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one more surprise. no, not travis s sentence, life in prison. that was merely a formality. it was another gift. this time from kenia to lydia. i start crying with her. she start crying with me. i felt very strong inside me like kenia was telling me mom, give her the ring, i was wearing it. it was kenia s ring. give it to her. it was kenia s favorite ring. i gave it to her and she was so happy. she said thank you, and she was holding me. and that moment i was holding her, it s like i was holding kenia. we are related in tragedy. we ve got a connection with each other unfortunately for the rest of our lives, and because of travis. reporter: tony and his family built a memorial here on the high plains where kenia was found. and while she continues to live in their hearts, her loss has taken a toll. in 2018 tony and maria divorced, but tony still devotes himself
that was everything to me. reporter: and then that second night after kenia vanished there was this call from a total stranger named travis. travis called me back about 8:00 p.m. reporter: the guy who left that rather odd text message on kenia s phone to see if she d gotten home safely from the nightclub. and he told me the story. yeah, you know, i seen her out there. asked her if she needed any help because she seemed like she was really drunk and she was really out of it, you know. so i said, well, i d better help her. so she got in my van. reporter: travis told kenia s dad that as he was driving her home, she asked to stop at a gas station for cigarettes. but there something strange happened. she met another guy, who said he d take her home. and so, said travis, he left them there. and that s the last he saw of her? that s what he said. that s the last he saw of her. and i got off the phone, and i thought to myself, that is the most fantastic story i ve ever heard. not
he was 31, they discovered, had a rap sheet for theft and drugs. but now he owned a small business in denver, baking and delivering gluten-free granola bars. he was renting a space at a local bakery, owned by monica poole. travis was energetic. he seemed friendly. wanted to have a business. he launched into granola bars, which i thought was a great idea. they didn t exist in the marketplace. not the way he was making them. reporter: travis could bake. but he wasn t the best businessman. he was often in debt, sometimes missed deliveries and deadlines. and one day he came to work, seemed a little frazzled, and told monica about his odd encounter the night before. he said i gave some girl a ride home and she s missing and she s gone. and i thought, wow, that s kind of strange. whatever. reporter: then a few days later monica s bakery was
kenia. we really couldn t 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 really creepy. obviously, i wanted to talk to him. i wanted to get an interview with him and see if he would tell me something. and he immediately said, i m not talking to you, get get out of here. reporter: but across town someone was communicating. after spending five weeks in icu lydia tillman was transferred to a local rehab hospital. a long, slow recovery began. hi, lydia. i showed her a video of my kids saying hello to her because