janet gomez: she was like, are you with kenia? and i said, no, i thought she was with you. >> somehow she disappeared. >> she was, like, are you with kenya? and i say u no, i thought she w with you. >> where was she? and clues on the surveillance tape and strange stories from a witness. and then another beauty. this one left for dead. >> she was unrecognizable. >> was evil stalking young women? >> both dark haired. both pretty girls. it was chillingly similar. >> a place that led to unheard of t places. and then finally, far from the city, the truth revealed on a quiet country road. >> he got out of the car. and let out this scream. >> and an act of courage from a woman who refused to be a victim. >> and i won. >> and i won. >> the woman barely alive. her jaw shattered in a dozen pieces. aaten once-beautiful face unrecognizable after the brutal beating, the rape, the fire, the fall, the massive, nearly-fatal stroke. someone thought she would be deadgh now. someone who fled into the night. someone killing women. and this one, deep in a coma, they threshold of death is the only chance to catchth him befo he doesto it again. what happened here was spawned ind a very dark corner of the human condition.of by that terrifying flaw that forces us to admit, yes, virginia, there really is a boogeyman. and against him were the only weapons they t had. the power of one family. a determined cop. and one remarkable difficulty 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 low-do, lower downtown. a war early spring evening in denver. girls nightin out. an attractive 19-year-old, named kenya wasol on her way to low-d to party with some girlfriends. >> she was very kind. friendly. outgoing. just happy person. >> among partiers, janet gomez, one ofet kenya's closest friendo she loved to have fun. >> yeah, she loved to have fun. >>ha underage fun. no trouble sneaking in. theyne charmed the bouncer. flashed fake i.d.s. kenya and her crew had a kind of 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 lavish. we went in there, and she wasn't in there. >> kenya had gotten a ride downtown with two otherte girls she didn'th know very well. her plan was to meet janet and some other friends at lavish, but she didn't show up. >> i started texting her and no response. i called her three times. nothing. >> what janet didn't know is thatt kenya and the two other girls couldn't get into the club. thes 't bouncers weren't buying their fake i.d. cards. so they went to another club nearby, even took a few pictures, but they didn't tell anyone they were there. >> and i sent her the last message about 11:30 and nothing. >> so when the clubs closed, janet headed home without kenya, who sheou assumed was with some otheras friends. >> i thought, okay, they're probably just having fun, you know? and she'll call tomorrow. she would always call me in the morning. >> yeah, you ever worry about her when she went out like that, clubbing? >> no, sheha was very smart and everything. >> she wouldn't take chances. >> no. >> i want to see how i look. >> no, because, though she loved tose party, kenya was known as e responsible one. reliable, ambitious. hardworking, not flaky at all.ky she had recently graduated from one of colorado's top high schools and considering careers in tv production or criminology. here she is directing a student film. all the more remarkable, because just seven years earlier, kenya didn't know more than a word or two of english. and not a single person in denver. apart that is, from her maria, who had migranted from honduras afr few years before. and when she and kenya were finally reunited. >> it was the happy day of my life when i held her, hold here. oh, my god, i was so happy. and we went home. telling her how much i miss her, and she said i miss you, too, mom. now we are together. nothing going to separate us. >> by the time kenya came to colorado, maria was married to tony lee. andto together they had two children. now kenya made three. >> i remember meeting her for the first time. words that she said to me were, thank you, daddy. i'll neverer forget that. and sheor hugged me. >> so connecting with the family took no time at all. >> i always thought about the bradyt family, how we all came together and became a family. it was pretty much how it worked out. and it clicked from day one. >> and there's all the girls, all the wonderful women in my life. >> thanknd you, daddy. >> and for kenya's little sister kimberly, it felt like the best thing that ever happened. >> tomorrow kenya marks one whole year in america.e >> i thought she he was going t be the big sister everybody dreams of. it was better than i imagined. >> better. >> mm-hm. bf. she was very loving and caring. she was like my twin. we texted every day. she'd call me sometimes, just so say what did you like to do together? >> we likedfie music. we liked to watch csi together. we liked to pick on my little brother together. we liked to go shopping together and get the same outfits. >> but she was independent, too. after i high school she moved o to make it on heroo own. >> she always wanted to be something big. she always wanted to be a ceo or something. that was her goal in life, to be somebody. >> she came from having nothing to being somebody. and on one of her calendars, it says like,ca study, study, stud and then it says party on the last day. she was balancing her job.nc and she was balancing school. and she was balancing like her party life. >> but on the morning of april fool's day, 2011, nothing was balanced. something was wrong. her friend janet gomez, desperate to hear from kenya dove for her phone the moment it rang, but it wasn't kenya. it was another girlfriend. >> sheth was, like, are you wit kenya?e and i said no, i thought she was with s you. and that's when it all started. >> started? oh, it had more than started for kenya. swallowed up by, well, whatever it was. some dark presence, haunting the happy tipsy streets of low-do. coming up. kenya's family starts to worry that the dark presence, whatever it might be, had it come for their daughter? 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[♪♪] fast relief of allergies with nasal congestion, so you can breathe better. claritin plus decongestant. live claritin clear®. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. i think it's a greatkeith morrison : april 1, 2011, dawn in denver, colorado, bright, spring light. april 1st, 2011. dawn in denver, colorado. bright, spring like. and for the friends of 19 19-year-old kenya, terrifying. >> 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. she didn't show. now she didn't answer her phone. >> we didn't know what happened. nobody knew nothing. >> kenya's friends, truly frightened now kept texting and calling. but not a single lead turned up. no tips, no clues. and no kenya. >> we were just trying to be strong, because we didn't want to think negative or anything. we had a lot of thoughts. i don't know, maybe we shouldn't have done that. >> done what? >> going out. we were just 19. we were not 21. >> yeah, and you should have looked after her. >> yeah, she wasn't with me, because i know she would have been with me, she would been safe. >> even her sister, kim, within who kenya texted constantly hadn't heard a word, but she did get a call from kenya's boiftd kenya's boyfriend. >> he was like, she's missing. i was like shut up. this isn't funny. tell me the truth. where is she? he's like, i'm being serious. you need to tell your parents and have them file a missing persons report. >> i called the family. maybe it's a joke. and my sister got very worried. she said i don't think it's a joke. >> when i got the call from my daughter kim and she said she had not heard anything from her that day, that's when i went into high alert. >> but, when tony called kenya's friends, they weren't exactly straight with him about their underage bar hopping the night before in those low-do nightclubs. >> they were very, very confusing, because these girls, they were not telling you the truth about what they were doing and where they were up, because they were covering their asses. >> so tony turned amateur detective and was able to confirm that kenya had spent the evening not with her close friends but with two other girls she barely knew. and -- >> she had left her purse, her phone and i.d. and all that stuff in the bar. >> her stuff. kenya never went anywhere without it. especially her cell phone. and she certainly wouldn't just leave it with two people she hardly knew. >> something is wrong. something is wrong. >> the night after kenya was last seen here in low-do, one of the girls she was drinking with showed up at the lees' house to drop off her belongings. kenya was happily dancing until about 1:00 in the morning, she said, with some guy, and then she disappeared. they looked for her but couldn't find her, she said. and when the bar closed, they took her purse and cell phone and just kind of assumed that kenya would get home on her own, somehow. >> i was looking through her text messages. from the day before. and these conversations she was having with her friends and, you know, hey, this is where we're going to hook up at. >> the phone showed that kenya suddenly stopped sending texts right after 11:00 p.m. but, of course her phone kept receiving texts, practically all night. >> her boyfriend started texting her asking, hey, where you at? you being good? hey, you're not contacting me. >> the next morning the texts continued from kenya's friends. all asking, where was she. >> and then there was a dead area, and then the next text that came in was about 7:00 p.m. that night. >> but this one? this one jumped off the screen, was just plain weird. >> and the message said, hey, this is travis, the guy, the creepy white van, smiley face. did you get home okay? >> travis? who was travis? >> nobody in kenya's circle of friends and family had ever heard of anybody called travis. >> i kept calling him and leaving these messages. >> no answers. no calls back. at this point, the mysterious travis in the creepy white van was the only possible 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 alone, they panicked. >> we were like chickens with our heads cut off. we didn't know what to do first. we are trying to figure out what do we gotta do. >> then one terrifying day later the mysterious travis finally returned tony's calls, and travis had some rather stunning news about kenya's whereabouts and just who she might be with. coming up, tony with a mission that would leave his wife paralyzed with fear. >> i was so afraid. i said oh, my god. >> i grabbed a .9 millimeter pistol and put it in my waist and said i'm on the way to meet this guy. >> when "dateline" continues. y this guy >> when "dateline" continues (♪♪) (♪♪) try dietary supplements from voltaren, for healthy joints. shell renewable race fuel. reducing emissions by 60%. ♪♪ we're moving forward with indycar. because we're moving forward with everybody. shell. powering progress. as close as two sisters could be. kenya and kimberly. as close as two sisters could be. always together, always talking, texting, facebooking. at first, when the messages suddenly stopped. >> i didn't really take it seriously. like i didn't really think she was going to be gone that wrong. >> but after 48 long hours. what's that like, that feeling? >> it's a feeling of being like desperate to know where your sister is, because that was not only my best friend. that was my sister, that was my other half. that was aefrg to me. >> that second night after kenya vanished there was this call from a total stranger named travis. >> travis called my back about 8:00 p.m. >> the guy who left that rather odd text message on kenya's phone to see if she'd gotten home safely from the nightclub. >> he told me the story. yeah, i seen her out there. asked her if she needed any help. it seemed like she was really drunk and she was really out of it. so i thought i better help her. she got in my van. >> travis told kenya's dad 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. that's the last he saw of her? >> that's what he said, the last he saw of her. and i got off the phone and thought to myself, that is the most fantastic story i've ever heard. not one word of what he told me made any sense to me. tony called the denver police to report all that but was told, remember, that the cops couldn't open an investigation, because kenya hadn't been missing long enough. >> i'm pissed. i'm sitting there like i can't believe this. so i took matters into my own hand. i called travis back. i said travis, i 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 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. >> and i got the phone, and i called 911. >> 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 fine. not scary at all. >> he was very thin. blond hair, blue eyes, good-looking eyes. my first impression of him was looks decent enough guy, if you're going to have somebody pick up your kid and help them out, you know. >> seemed like a nice guy. >> yeah. >> 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 he told them matched exactly. i told the officer, man, everything he's told me just don't sound right. it just don't sound right. >> 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 sidled up to tony and started talking. >> he was crying. he's telling me, you know, i promised i would take care of her. i feel responsible for this, you know, wish i could have done more. >> travis seemed sincere. his story, though strange, was consistent. maybe he was telling the truth, and that man kenya met at the gas station had abducted her. >> stuck my hand out, said appreciate it. and we shook hands. when i shook his hand, it was as if an earthquake was going on under his feet. and it was only in his hand that i could feel his arm wasn't shaking, his body wasn't shanging, there was no quivering, but i felt that shake, and i knew i had shaken the hand of the last person who had seen kenya alive. i knew it at that instant. >> you believe as of that moment she was dead? >> yes. >> coming up, was he right? they were go to come across a disturbing clue. he was determined to erase something. >> everything. everything. >> when "dateline" continues. >> everything. everything >> when "dateline" continues like what is your glucose and can you have more carbs? before you decide with the freestyle libre 3 system know your glucose and where it's heading no fingersticks needed. now the world's smallest and thinnest sensor sends your glucose levels directly to your smartphone. manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. the #1 cgm prescribed in the u.s. try it for free at freestylelibre.us [♪♪] looking for a moisturizer that does more than just moisturize? try olay regenerist for 10 benefits in every jar. olay visibly firms, lifts, and smooths wrinkles, by penetrating the skin, to boost regeneration at the surface cellular level. try olay. [introspective music] recipes. recipes that are more than their ingredients. ♪ [smoke alarm] recipes written by hand and lost to time... can now be analyzed and restored using the power of dell ai. preserving memories and helping to write new ones. ♪ times may change, but somethings remain timeless. i've been using dove beauty bar more than 25 years. dove is 1/4 moisturizing cream. ♪♪ i feel silky smooth. ♪♪ hi, i'm jessica layton. star liner's anticipated flight was abruptly halted minutes before liftoff. the countdown paused because of a launch sequencer issue. president biden went to mass where pro-palestinian protesters chanted outside. it comes after he announced a three-part proposal to israel that would lead to a permanent cease-fire and the release of all hostages. and now back to "dateline." ♪♪ kenia monge was at a downtown denver nightclub with her friends one week