Before we tell you how Kylee died, we need you to understand how desperately we fought to believe she was still alive.
Kylee wasn't supposed to become a missing-person poster. She wasn't supposed to become a case number. She wasn't supposed to become a story people read, feel sad about for a moment, and then forget.
She was supposed to come home.
That week, Kylee experienced complications with her pregnancy and was sent to the hospital.
She returned to Bethesda House early the following morning. According to our family's understanding of what happened, Kylee was exhausted, fell asleep, and missed a required morning meeting.
Two days later, she was discharged from the program for breaking policy. Transportation was arranged that took Kylee back to Gregory Groom's home in Rehoboth.
That decision is something our family continues to question. What was supposed to be a stepping stone toward stability for Kylee and her baby instead placed her back in circumstances that would soon become the center of a homicide investigation.
After Kylee returned to Gregory's home, she contacted her sisters and described a violent incident.
One of Kylee's sisters spoke by phone with Kylee and Gregory. She tried to calm the situation and repeatedly offered to pick Kylee up so she could sleep at a family member's home while everyone figured out what to do next.
Kylee declined.
Her family wanted her home. Kylee believed the immediate danger had passed.
Kylee's last known whereabouts centered on Gregory's Rehoboth property.
Gregory reported Kylee missing. Her sisters were contacted by police and provided additional information. The family then began its own desperate effort to find Kylee.
Gregory also participated in efforts to search for her.
As the investigation expanded, local and state law enforcement searched for Kylee. Search efforts included specialized personnel and equipment.
Family, friends, police, and members of the community searched wherever they thought Kylee might be.
As long as Kylee had not been found, her family could still hold onto one possibility:
During the search, Kylee's sisters received a frightening call that appeared to portray a kidnapping. They believed they could hear someone crying in the background.
In the panic, they contacted the detective investigating Kylee's disappearance.
The call was ultimately determined to be a hoax.
For Kylee's family, it added another layer of fear to an already unbearable search. They did not know what information was real, whether Kylee was hurt, or whether she was somewhere waiting for them to find her.
During the investigation, Gregory offered explanations for where Kylee might have gone, including a story involving a vehicle that had allegedly offered them a ride while they were walking.
For her family, every possible lead mattered.
Maybe someone picked her up. Maybe she left in a car. Maybe she was somewhere investigators had not searched.
Every possibility meant one thing: maybe Kylee was still alive.
According to statements prosecutors later made in court, Gregory admitted during questioning to an earlier domestic violence incident involving Kylee.
Prosecutors further allege that Gregory ultimately told investigators he had killed Kylee and provided a hand-drawn map showing investigators where to search on the Rehoboth property.
Investigators followed that information.
Kylee's remains were located approximately five feet underground.
Kylee was not walking through a door. She was not calling. She was not somewhere waiting for us to find her.
She had been buried beneath the ground.
And with Kylee was the baby she had already begun dreaming about raising.
Our family lost Kylee and the future she imagined with her baby.Kylee had just graduated high school. She was learning how to navigate adulthood. She was preparing to become a mother.
The baby she dreamed of wrapping in the same Elmo blanket that had wrapped Kylee when she was little would never get that chance.
August 19 changed our family forever.
We will not present unanswered questions as proven facts. Where our family has questions, we will call them questions. Where prosecutors have made allegations, we will identify them as allegations. Where something has been established through reliable public information, we will identify it accordingly.
As additional verified information becomes available, this page will be updated.
Gregory Groom has been charged in connection with Kylee's death and has pleaded not guilty. Statements concerning what he allegedly told investigators or what prosecutors believe occurred are allegations and prosecution claims unless and until established in court. A criminal charge is not a conviction, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Parts of this page also describe the Monteiro family's experiences, recollections, questions, and understanding of events. Those portions are presented as the family's account and should not be interpreted as independent judicial findings.
Stand with us. Speak her name. Demand accountability. And help us build something that could help another young woman before her story becomes another tragedy.
If Kylee's life cannot be saved anymore, perhaps what we learn from her story can help save someone else's.
For Kylee.