for them. And that's exactly what we're doing. We're removing a sense that we have of hearing something coming up from behind you. And so I mean, it's kind of spoiled life for me as well. I used to love taking a walk in the Hollywood Hills, listening to my audio book and my music And now I can't do it. I can't do it. Yeah. Yeah. And to be on guard. I mean, in this case, as you said, it's a rare case of opportunity, a young woman, you know, but sadly trusted somebody. And and you know, you hate to say that we can't trust, but certainly, certainly in situations like this when they're out and you know, at clubs and things like that being very careful who they're trusting. I think if nothing else, sometimes there are lessons here for other people that maybe they can take away. And we always love your reporting Thank you, Deborah. This has been such a pleasure. Anna, thank you so much again for being with us and you can watch our twenty twenty episodes on Friday nights on ABC and of course, stream episodes like this one on Disney Plus and Hulu Thank you for being with us today. Everybody, take care. See you next time.