>> was evil stalking young men and women? >> those pretty girls, they were very similar. >> the case that led to unheard of places. >> in the history of my department, that has never happened. and >> then finally far from the city the truth, revealed in a quiet country road. >> we got out of the car and let out the scream. in an act of courage from a woman who refused to be a victim. >> and i won. >> the woman in the icu was barely alive. her jaw shattered. a once beautiful face unrecognizable after the brutal beating, the rape, the fire, the fall, the massive nearly fatal stroke. someone thought she would be dead now. someone who had fled into the night. someone killing women, and this one deep in a coma at the threshold of death is the only chance to catch him before he does it again. a terrifying flaw that forces us to admit yes virginia, there really is a bogeyman. and against them were the only weapons that they had, the power of one family. a determined cause, and one remarkable gift, in the face of evil. here's where it began, three months before that scene in the icu. this is the nightclub district denver colorado, people call this part of town blow dough, short for lower downtown, very trendy. it was the night before april fools day 2011, a warm evening in denver, a girls night out. a 19 year old was on her way to a party with the girlfriends. >> she was very kind, friendly, outgoing. she was a happy person. >> among the party ears janet gomez one of kenya's closest friends. >> she loved to have fun? >> yes she loved to have fun. >> underage fun. no trouble sneaking in, they charmed the bouncer with fake i.d.s. she and her crew hadn't unwritten safety rule, go together and leave together, look out for each other. but on this particular night, things didn't go as planned. >> we had planned to meet at a bar, we went in there and she wasn't in there. >> kenya had gone awry downtown with two other girls you did know very well. her plan was to meet janet and some other friends in another place, but she didn't show up. >> i started texting her and she didn't respond, i call two or three times, nothing. >> what dana did know is that kenya and the two other girls couldn't get into the club, the bounces weren't buying their fake i.d.s, so they went to another club, even took some pictures, but they didn't tell anyone they were there. >> and i center the last message at 11:30 and nothing. >> so when the clubs closed janet headed home without kenya, who she assumed was with some of the friend. >> i thought, okay, she's probably just having financial call tomorrow. she would always calm in the morning. >> do you ever worry about her? clubbing? >> she was very smart. >> she wouldn't take chances? >> no. >> no because, although she loved to party, kenya was known as the responsible one, reliable, ambitious, hardworking. she had recently graduated from colorado's top high school, was not considering careers in tv production or criminology. here she is directing a student film, all the more remarkable, because just seven years earlier she didn't know more than a word of english. and not a single person in denver, apart from her mother, maria, who had migrated from honduras a few years before, and when she in kenya were finally reunited -- >> when i helped her, hold her, i was so happy. and i was telling her how much i missed her. and she said now we are together, nothing is going to separate us. >> by the time kenya came to colorado, maria was married to tony lee, and together they had two children. now kenya made three. >> i remember meeting her for the first time, the first words that she said to me were, thank you daddy. i will never forget that, and she hooked me. >> so connecting with the family took no time at all. >> it was nice how we all came together and became a family, it was pretty much how it worked out, it clicked from day one. >> and there are all the girls and all the wonderful women in my life. >> thank you daddy. >> and for kenya's little sister, it felt like the best thing to ever happen. well >> to mars kenya's one hole here in america. i thought she was going to be the big sister that everybody dreams of. it was even better than i imagined. >> better? >> yes. she was very loving and caring. she was like my twin. we texted each other every day. every morning, every night, throughout school, she would call me sometime. she called me to say i love you. >> would you like to do together? >> we like to watch csi together. we like to pick on my little brother. >> of course, yes. >> and we like to go shopping together, we like to get the same outfits. >> but she was independent to, after high school she moved out to make it on her own. >> she always wanted to be something big, she always wanted to be a ceo of something. that was her golden line was to be somebody. >> she came from having nothing to being somebody, on one of her calendar it said study, study, study and then parted on the last day. she was balancing her job, she was balancing school, she was balancing your party life. on the morning of april fools day 2011, nothing was balanced. something was wrong. her friend janet gomez desperate to hear from kenya dough for her phone the moment a rank, but i was in kenya, it was another girl. >> she said are you with kenya? >> and i said no, i thought she was with you. and that's when it all started. >> started? it did more than start for kenya, swallowed up by well, whatever it was, some dark prizes haunting the happy, tipsy streets. coming up, can use family starts to worry about the dark presence, whatever it might be, could it come to their own daughter? >> something was wrong. >> that's when i went to high alert. ♪♪ no matter how you define it. frontline®. here. there. everywhere. april 1st 2011 in denver colorado, the friends of 19 year old kenya were terrified. >> i just kept calling her, and calling her, we were all worried and scared. >> where was she? kenya was supposed to have met her friends at a downtown bar the night before and didn't show. and now, she didn't answer her phone, not like kenya. nautical. >> we don't know what happened, nobody knew. >> kenya's friend were truly frightened, they kept texting, colin. but not a single lee turned up, no tips, no clues, and no kenya. >> we were trying to be strong because we didn't want to think negatively, we had a lot of thoughts. thinking maybe we should've done that. >> done? what >> going out, we were just 19, we were not 21. >> and you should've look act to her? >> yes. if she was with me, she would've been safe. >> even her sister, kim, who kenya texted constantly hadn't heard a word, but she did get a call from kenya's boyfriend had been talking to kenya's worried friends. >> he was like have you seen your sister? >> and i said no. >> he said have you talked to her? i said no. and she said he is missing? and i said shut up, and he said i'm being serious. you need to call your parents and file a missing persons report. >> i started calling the family, and thinking that maybe this was a joke. and i said i don't think it is a joke. >> when i got the call from my daughter kim and she said that you have not heard anything from her that day, that's when i went into high alert. >> well when tony called kenya's friends, they weren't exactly straight about their underage bar hopping the night before in those nightclubs. >> it was confusing because these girls, they were not telling me the truth about what they were doing or where they were at because they were covering their asses. >> tony turned amateur detective and was finally able to confront that kenya had spent the evening, not with her close friends, but with two other girl she barely knew and -- >> she had left her purse and her phone and her idea in the bar. >> her stuff, can you never went anywhere without it, especially herself phone. and she certainly wouldn't just leave it with two people she hardly known. >> something is wrong, something was wrong. >> the night after kenya was last seen here, one of the girl she was drinking with showed up at their house to drop off her belongings. ghana was happily dancing till about 1:00 in the morning she said with some kind and she disappeared. they couldn't find her she said. and when the bar closed, they took her purse and cell phone and assume that canada would get home on her own. somehow. >> i was looking through her text messages from the day before, and the conversations that she was having with her friends. >> the phone show that kenya suddenly stopped sending tax right after 11 pm. but of course, her phone kept receiving tax, all night. >> her boyfriend texted her, asking her if she was being good, you're not contacting me. >> everyone was asking where she was. >> and then there was a dead period and the next text that came in was about 7 pm that night, this one jumped off the screen, it was plain weird. >> and the message said hey, this is travis, the guy who gave you owe ride, did you get home ok? >> travis? who was travis? nobody in the circle of friends knew about a travis. i kept calling him and leaving the messages. >> no answer, no calls back. at this point travis was the only lead in their daughter's disappearance. >> they filed a missing persons report but it was too soon the police told them to start an investigation. and so they panicked. >> we don't know what to do first. we're just trying to figure out what we had to do. >> and then, one terrifying day later, the mysterious travis finally returned tony's call, and travis had some stunning news about kenya's whereabouts, and she is who she might be with. coming up. tony on a mission to relieve his wife paralyzed with fear. >> i thought oh my god. >> i packed it and i said i am on my way to meet this guy. yay >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues if you printed out directions to get here today, you're in the right place. my seminars are a great tool to help young homeowners who are turning into their parents. now, remember, they're not programs. they're tv shows. you woke up early. no one cares. yes. so, i was using something called homequote explorer from progressive to easily compare home insurance rates. was i hashtagging? progressive can't help you from becoming your parents, but we can help you compare rates on home insurance with homequote explorer. guess what. the waiter doesn't need to know your name. introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed. on sale now. it's the most comfortable, body-sensing, automatically-responding, energy-building, dually-adjustable, dad-powering, wellness-boosting, foot-warming, snore-relieving, temperature-balancing, recovery-assisting, effortlessly life-changing... proven quality night sleep we've ever made. and now, the new queen sleep number 360 p5 smart bed is only $1,799... save $600. plus free premium delivery when you add a base ends monday when a truck hit my car, save $600. plus free premium delivery when you add a base ends monday the insurance company wasn't fair. i didn't know what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. i was hit by a car and needed help. i called the barnes firm, that was the best call i could've made. i'm rich barnes. it's hard for people to know how much their accident case is worth. let our injury attorneys help you get the best result possible. >> kenyan kimberly, as closest ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ two sisters could be, always together, always talking, texting. at first when the messages stopped -- >> i didn't take it seriously. i didn't think that you'd be gone that long. >> but after 48 long hours, what is that like, that feeling? >> the feeling of being desperate to know where your sister is, because that was not only my best friend, that was my sister, that was my other half, she meant everything to me. >> and then that second life after she vanished, there was this call from a total stranger named travis. >> travis called me back. >> the guy who left the odd message on kenya's phone to see if she had gone safely. >> he told me the story. he said i saw her out there and she seemed like she was really drunk and out of it. so i thought i'd better help her, so she got into my van. >> travis told kenya's dad that as he was driving her home she asked to stop at a gas station for cigarettes. but they're something strange happened, she met another guy, who said he'd take her home. and so said travis, he left her there. >> and that's the last he saw of her? >> that's what he said. that's the last we saw of her. and i got off the phone, and i thought to myself, that is the most fantastic story it up for herd. not one word of what he told me made any sense to me. >> tony called the denver police to report el chapo was told, remember, that the cops couldn't open an investigation because kenya hadn't been missing long enough. >> i was pissed, i was sitting there and thinking i can't believe this, i put matters into my own hands. i call travis back and i said travis, i have some questions i want to ask you, tell me again where you last saw her at and he said i was at this station, and i said i'll tell you what i will meet you there. >> immediately i thought oh my god. >> i grabbed my 9 mm and i packed it in my waist and i told her, i am on my way to meet this guy. she was down on her hands and knees begging me, tony don't do this, tony don't go down this, this is dangerous. this doesn't sound right. and i said they're not gonna do anything. >> i got the phone and i called 9-1-1. >> tony ward over to that station, nerves on edged expecting what, a violent converts confrontation but, it was none of those things. >> travis was there all right, patiently waiting, and he looked just fine, not scary at all. >> he was very thin, blond hair, blue eyes. that was my first impression of him. he looks decent enough for, if you would want someone to pick up your kid, that would be him. >> and because maria called 9-1-1, the denver police were at the gas station to, so the cops, not to me, 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 me matched exactly, and i told the officers that something doesn't sound right. something doesn't sound right. >> it didn't sound right to the cops either. but they had nothing to hold travis on, he'd been cooperative, forthcoming, concerned for kenya, so they let him go. as the meeting wrapped up, travis went to tony and started talking. he was crying he was telling me travis, i took care of her, i wish i could've followed through, i feel responsible for this. i wish i could've done more. >> travis certainly seemed sincere, his story though, strange, was consistent. maybe he was telling the truth, and that meant kenya met at a gas station with another person. >> phil i said i appreciate it and we shook hands. and when i shook his hand it was like a earthquake was going on, and i felt that his arm wasn't shaking, but i felt that shake, and i looked at him, and i knew that he was the last person what's in kenya alive. i knew it at that point. >> and you believe as of that moment that she was dead? >> yes. >> coming up. was he right? we're about to come a disturbing clue. when dateline continues. dateline continues. ♪ it's a new dawn... ♪ if you've been taking copd sitting down, it's time to make a stand. start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. dave! do you remember when we kicked you out of the band for recommending the general for our car insurance? 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>> and then i went home. >> that was the last time you saw her? >> yeah. >> travis was cool, calm about leaving kenya, with that strange fella at the gas station. >> if she had made the choice to go back home or to get in my van, i would've taken her home. if i felt any sort of weirdness about her walking off with that guy, i would've done something. >> he was very worried about the whole investigation, about the missing girl. and we believed him, he didn't do it. >> there was no evidence travis did anything wrong. he certainly wasn't a suspect, barely a person of interest, he even had an alibi for his whereabouts after he dropped of kenya. >> he said he had gone to his girlfriend's house, at the time, that we knew she had disappeared and that his girlfriend came in, and she supported his statement. >> of course they let him go. but what about the mysterious man travis said he'd left kenya with at the gas station? >> we couldn't find him. he was gone. we sent out bulletins, we put it on the news and we didn't get anybody to come forward and say yes, i know this guy. >> but he did get a search warrant for travis is white cargo fan to see if it had any clues. and inside it reeked of bleach, to the point where -- >> when you spray something on a ceiling or roof and you spray it so much it drips down, that's how much bleach he's prayed on this fan. he >> was determined to erase something. >> everything. everything. so we're going through his van, were taking off doors, we're vacuuming, we're crawling underneath it. >> the van for the most part was spotless, except for something odd, it caught the cuffs attention. >> we found some we'd underneath, we found some dirt, some dust, different things. >> so he inspected travis is so phone records to see where he was during her disappearance. he made and receive several calls from keynes bergh, it's not exactly one of the stops i on a granola route. >> we'll see there for long? >> during a half hours. long enough to do something, possibly dispose of a body? >> absolutely. >> why did you do about that? >> we send 25 detectives up there, looking in the fields, checking the pawns, talking to neighbors, see if they saw white fanned. we were checking everything. >> but there was no sign? >> nothing. >> only the trail left by a cell phone. but back at the bakery, another clue surfaced, on surveillance video, it showed travis doing a lot more than making granola bars. coming up. some surveillance videos -- >> that seems very strange. >> to the local news. >> just what was he doing? >> we were all watching and we lost it. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues plus, its delicious beef flavor is #1 with dogs. ask your vet about nexgard. >> the trouble started before kenya went missing. trouble at this bakery that is the place where travis big his granola. somebody was stealing money from the bakery cast register. the owner was at first puzzled by the discovery and then became sure that there was a thief in the shop. fortunately, monica had allow for the possibility of that sort of thing and she had surveillance cameras installed in the shop, by now a couple of de pachter she disappeared she, went to check the tape to see if that would tell her who took cash. but for some strange reason, the recorder was unplugged. >> i plugged it back in and wound it back to the place to see who had unplugged it, it was travis forward. turning off the system. so monica re-ran the tip a little farther, but did she expect to see travis steele in, she got a surprise. what it looked like he had been scrubbing. >> as he's coming into the office with these gloves, and they're not just little gloves like you wear when your handling food, they're cleaning gloves, rubber, latex, the yellow ones that go all the way up to your elbows. i thought why in the world to see wearing those gloves for? >> she stopped the tape and called cops who took a good look at the whole security system and found this intriguing scene of travis this time with his granola bar cooler. >> he actually unloads the cooler, puts it on a little cart and it's tape shot with black tape and he puts it in the freezer, in the bakery and their employees working around. >> the police asked me, did he store the cool in the freezer? and i said no, he never puts it in the freezer it has granolas in there and they don't need to be frozen so that seemed very strange. >> all of that, happened tonight after kenya went missing. so detective checked with several of the employees to see what else travel was up to that evening. >> he burnt some stuff in a barrel, we found that barreled down the alley at the other end of the parking lot and monica poole told one of the detectives hey, that is my grease beryl, what is it doing down there? >> travis claimed he was using it to burn some moldy marijuana. the barrel was sent to the crime lab. >> when we ran that for dna, we ran it for fingerprints. >> but nothing turned up. >> if there were any clues in that beryl, they had been burned. travis despite all the suspicions behavior and his strange story was still just a person of interest. >> people do weird things in their normal lives. how do we know that he is just not a weird guy? >> and then a few days later, more surveillance video turned up which seemed to tell the whole new story because there was kenya with another man entirely. this got the two of them in an apartment building near the club where she had been drinking, was she going up to his place? if she was, she didn't stay long because a few minutes later, kenya showed up in another surveillance video, leaving unsteadily in a nearby hotel. but the way she was acting caught the attention of dea kerri lombardi. >> i think from all the surveillance she was very obvious intoxicated. it was scary. she was someone that you would look at and think that this is a victim waiting to happen. >> according to family and friends this was not like her, she didn't drink to excess, she would never run off with a strange guy and leave her purse and phone and keys behind. we in fact when tony saw this video, he was convinced, kenya wasn't drunk, something was done to her. >> i absolutely believe, 100%, that she was slipped a drug, because everything she did wasn't anything should ever done before. >> they tracked down the young man from the lobbying he admitted dancing with kenya at the club and showing her his loft, but she left right away he said. the video confirmed it. he was cleared. so that left only two possible suspects, the mysterious man at the gas station and travis forbes. and apparently travis was feeling the heat. >> man, -- >> so out of the blue he decided to go public. >> the truth is all we have -- >> he went on camera with a denver tv station -- >> at this point it has been two weeks and nobody has heard from her, there have been no traces of her. it is surreal. i don't know if you think about this. >> if you're a person of interest, let me ask you this, did you do something with our? >> no. >> did you kidnap her? >> no. >> did you sexually assault? or >> no. >> did you murder? >> no, i did not. and having that on you, having that energy on you is very stressful. >> the detective was watching this of course and he focused as much as travis action as his answers. >> he lied. it was in his demeanor and his body language, it was all there. >> man. i'm sorry that i didn't think anything, i didn't think anything, i don't think she is going to disappear. >> when the reporter asked him, did you murder her? >> i did not, no. >> he says no. >> when the interview is wrapping up travis seem to remember every little detail of that night, but had trouble recalling won in a small but rather critical fact. >> what's her name? >> kenya. >> and we were all watching and we lost it that was the only name in town. that was another time when he bowed his head and begged me not to go, in this time it didn't go. >> though tony and his family waited, led the investigation run its course, hoping, praying that kenya would walk through the front door safe and sound. travis forbes? he remained free, not even aware, quite possibly, about what the da was up to. we >> had lots of conversation and we did a lot of warrants, pouring through, phone records and they continue to interview people constantly, and we were just waiting for the one thing, something we could arrest him on. >> but even if they could arrest travis, first they had to find him. not long after that tv interview, travis forbes disappeared. coming up. travis is gone. >> i put out -- if you find any bodies give me a call. >> and then another surprise. >> my lieutenant said grab your search warrant and the dna. i hopped on a plane that night. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. >> he was the bogeyman, and ♪ this is a cold call. ♪ if your financial situation has changed, yeah, what y'all want? will you turn to cold washing with tide? tide cleans better in cold than the bargain brand in hot. so, mr. t can wash his hanes tees in cold. that's true mr. t. i pity the fool who don't turn to cold. ahh. that's what we call them. everybody we're looking over his shoulder and they were afraid of him. >> the bogeyman was travis forbes, the last person known to have seen kenya alive before she disappeared. the man who strange behavior had ramped up the detective suspicion even though the evidence does not warrant an arrest. weeks after kenya vanished, he had two problems, kenya wasn't the only one who was missing, so with travis. >> he was gone. i couldn't find him anywhere. i was scrambling to find him. i was checking news, i would put out a tele-type online, saying if you find any bodies give me a call. >> this guy was that dangerous. >> i was calling everybody. i wanted to find out where he was. days past and then weeks, no signs of traffic. the detective was now working the case almost 24/7, even his wife was involved. there were nights where i jumped out of bed and it would scare her and i would grab the phone and she would say did you hear the phone ring? and i would say no i need to leave myself a message. kenya's name, travis is name, you're dreaming about them. i was obsessed. >> kenya's family wasn't sleeping much either. >> i thought that she might have been kidnapped and put in a basement and they weren't letting her have any contact with anyone. i had dreams and i had that connection that she was still here somewhere needing need to come help her, to save her, and bring your back home. >> were you thinking about it all the time? >> yeah, it's hard going from talking to someone every day and not being able to talk to them anymore. it breaks your heart. >> kenya's father tony made himself a public figure on local media. but privately he conducted his own very lonely investigation. >> i went dumpster diving. i was looking in trash cans for her body. up and down the alleys, all over. >> you could tell. >> i couldn't tell her, i wasn't able to share what i was feeling because that early in, to remove the only thing that right now everybody has, and that one thing that everybody had was hope. i was hoping that she would pop up and say here i am, but as time went by and she wasn't contacting anybody-y, i knew it was bad. >> he also knew that the key to finding kenya, was finding travis forbes. the police had no idea where travis was, whether he was in high in the lead here in town or left the city, left the state left the country, he was just gone. there wasn't much they could do, he was a person of interest but not officially a suspect. and then two weeks later, out of the blue, detectives got a call from austin, texas. >> and my lieutenant walked into the office and said he, chief, austin pd just called us and we might have him in austin, texas. and i thought what. >> travis had turned out, he borrowed a car in colorado, when he did in return, it she went to the police and filed a report. which more often than not would've led nowhere at all except, a policeman austin, had a little time on his hand decided to check up on an outer state license plate he just happen to notice. and he discovered, first the reports of the missing car and then travis forbes. >> so my lieutenant said, grab your search warrant and let's go to texas. so i went on a plane that night. >> a few hours later, he was face to face with travis forbes again. >> do you know what they said you were in mexico? >> it was similar to you and i talking. i wasn't confrontational with him. if you ask me a question i asked them honest answer. in one of the interview she said what do you think of me? i said i think your creep. i think you're a jerk. i think you're a monster. >> how do you respond to that? >> he just looked at me and said you're probably right. he said mia psychopath or social path? and i would tell him what i thought he was. and i think maybe he was testing me like i was testing him. to see if i would give him an honest answer, and i would. >> did you do anything to? or >> no. >> did you hurt her? >> no. we never touched. not even a hug. >> they question him for more than three hours but travis stuck to his original story. >> did she have sex with you? >> nash, i think at this point i -- i want my lawyer to be present. >> travis refused to talk anymore, but he didn't have a choice about providing his dna thanks to that warrant the detective brought from colorado. the warrant was just enough and a couple of weeks later travis was back in a colorado jail. >> i wanted him here. i wanted to have access to him. >> so you could continue the conversation? >> absolutely. >> but the detective, was in for a big surprise. slippery guy for that travis forbes. coming up, the story moves on to another chapter, a different city, and another young woman. >> it is a college town and has a lot of young women there, and they like to party. >> the suspected killer on the prowl. and a grizzly crime scene. >> they kicked the door open and they were calling for somebody to see if there is someone in the apartment, when dateline continues. ontinues everyone needs a little time to relax. and since maria switched to gain fabric softener, it's hello soft scenty bliss. we're good, honey! everything's fine! so scenty. soooo soft. gain. the number one scent, available in softener. travis forbes was where they wanted him. >> getting him back, how important was that? >> reporter: detective nash gurule was hoping to coax travis to tell the real story of what happened to 19-year-old kenia monge. by this time kenia had been missing for several weeks. >> he was the person. we had eliminated pretty much everybody else. >> reporter: but just as detective gurule was closing in on travis, as he geared up to pry out a confession, or at least evidence sufficient to lay a charge, he got a nasty little surprise. >> his friend dropped the charges on the stolen car. she was very adamant that he didn't do anything wrong. >> why did that happen? >> i would talk to her sometimes daily, and she was his biggest supporter. >> she wouldn't believe that he was a dangerous guy. >> absolutely not. not the travis forbes she knows. there is no way that he did anything to kenia. >> but here was the problem. without the stolen car charge there was no way to keep travis in jail. they had to let him go. deputy d.a. kerri lombardi was -- >> nervous. i mean, i was really worried about what he would do. it was very stressful because i really wanted to be able to find her and we really wanted to get some evidence that we could hold him on. >> reporter: at least, vowed detective gurule, they would not lose him. not again. >> we put surveillance on him for a couple days. and he went up to that area in keenesburg. >> reporter: keenesburg. that little farm town an hour east of denver. >> he used his credit card. and i had his bank records. so i saw that he swiped it at this gas station. so we went up there and got the surveillance tape, and that's him trying to get gas. >> reporter: this was not travis's first trip to keenesburg. remember, he was tracked here soon after kenia disappeared. so what was he doing here? had he brought kenia out here? was there a body hidden somewhere on the high plains? detectives scoured the fields again and found nothing. and then gurule discovered travis was on the move again. this time he headed north, 60 miles up the highway to his home town. a team of undercover cops on his tail. >> we found out he was going to go to fort collins and stay with his dad. fort collins is a college town, and it has a lot of young women there, and they like to party. yeah, i was worried. >> reporter: it was now july 1st, exactly three months since kenia disappeared, and gurule had good reason to worry. >> our detectives are watching. he goes out to the bar district in fort collins, and he's acting like a fool. jumping on people's cars, you know, raising -- just trying to get a lot of attention. >> reporter: so fort collins police, unaware that travis was the subject of a denver investigation, pulled him aside there in the bar district, had a little talk with him, nothing serious, no charges, just conversation. >> after they finished the contact with him, our detectives go up and say hey, we're watching him, he's a person of interest on our case, you might have heard of the case, explained the case to them. they're like, okay, okay, i'll let everybody know. >> reporter: denver police kept an eye on travis, hoping he might lead them to kenia's body. but he stayed in fort collins, crashed at his grandparents' place, and so from an already overstretched police department a decision. >> he was pretty much keeping a low profile. so we pull our surveillance. >> reporter: they couldn't know, of course. couldn't know what was coming. 4th of july. fireworks lit up the fort collins sky. and then early the next morning at an apartment complex a fire of a different sort altogether. >> we've kicked -- we just kicked the door in, we're screaming for somebody. the upstairs is -- we're just calling for somebody to see if there's somebody in the apartment. >> reporter: oh, yes. there was someone in that building. and this much we can tell you. that someone is not travis forbes. 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[ siren ] predawn, july 5th, 2011. the fire in the apartment building was visible blocks away. >> it was a really hot fire. and all of the handles and the closet doors were basically melted because the fire was so hot. >> reporter: fort collins, colorado police detective jaclyn shaklee drove over to investigate. >> when i got there, there was a burned building and several fire trucks and a lot of people working. lydia was actually gone from the scene. >> reporter: lydia was lydia tillman, 30 years old, a well-traveled wine company representative. the lone occupant of the burned apartment. and now barely alive. >> she had been beaten severely and had jumped out the second-story window to escape the fire. the crew got there, they found her in the back yard, and she stood up and ran straight to the ambulance and got in the back. >> looking awful. >> looking awful. she had been beaten severely, and she didn't have any clothes on. >> reporter: lydia, as paramedics discovered, had also been raped. but that wasn't all that happened. once she got to the hospital, she suffered a massive stroke. it was because of her injuries that she suffered the stroke. she was severely beaten. she was stomped. some of her injuries were indicative of like a high-speed car crash. >> reporter: lydia was airlifted to an intensive care hospital in denver. her sister esther got the news and rushed to the hospital. >> she was unrecognizable when i saw her. i couldn't believe it was her. i would look at her, and nothing looked like her. she has a tattoo on her calf. i knew it was her. >> reporter: lydia's condition was critical. quite possibly, even probably terminal. the doctors induced a coma, an attempt to keep her alive, stabilize her, treat her horrendous injuries. >> her jaw was crushed, and her eye sockets. and her wrist was broken, shattered. and then she had broken ribs. probably more than we even know. >> what's the emotion that comes with that? >> i didn't want to lose my sister. i wanted her in my life. what did we need to do to help her, to get her back to us? >> reporter: lydia was single, attractive, very popular. but now here she was raped and beaten. nearly burned to death in her own home. >> when somebody is beaten that severely it just sounds very personal. so we thought for sure it was somebody in her inner circle that was close, it had to be somebody she knew. >> reporter: the next two days detective shaklee combed fort collins checking with anybody who knew lydia. >> we had talked to ex-boy friends. we had talked to who she had dated, we had talked to who she worked with, her families, and crickets were chirping. >> crickets were chirping? >> crickets were chirping. it was a whodunit. everyone loved her and said there's nobody that would do this to her, we can't imagine this would happen. >> reporter: the crime scene offered very few clues. >> it was so destroyed from the fire, especially where the actual assault and sexual assault took place in her bedroom. it was so burned. you could basically make out where the bed was. >> reporter: fingerprints, footprints, any forensic evidence, all up in smoke. or destroyed by something else discovered in the apartment. >> he did a really good job of cleaning up. and he did quite the job with the bleach. >> reporter: bleach. the apartment still smelled of it despite all the smoke. but in spite of all that bleach, they did find microscopic evidence that the attacker left behind. his dna. >> and the majority of that dna was under lydia's fingernails. so no doubt she put up a fight. >> she was trying to defend herself. >> yeah. >> reporter: now lydia was continuing that fight. odds not good. >> she was not out of the woods is what the doctor kept telling us. every day i would ask him, are we out of the woods yet? no, we're not out of the woods yet. and out of the woods is life or death. the hardest thing is not knowing whether she was going to live or die and if she was going to live what kind of life was she going to have. >> reporter: and then three days after the attack, still no suspect, no leads, detective shaklee heard about the man police talked to just a few days before lydia's attack. the one who was acting up in the fort collins bar district. and wasn't that the man that denver police had under surveillance? >> this possibly could be related. he's wanted for murder and he's in fort collins. i don't know, it could be a long shot, but they may want to know about it. >> what did you think when you heard that? >> i thought thank goodness, we have something that we can maybe look into. >> reporter: so long shot, she figured, but detective shaklee called detective gurule in denver. >> so i laid out what had happened, some of the evidence that we had found. >> he set the place on fire and he used bleach on her, around the house. >> and he was silent on the other end of the phone. and then finally he said, oh, my god. >> and she said, what do you think? i said i think it's him. >> i get chills now talking about it because it was quite the moment. >> who was travis forbes? a serial offender hunting women? was he hunting another even now? the two detectives were convinced of it. but as badly as they wanted to lock him away, they just did not have sufficient evidence. so travis was a free man, roaming fort collins at will, and at night. "dateline" returns after the break. with frontline, you and your pet can go anywhere... ♪♪ no matter how you define it. frontline®. here. there. everywhere. i'm dara brown. hundreds took to the streets calling for police reform showing the police shooding death of a 13-year-old adam toledo. he was unarmed raising his hands in the air before he was shot. across the pond, millions in the united kingdom celebrating the life of prince philip. ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. now back to "daitline." on the fourth floor of the denver critical care hospital lydia tillman was still alive, if barely. still in a medically induced coma. still suffering god knew what damage from her massive stroke. but all the while her family sat by her side and talked to her. >> we'd say, lydia, you're doing great, you're healing, you just rest and heal, that's all you have to do. we'd play classical music for her. we'd talk over her so she knew we were there. we just wanted that ever presence for her. >> do you think she was aware of any of that? >> i think deep inside she knew that her family was fighting for her. >> reporter: as if worrying about lydia's fragile condition wasn't enough, her family also feared the attack wasn't over. >> it was really scary. since we didn't know who had done this, i kept looking out of the hospital room and seeing if someone would come to finish the job. and so we had to keep her completely anonymous in the hospital. we had a code that we had to say to go see her. only family members and only ones that were listed. >> you were always kind of looking over your shoulder. >> definitely. >> reporter: lydia's family was quite unaware that police did have a prime suspect, travis forbes, who was also a suspect in the disappearance of a girl lydia's family had never heard of, kenia monge. >> the similarities were definitely the bleach. i don't know what it is about forbes, but he has an obsession with bleach, and we'd actually heard that from his past girlfriends as well, that he would obsessively clean his house with bleach. and there was bleach used in kenia's case as well. the fact they were both dark-haired, both pretty girls, around the same age, it was chillingly similar. >> reporter: but the truly frightening fact was that their suspect was still out there somewhere on the street at large, potentially targeting his next victim, and it would stay that way unless detectives could prove that the attacks were both the work of travis forbes. there was one possibility and really only one. sitting at the denver police crime lab were several swabs of travis's dna, which detective nash gurule had obtained when the two talked in texas. >> we needed that obviously quickly to compare it to what had been collected from lydia tillman when she was transported to the hospital. >> but she'd been sprayed with bleach and every -- and she'd been burned. i mean, was there actually any dna left? >> there actually was. it was pretty amazing. it's amazing how resilient dna is. >> reporter: so on a friday evening just four days after lydia's attack the dna found under her fingernail and the sample taken from forbes were taken to the colorado bureau of investigation for processing to see if they matched. >> i didn't sleep. i couldn't sleep. there was no way. it didn't really matter. i didn't care. and it was amazing because we had technicians at colorado bureau of investigation who had no necessary buy-in into this was but they were working around the clock as well because they knew what a big deal this was. >> reporter: 60 miles away in denver detective nash gurule was also awaiting those dna results, anxiously. but he was also angry. >> at myself. >> at yourself? why? >> thinking to myself, what else could i have done to prevent this? >> what other evidence could i have gathered that would have got him arrested? >> did i miss something that could have kept him there? i could have had something concrete to arrest him on. what did i miss? and i threw that around in my head. >> you take this stuff personally. >> this one i did. and i'm thinking to myself, is he that smart? is he that smart? >> reporter: and now forbes was out here, somewhere. friday night, dark now. it was warm in fort collins. a college town, remember. in the old town bar district young people gathered around favorite watering holes. plenty of young women, carefree, drinking, celebrating a weekend, unaware. and worried. but this time the police were watching because they were very worried. >> we had the surveillance set up on him over the weekend. we were not going to let him out of our sights. so we had teams that were rotating while we were waiting so we could actually make an arrest. >> reporter: all weekend surveillance teams followed forbes as he cruised the nightclub district. >> he had a bottle of whiskey he'd been carrying around with him all night. he didn't go into any of the bars. he basically just walked around and -- >> he was trolling. >> trolling. yeah. that's a good way to put it. >> reporter: late at night the undercover cops spotted travis following a young woman walking home alone. so without revealing the surveillance team one of the cops approached him, and travis gave him a fake name, called him travis kennedy. the officer let him go. but travis did not go home. and before very long began following a second woman. she appeared to be drunk. travis closed in. >> they're like, this guy's too much of a danger, we've got to figure out a way to get him off the street. so they ended up arresting him for false reporting, for giving a false name. >> reporter: in fact detective shaklee's husband was part of that surveillance team and actually put the cuffs on travis. >> what was it like when you two kind of got together to compare notes? >> it was pretty emotional. and it was actually an emotional phone call. he called me to let me know that -- i'm going to get emotional now. that he had taken him into custody and that he was off the streets. just some closure to five days of really scary, really scary for our community and our home. >> reporter: but there was a catch. when the cops arrested forbes for giving a false name, it was only a misdemeanor. without some new charge he'd be out on bail in no time. dateline" returns after the break. hooh. that spin class was brutal. well you can try the buick's massaging seat. oohh yeah, that's nice. can i use apple carplay to put some music on? sure, it's wireless. pick something we all like. ok. hold on. what's your buick's wi-fi password? buickenvision2021. oh, you should pick something stronger. that's really predictable. that's a really tight spot. don't worry. i used to hate parallel parking. (all together) me too. hey. you really outdid yourself. yes, we did. the all-new buick envision. an suv built around you... all of you. brown brick building on the outskirts of denver is normally quiet at night and on weekends. but in mid july 2011 the colorado bureau of investigation crime lab was a beehive of activity. a team of technicians were working round the clock, comparing a dna sample of lydia tillman's attacker to that of travis forbes to see if they matched. 60 miles away in fort collins detective jaclyn shaklee couldn't sit still. >> i was high on adrenaline. it was a waiting game. i mean, i kept looking at my phone, hoping for the technician from cbi to call me. >> reporter: especially because travis forbes, who was being held in the fort collins jail, was due to be released soon. very soon. >> he was given a bond and was about to bond out like 10:30 on monday night. >> reporter: the weekend was over. monday ticked by. >> it's a long process. it's not like a tv show where you can -- they do it in 40 minutes and you have a hit. so i knew it was going to take a while. i just kept praying that it would happen earlier. >> reporter: and then, just minutes before travis's release, a call from the cbi. >> we had a hit. >> wow. >> yes. >> reporter: the man who attacked lydia tillman was, the dna confirmed, travis forbes. >> it was the biggest adrenaline dump ever. and of course i called detective gurule in tears. we did it. he's charged. he's in jail. he's not getting out. >> i was relieved that now he's going to be in jail and he won't be able to hurt nobody. now we know where he's at, so i don't have to be searching for him. >> reporter: word of travis's arrest also traveled quickly to kenia monge's family. >> i was shocked. i knew that he would eventually hang himself. but i didn't think he'd go out and try to murder again this soon. and i was shocked. we were shocked. >> yeah. >> reporter: but they still didn't know what happened to kenia. quickly, the lee family called a news conference and delivered a message to travis forbes. >> anybody's going to relay any messages to him, tell him, or if you guys talk to him, tell him we've got just one question. where is kenia? that's it. >> reporter: but travis wasn't talking anymore. so lee offered a radical idea. >> i called assistant d.a. lombardi, and i said make a deal. >> you wanted a deal? >> yeah. i don't care what it is. i said i don't care. you could take it down to manslaughter. i didn't care. just make a deal. let's just -- we just want 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 they missed their aunt lydia. >> i want you to get better soon. >> and she got to the part where my 4-year-old started to talk. and she laughed and said hi, lydia. >> hi, lydia. >> it was the first time i got to see her laugh, and i went, she's got memory, she can laugh. >> reporter: but detective gurule's murder case against travis forbes and his search for kenia monge had both stalled, nearly five months after kenia vanished and still no sign of her. but one day he got a call from the crime lab, requesting another dna sample of travis for the fbi. >> i drove up there to get his dna. i walked in, laid down my recorder. he didn't want to talk to any of the detectives, in fort collins, anywhere. but he always talked to me. >> what's up, nash? why are you here? >> i am here because i have a warrant for you. >> reporter: for the next two hours, like a couple of old college chums, the two shot the breeze about philosophy and books and religion and of course kenia's case, about which travis remained evasive. >> i said, i've been here a long time, travis, i'm done. i'm done playing chess with you. you move one way, i move another way. i said i'm coming for you. i'm telling you that. i said the next time you see me i'll be charging you for murder. i said what do you want out of this? what exactly do you want out of this? >> i want to go to prison without being labeled as a sex offender. >> okay. what else? >> that's it. that's it. >> you'll confess to everything if you go to prison without being labeled a sex offender? is that what you're saying? you're man enough to say that? >> yes. yes. yes. that's what i'm saying. >> reporter: detective gurule was stunned. travis wanted to cut a deal? gurule used a little reverse psychology to make sure he meant it. >> i told him i think you're full of it, i don't think you're going to do this. i think you're going to back out. and i think you're spineless. and i think it's all about you, it's a game. i said i think you're going to pull out. he says, no, i won't. i said, travis, you do what you say you're going to do, i'll be the first one to shake your hand. >> reporter: nobody knew that fort collins authorities would buy in. so all he needed now were the crossed ts and dotted is. the legal formalities. >> i left the jail, went out to my car, and thought to myself, did i just hear this right or am i dreaming? i even played the recording back to myself. and i thought, wow. >> people just don't do that sort of thing. >> right. he's confessing to a murder without a body and without seeing the case. i've talked to my commanders, and they said never in the history of this police department has that ever happened. ever. >> reporter: finally, after frustrating months of knuckle-biting tension, disappearances, dead-end games of cat and mouse, detective gurule was about to get the answers he'd been searching for. and he was exhausted. to celebrate and rest up gurule decided to take a few days off with his wife. >> so we're driving out of town. i get a call and they say he pulled out. coming up, will he or won't he? >> i looked at her and i'm crying. i said, there's nothing more i could do. >> then the moment of truth. >> he's holding him in chains. he let out a scream, just this blood -- it made me jump. i wasn't expecting it at all. >> when "dateline" continues. those who du more with less asthma. thanks to dupixent. the add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. dupixent isn't for sudden breathing problems. it can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. it's not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and don't change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. du more with less asthma. talk to your asthma specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. dawn antibacterial cuts through tough grease i with 50% less scrubbing.n has changed, it also removes 99% of bacteria from your hands. dawn antibacterial. an easy way to clean your dishes... a smart way to wash your hands. so, uh, yeah, just a silly mistake. i guess i look pretty... ridiculous. [ chuckles ] no one looks ridiculous, bob. progressive is always here for you with round-the-clock service. just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. good. thanks again for -- for rushing over. are you kidding? this is what 24/7 protection looks like. okay. -you smell like fish. -sorry. i was talking to jamie. it was a long, torturous weekend in the mountains of colorado for detective nash gurule. on friday it looked like he'd finally cut a deal with travis forbes to reveal what happened to kenia monge. but just hours later, gurule got a call. the deal was dead. >> i was devastated. i was devastated. i hung up the phone. my wife looked at me. and she says, you okay? and i looked at her, and i'm crying. i said, there's nothing more i could do. i got him there. i led him there. i led him to the trough. >> reporter: gurule and his wife went on their trip anyway, and for three long days he was left twisting in the wind once again by travis forbes. kenia's family knew nothing of this, still holding out hope that she was somehow alive. >> every time i was driving down the street and i seen a skinny little black-haired girl, i can't tell you how many accidents i've almost had trying to get around the corner to see who this little skinny black-haired girl is. there was still reports coming in of sightings of her. and you've got to turn in all these sightings because you don't know. >> reporter: but then something happened to travis forbes that weekend. he apparently had second thoughts about his own second thoughts. >> and when i got back on monday, i got a call and they said the deal's back on, it's being finalized, we should be able to be going next week. >> sometimes taking a weekend away is quite profitable. >> yes. the weight of the world just got lifted from me. >> the deal with travis was quite straightforward. no death penalty, no sex crimes charges. and no exchange he would give them a complete confession. what he did to kenia and lydia. and one more thing. he would show them exactly where kenia was. and so on a humid morning in september 2011 forbes found himself in a procession of police cars on a country road northeast of denver. investigators had been here many times before, searching the fields near the farm town of keenesburg looking for kenia. but this day travis had solemnly promised he was going to show them. trailing a car behind travis was d.a. kerri lombardi, nervous, anxious, and pessimistic. >> i was worried he wouldn't follow through. because i felt like he sort of liked this game, i thought. >> so on the way what were you thinking? >> will he do this? will he not? will something spook him? will he change his mind? is this a big farce? you know, i didn't know if, you know, there was even -- if we were even going to the right place. >> reporter: travis was in the lead car, which included detectives nash gurule and jaclyn shaklee. >> it was really quiet for the first five or ten minutes. he was sitting right next to me. i had an air cast on my foot because i had a running injury. he looked down and said what did you do to your foot? i said it's a stress fracture from running. >> reporter: and that got travis talking. about running marathons, movies, food. all sorts of things. >> and obviously we were talking about whatever he wanted to talk about to keep his cooperation. i have to remember that i have a monster sitting next to me and just playing it up. we had to get to that body. we wanted to know where she was and bring her home to her family. >> then we start getting closer, he starts getting a little more quiet. we drive out to the site. next to a little grove of trees. >> reporter: and then quite suddenly, no warning, something came over the cool and breezy travis forbes. >> he got out of the car, and his whole demeanor changed, and he let out this scream. just this blood curdling -- it made me jump. i wasn't expecting it at all. >> reporter: but just as quickly, travis pulled himself together and pointed. >> he says, she's over there. so we walk over there. and he's standing up on top of the hill, there's like a little ravine. he says, you're standing right on top of her. >> reporter: soon the digging began. >> and it was a very, very slow process. there was an anthropologist there. and so then they finally got the dirt off of her. and there she was. and it was pretty awful. i stood there, and of course had i seen these beautiful pictures of her. there's this smiling image in your head of her having a good time and smiling. and then to see that. it was very difficult. >> reporter: there was something else perhaps even more difficult that kerri lombardi had to do. >> i called tony lee and said, you know, that they had found a body where he had told us she was, we had found something. >> and i needed to let my family know before any of this hit the news. you can't prepare yourself or practice yourself for write down a speech for that day. and i had to tell her. >> what was that like? >> that was the hardest thing i've ever done. then i -- >> she had been hanging on to hope. >> she had been hanging on to hope. >> you had to finally -- >> i had to snatch that rug out from under her. and she lost it. and there was nothing i could do for her because i had already lost it myself. >> reporter: then tony had to tell his children. kenia's little sister and brother. >> and the first question out of both of their mouths at the different times, is she alive? and i had to tell them no. i couldn't do nothing for them. >> i just don't feel like it's fair that people get to grow up with their sisters but she was only there for a little bit of my life. like she won't be able to see like me grow up and get married or have kids, and i won't be able to see her grow up and get married and have kids. like we'll just never get to have that bond. >> reporter: but this most horrendous of days wasn't quite over. police still needed a complete confession from forbes on tape. >> we're driving back. i look back at him. he goes, hey, nash, i told you i'd tell you where she was. he goes, are you happy you found her? he goes, are you happy? and i said there's some questions that need to be answered. and i said once those questions are -- once those questions are answered, then i'll be happy. "all right, nash. i told you i'd do it. i told you i would do it." and i said, yes, you did. >> reporter: detective gurule sat down with travis for one last interview. after five long months out came the words he needed to hear. >> i killed her. i did not mean to kill her. i didn't pull over to kill her. i didn't pull over to rape her. none of that was in my head. none of it was premeditated. >> reporter: but then it all came out. travis told them how he spotted kenia on the street. how he raped her, how he strangled her, how he stuffed her in his cooler, drove around with the body in his white van for a whole day, then stored it in the bakery's freezer while he cleaned out his van with bleach and burned her clothes. and then early the next morning he buried her body near a clump of cottonwood trees. >> after we were done with our interview i walked up to him and stuck out my hand. i go, thanks. and he stood up, shook my hand, and he said, "i told you i would do it." i said, you did. he says, "you just wouldn't give up." and i looked at him, and i said, you're right. >> reporter: later that day travis also confessed to the attempted murder of lydia tillman. soon he would be sentenced separately for both crimes. but there was one last surprise coming. something no one saw coming. least of all travis forbes. coming up, as travis awaits sentencing, a core rain gous young woman enters the courtroom. >> to do what she did and to endure what she went through, i couldn't imagine. she's a superhero in my eyes. >> when "dateline" continues. ♪♪ for deb, living with constipation with belly pain was the same old story for years. trying this. doing that. spending countless days right here. still came the belly pain, discomfort, and bloating. awful feelings she kept sugar-coating. finally, with the help of her doctor, it came to be. that her symptoms were all signs of ibs-c. and that's why she said yes to adding linzess. linzess is not a laxative. it helps you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. and is proven to help relieve overall abdominal symptoms-belly pain, discomfort, and bloating. do not give linzess to children less than six and it should not be given to children six to less than 18, it may harm them. do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach area pain, and swelling. could your story also be... about ibs-c? talk to your doctor and say yes to linzess. ♪♪ she was home now. after five long, horrible months. kenia monge was given a proper burial. >> we needed her home or we needed to know a place to where we at least could go and be with her every day. and that was either home or in a grave someplace. >> thank god that we have answers. not the answers exactly we want, but we do have answers now. and it still hurts. [ applause ] >> reporter: but as one family mourned, another had something remarkable to celebrate. lydia tillman was coming home. because of the stroke, speech was still practically impossible. but the fact she was walking at all truly amazing. some kind of miracle, said her doctor, rebecca bearden. >> i believe that lydia shouldn't have survived that day. she went through so much. and she probably shouldn't have made it. but she did. and it was because of her determination and her joy. >> reporter: soon after that at travis forbes' sentencing hearing lydia met kenia's family. >> i looked at lydia and wished it was kenia. i hate to say that. but i'm glad she was able to escape the monster. >> yeah. >> it was overwhelming, you know, to see the amount of her strength and her will to live. you know, and what she did during her court proceedings on the day that he was sentenced for what he did to her. >> reporter: what she did that day was simply amazing. hard to believe. sitting just feet away from the man who raped her, smashed her face and body, doused her with bleach, set her on fire, lydia tillman struck a blow against evil. she gave travis a gift. she forgave him. since she was unable to speak herself, her father read her statement for her, saying that to forgive is easier than holding anger. >> there wasn't a dry eye in that courtroom, including the judge. it's freeing for her. and i understand that. and i did the same. because we're not going to live in that hatred, >> she's amazing. to do what she did and to endure what she went through, i couldn't imagine. i couldn't imagine. she is -- she's a superhero in my eyes. >> reporter: and then there was 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. >> the story of kenia is what has created the kenia monge foundation. we go to the families of the missing, reach out to them, and they are very grateful, and it actually keeps me and maria sane. >> reporter: and lydia tillman? we saved this surprise for last. today lydia is still working very hard to recover. >> try this one. >> reporter: and to speak. >> stim-u-li. >> stim-u-li. >> nice. try yesterday. >> lydia has -- she's rocked my world. >> reporter: dr. jill armor. >> i think lydia has the ability to make a full recovery. and i think she's tenacious and perseveres enough that she may just well do that. >> reporter: and so a proper introduction. here, just ten months after the attack that nearly took her life, is lydia tillman in her own words. >> people were amazed you survived at all, frankly. >> yeah. i am amazed too. >> yeah. what has been in the long recovery process the most difficult thing to do? >> relearning how to speak was still difficult. >> yes. >> i'm trying to find a balance between my ambitions and my still-healing body and brain. >> yeah. so where were you in the process of getting better when travis went to court to plead guilty and be sentenced? >> i am -- was just out of rehab. the hardest day of my life. >> really? >> to forgive him is -- was super difficult. >> how could you do that? after what he did to you. >> to heal myself rather than being angry. >> because that would not help you. >> yeah. >> you harbor no bitterness, no -- >> rarely i get mad. >> yeah. >> i believe travis forbes was acting out of fear and hatred. i choose love and peace over fear. and i won. >> so she did. and then she said with a big infectious smile on her face that she'd brought a gift for me. >> it's a bracelet. it's on -- >> may i open it? >> yes. on acronym for my name. >> huh. >> it says "live your days inspired anew." >> reporter: which of course spells lydia. there's great sadness surrounding the story of travis forbes. unending sadness for kenia's family. for the unknown other families who, as many now suspect, may have been victimized by his past behavior. and then from that darkest place came the indomitable lydia, who forgave, who won, who told us live your days inspired anew. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." this was an insane world i was living in. i did what i had to do. >> what if you were ripped away from your family? >> you live in fear. it changes you. >> kidnapped by a killer. >> i came out of that just really messed up. >> held for years as a prisoner. and what if prosecutors never believed you? >> bobbi parker was not the woman she was portraying herself to be -- >> absolutely not. >> it's a mystery with a mind-boggling twist. this wife and mom taken hostage.

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