Florida girl lacking from Spain ‘taken in opposition to her will’ after man spray-painted safety cameras: buddy
A Florida girl “was taken against her will” in Madrid, Spain, the place she was spending time amid a contentious divorce together with her husband, one of many girl’s mates suspects.
Ana Maria Knezevic, a 40-year-old Fort Lauderdale resident initially from Colombia, had been quickly dwelling in a usually secure condominium complicated in Madrid’s Salamanca quarter when she disappeared on Feb. 2.
“Somebody has taken her in opposition to her will. She has not left on her personal. That is out of the query,” Sanna Rameau, Knezevic’s buddy from Fort Lauderdale, informed Fox Information Digital.
The final time Knezevic’s mates heard from her was round 10 p.m. that night — simply half-hour after a person sporting a motorbike helmet spray-painted the condominium constructing’s safety cameras.
The pair met at a social event in South Florida and instantly hit it off. They bonded over their love for touring. Rameau as soon as vacationed with Knezevic in Bogota, Colombia. In Florida, the pair lived inside strolling distance and “noticed one another fairly often.” Over the summer time, the 2 mates went to Majorca, France and Croatia. They’d plans to fulfill up in Madrid shortly after Knezevic disappeared.
Knezevic bought tickets to journey to Barcelona for just a few days earlier than meeting Rameau back in Madrid, however Rameau bought a wierd textual content from her buddy on Feb. 3.
FLORIDA WOMAN DISAPPEARS IN MADRID AFTER SUSPICIOUS TEXTS, BLACKED-OUT SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
“I met somebody great!” the WhatsApp message learn. “He has a summer time home about 2 [hours] from Madrid. We’re going there now and I’ll spend just a few days there. Sign is spotty. I will name you after I get again.”
OHIO WOMAN CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING, CHILD ENDANGERMENT AFTER DISAPPEARING WITH 5-YEAR-OLD FOSTER SON
Then, one other message: “Yesterday after remedy I wanted a stroll and he approached me on the road! Wonderful connection. Like I by no means had earlier than.”
Rameau described the messages as unusual as a result of she had spoken to Knezevic the day before today, and he or she hadn’t talked about something about assembly a person. Rameau additionally mentioned Knezevic despatched a message to different mates in Spanish, however the message seemed to be poorly translated into Spanish, despite the fact that Knezevic is fluent in each Spanish and English.
The day she disappeared, Knezevic additionally despatched an audio message to Rameau — one thing they did steadily after they have been too busy to kind out a textual content message.
“I noticed an condominium that I cherished yesterday. So hopefully it will likely be mine,” Knezevic says with fun within the message shared with Fox Information Digital. “I am now on my option to see one other one, and all the things’s going nice. I am feeling truly actually good.”
Then, she informed Rameau she was going to Barcelona for a day journey on Feb. 5. It would not make sense that she would go away city with a wierd man for just a few days when she had plans to go to Barcelona, Rameau defined.
2 ADOPTED TEENS ARRESTED IN SPAIN AFTER MOTHER’S GRISLY MURDER: REPORT
Neighbors reported seeing Knezevic exterior of her Madrid condominium on the night of Feb. 2, however nobody has seen or heard from her since.
Knezevic and her husband, David Knezevic, collectively ran an IT firm in South Florida, they usually have been additionally excited about actual property. Rameau described them as a “profitable couple” who had been married 13 years earlier than they determined to separate final summer time.
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
“It was troublesome for her, clearly, so she began spending extra time in Europe, in Madrid, the place she has mates from earlier than,” Rameau mentioned.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Division informed Fox Information Digital that Knezevic “was reported lacking overseas,” so the FLPD “is just not investigating her disappearance.”
David was in Serbia, the place he’s from initially, when his spouse vanished, his lawyer, Ken Padowitz, informed Fox Information Digital.
“It is only a horrible, horrible state of affairs at this level. However David was dwelling in Serbia,” Padowitz mentioned. “His passport will mirror that. He was there previous to his spouse’s disappearance in Spain. He was not in Spain.”
The lawyer mentioned David “has no data as to why she would have disappeared within the method she did” and “has completely nothing to do with it.”
On Feb. 7, 5 days after Knezevic’s disappearance, Henao contacted police to share details about his sister’s disappearance, saying Ana and David have been going via a “nasty” divorce and that there was a “substantial sum of money on the road,” in accordance with a police report.
“He said that David traveled to Serbia on January seventeenth of this 12 months however he’s not sure how lengthy he stayed there,” the police report states. “Moreover, he referred to as and texted David asking him the place was Ana to no avail. Juan suggested that David replied again to him final night time round 6pm through ‘Whats [App]’ as if he was in another country telling Juan that Ana was lacking and nothing else in addition to that.”
David’s lawyer disputed the declare that they have been going via a “nasty” divorce, saying the couple was even making an attempt to retain the identical divorce lawyer.
“They’d been separate for roughly 4 months, they usually have been planning on divorcing. They’d not even employed attorneys but, they usually have been truly speaking about hiring an lawyer collectively to resolve their divorce, so simply the other of a nasty divorce,” Padowitz mentioned, including that his shopper is cooperating with legislation enforcement and has spoken with police in Madrid.
Police responded to the Knezevics’ residence earlier this month to see if they may make contact with the couple, however neither David nor Ana have been residence. Three unopened Amazon packages have been sitting on the entrance door, police mentioned.
SIGN UP TO GET OUR TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTERÂ
In January, David Knezevic reported a theft of greater than $5,000 in money and private belongings from his car, a Mercedes, which he mentioned he left unlocked in a single day. Safety cameras exterior his home apparently didn’t seize the incident, however he informed police the passenger-side door was left ajar, and authorities collected latex prints from the passenger door, however no suspects have been named in reference to the alleged thefts.
Fox Information Digital has reached out to David and his IT firm for remark.
The Madrid Municipal Police didn’t instantly reply to inquiries from Fox Information Digital. A spokesperson for Spain’s Lacking Individuals Affiliation, Joaquin Amills, informed The Related Press that the group posted lacking individuals fliers with a photograph of Knezevic throughout Madrid, however they haven’t obtained any suggestions but.
Authentic article supply: Florida woman missing from Spain ‘taken against her will’ after man spray-painted security cameras: friend
