The husband of Ana Maria Knezevich Henaowho disappeared in Spain in February, was arrested by the FBI at Miami International Airport and charged with kidnapping in connection with her disappearance.
Knezevic Henao, a 40-year-old Colombian and naturalized US citizen, was reported missing on February 2 in Madrid, according to Spanish police.
Friends and family previously told NBC News that she moved to Madrid amid a difficult separation from her husband, David Knezevich, who is originally from Serbia. They said she shared significant financial assets with him from their shared businesses.
After months of unanswered questions during which missing people noticed covered streets in Spain, Spanish police announced Monday that David Knezevich was arrested Saturday at Miami International Airport in connection with his disappearance.
The investigation was carried out by the Belgrade Interior Attaché Office, FBI agents in Florida, Colombian Police and Spanish Police.
He was accused of kidnapping by federal agents, according to a complaint filed Friday in the Southern District of Florida. However, the complaint did not detail what may have happened to Knezevic Henao.
Man believed to be David Knezevich painted a camera in his wife’s Madrid apartment – and left with a suitcase
David Knezevich was considered a suspect in his wife’s disappearance after a man who looked like him spray-painted the security camera of her Madrid apartment building, a car he rented in Serbia was tracked to her street, and after suspicious text messages sent from his phone were traced back to him.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI, Knezevic Henao traveled from Miami to Madrid on December 26, 2023. Then, on February 2, her friends and family lost contact with her.
She was not formally named in the lawsuit but described as the wife of David Knezevich. She was still married to him at the time, but friends and family said they were separated and planning a divorce.
“The separation was controversial because Knezevich did not want to divide marital assets equally with the victim,” the complaint said. “The victim was very afraid of Knezevich and believed he was surreptitiously monitoring her whereabouts.”
Knezevic Henao was last seen alive entering her building in Madrid at 2:20 pm on February 2, according to Spanish authorities citing security cameras.
That same day, at 9:27 p.m., the building’s surveillance camera captured “a man wearing a helmet entering the building at the same time that some individuals were leaving.” Once inside, he was seen holding a can of spray paint and painted the camera lens. Despite the paint, the lens was not completely obscured and the man was seen attaching tape to the building’s lock, according to the report.
The man looked at the camera and his physical characteristics resembled David Knezevich, the complaint said.
The man was seen again at 10:30 p.m., this time exiting the elevator with what appeared to be a suitcase.
Missing items, car rental in Serbia and stolen license plates
Two days later, Spanish firefighters entered Knezevic Henao’s apartment for a social security check. A police search found his cell phone, laptop and chargers were missing.
Spanish police used surveillance footage from the apartment to identify the brand of spray paint used to obscure the camera and found a store in Madrid selling the same brand on February 2. it would be David Knezevich purchasing the can of spray paint,” as well as two rolls of duct tape on Feb. 2 around noon, the complaint said.
A Peugeot 308 car that David Knezevich had rented in Belgrade, Serbia, was traced to Knezevic Henao street in Madrid.
He rented the Peugeot from an agency for the period from January 29th to March 15th. He left Serbia by car on January 30 and returned to Belgrade by car around February 5, the complaint said.
The owner of the rental car company told authorities that when he returned the car, the windows were tinted, the license plate frames had been replaced, and two stickers had been removed from the vehicle.
The car also traveled 7,677 kilometers while being rented by Knezevich. The complaint noted that the journey from Belgrade to Madrid takes 26 hours and 2,592 kilometers.
In his time, a person in Spain reported that both license plates on his vehicle were stolen. When authorities searched their license plate reader database, they found him on Francisco Sivela Street – the street where Knezevic Henao’s apartment was located.
This stolen plate passed through two toll booths in the middle of the night from February 2nd to February 3rd. Video footage from the booths showed the plates were attached to a Peugeot 308 with tinted windows – matching the description of David Knezevich’s rental car. car. However, due to the tint, the driver was not visible.
A suspicious message and fake calls to cancel your insurance
At the time of Knezevic Henao’s disappearance, she reportedly sent a message to a friend on February 3, claiming to have met a man. She said she would go to his house, two hours away from Madrid, warning him that cell service would be spotty.
The FBI complaint revealed that a Colombian woman who met David Knezevich on a dating app told authorities that on February 3, he asked her on WhatsApp to help translate his messages into “perfect Colombian.” He claimed it was for a friend in Serbia who was writing a script about a Colombian character.
He asked her to translate the sentence: “I met someone wonderful. He has a summer house about 2 hours from Madrid. We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. There is almost no signal. I’ll call you when I get back. Kisses,” according to the complaint.
He then asked her to translate: “yesterday after therapy I needed to go for a walk and he approached me on the street! Incredible connection. Like I’ve never had before,” according to the lawsuit.
At some point during the connection, the woman told her mother that she met a Serbian man online. The mother googled his surname and discovered that his wife was missing in Madrid. The woman then discovered a news story that contained a message allegedly sent by David Knezevich’s wife that exactly matched the text she helped translate.
The complaint also said other evidence had emerged surrounding the couple’s business.
NBC News previously found three companies registered under the couple’s names in Florida — EOX Technology Solutions Inc., Registered Corporate Agents LLC and EOX Capital LLC — all providing technology and other support to South Florida businesses.
On March 4, a woman claiming to be Knezevic Henao contacted an insurance company to cancel three insurance policies held for her and her husband’s businesses. During the call, children were heard in the background, although Knezevic Henao has no children. Law enforcement authorities later discovered the number belonged to David Knezevich’s company and he was listed as the contact for the phone number.
Then, on April 24, an employee of David Knezevich told authorities that he instructed her to pose as Knezevic Henao “to open a new bank account” and provided the employee with Knezevic Henao’s social security number to use as evidence. The next day, the employee told David Knezevich that she felt uncomfortable impersonating Knezevic Henao because she was missing, but he allegedly told her that it was “not serious” and that it needed to be done in order for the employees to get paid. David Knezevich further stated, “I can’t call with my voice because I sound like a guy.”
Online court records show David Knezevich made his first court appearance Monday and was sentenced to temporary pretrial detention. He is due back in court for a remand hearing on Friday.
NBC News has reached out to an attorney listed for Knezevich and FBI Miami for comment.
The investigation into the disappearance of Knezevic Henao is ongoing.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
