anything. i ve got to go. and i grabbed the phone and i called 911. reporter: tony roared over to that conoco station nerves on edge, gun close to hand, expecting what? a violent confrontation? a dangerous standoff? a weirdo? but it was none of those things. travis forbes was there, all right. patiently waiting. and he looked just fine. not scary at all. he was very thin. blond hair, blue eyes, good-looking guy. my first impression of him was, you know, looks decent enough guy, if you re going to have somebody pick up your kid, you know, and help them out, you know. seemed like a nice guy. yeah. reporter: and because maria called 911, the denver police were at the gas station, too. so the cops, not tony, did most of the talking with travis. he told them that same story that he told me on the phone, and it was very consistent. the story that he told them matched exactly. i told the officers, i said man, everything he s told me just don t sound right. it just don t sound ri
made any sense to me. reporter: tony called the denver police to report all that but was told, remember, that the cops couldn t open an investigation because kenia hadn t been missing long enough. i m pissed. i m sitting there, i m like i can t believe this. so i took matters into my own hands. i called travis back. and i said, travis, i ve got some questions i want to ask you. tell me again where you last saw her at. and he says, well, i was at this conoco station. tell you what, why don t you meet me there? i told him i m on my way. immediately i was so afraid. i said, oh, my god. i grabbed the 9-millimeter pistol. i packed it in my waist. and i told her, i m on my way to meet this guy. maria was down on her hands and knees literally begging me, tony, don t do this, don t go down there, this is dangerous, this don t sound right. i told her i ve got to go, they re not going to do
still here somewhere needing my like needing me to come help her, just save her and just bring her back home. were you thinking about it all the time? yeah. it s hard going from talking to someone every day and then not being able to talk to them anymore. it like breaks your heart. reporter: kenia s father tony made himself a public fixture on local media. but privately, he conducted his own very lonely investigation. i went dumpster diving. i was looking at trash cans for her body. up and down the alleys, all over. and yet you couldn t tell maria. i couldn t tell her. i could not share what i was feeling because that early in would have removed the only thing that right now everybody had. and that one thing that everybody had was hope.
i grabbed a .9-millimeter pistol, i packed it in my waist and i told her, i m on my way to meet this guy. maria was down on her hands and knees literally, begging me, tony, don t do this. don t go down there. this is dangerous. this don t sound right. i told her, i got to go. they re not going to do anything. i got to go. i got the phone and i called 911. reporter: tony roared over to that conoco station, nerves on edge, gun close to hand expecting, what? a violent confrontation? a dangerous standoff? a weirdo? it was none of those things. travis forbes was there, all right, patiently waiting, and he looked just fine. not scary at all. he was very thin, blond hair, blue eyes, good-looking guy. my first impression of him was, you know, he looks like a decent enough guy if you have somebody to pick up your kid and help them out, you know. reporter: seemed like a nice guy. yeah. reporter: because maria called 911, the denver police
i said oh, my god. i grabbed the 9-millimeter pistol. i packed it in my waist. and i told her, i m on my way to meet this guy. maria was down on her hands and knees literally begging me tony, don t do this, don t go down there, this is dangerous, this don t sound right. i told her i ve got to go, they re not going to do anything, i ve got to go. and i grabbed the phone and i called 911. reporter: tony roared over to that conoco station nerves on edge, gun close to hand, expecting what? a violent confrontation? a dangerous standoff? a weirdo? but it was none of those things. travis forbes was there, all right. patiently waiting. and he looked just fine. not scary at all. he was very thin. blond hair, blue eyes, good-looking guy. my first impression of him was, you know, looks decent enough guy, if you re going to have somebody pick up your kid, you know, and help them out, you know. seemed like a nice guy. yeah.