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Memorial Held For Kenia Monge Also Has Message About Being Safe

DENVER (CBS4) - Friends and family of a 19-year-old woman who was murdered three years ago gathered to remember her on Sunday.

Kenia Monge's body was found three years ago Sunday in a field in Northern Colorado. Those who knew her promise to keep her memory alive.

The memorial was held in Denver's City Park. Monge's family is hoping others never have to experience pain like theirs. The gathering was about Monge but also about other girls who end up missing.

Monge's father, Tony Lee, addressed the crowd of about 50 who came to remember Monge and also shine a spotlight on why there are too many missing girls. Lee emphasized that young people need to know the rules when they're out on the town. That means they and their friends have to keep an eye on each other and their drinks.

"We think that she was slipped the date rape drug. We could see that just through the surveillance that they had on her. Those things happen every night downtown. This is not a secret, it's a big thing that happens downtown," Lee said. "The first month that Kenia was missing I got calls from 10 different women … who were actually raped after being slipped the date rape drug."

Travis Forbes
Travis Forbes (credit: Denver DA)

Monge's killer, Travis Forbes, is now serving life in prison plus 48 years for brutally beating a woman in Fort Collins.

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