A Florida man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of his wife amid what prosecutors described as a "contentious" divorce.
Fort Lauderdale resident David Knezevich was arrested at Miami International Airport on Saturday and charged with kidnapping.
His wife, Ana Knezevich, 40, a naturalized American originally from Colombia, went missing from her apartment in Madrid in Spain on February 2, according to court documents seen by Newsweek.
She disappeared after a man wearing a motorcycle helmet spray-painted the lenses of her apartment complex's security cameras, the FBI said in the court documents.
Investigators said that the man, who they say resembled David Knezevich, left the apartment building an hour later carrying a suitcase.
The FBI said that the pair were in the middle of a "contentious" divorce because he did not want to split the marital assets evenly with her.
The pair owned a Florida-based IT company, EOX Technology Solutions Inc., along with three properties in Fort Lauderdale, the Associated Press reported.
David Knezevich's attorney, Ken Padowitz, has said his client is innocent and was in his native Serbia on the day of Ana's disappearance. Newsweek reached out to Padowitz for comment via email.
In the court documents, prosecutors suggest that David might have been behind several text messages sent from Ana's phone to her friends. These messages prompted them to contact Spanish police, initiating the investigation.
According to the documents, the day after Ana was last seen, David Knezevich texted a Colombian woman he had met on a dating app asking her to translate some phrases into "perfect Colombian."
The phrases he asked her about included: "I met someone wonderful. He has a summer house about 2h (two hours) from Madrid. We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. There is barely any signal though. I will call you when I come back. Kisses."
Two of Ana's friends said they received strange text messages saying she had left with a man, one in Spanish and one in English, written in a style that did not sound like her.
Investigators laid out extensive evidence that they say links David Knezevich to his wife's disappearance—including allegations that he rented a Peugeot car in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and drove it to Spain.
The FBI said that when David Knezevich returned the rental car, he had tinted its windows and changed the license plate frames, according to the owner of the rental car agency.
Prosecutors stated that a Peugeot with stolen license plates had been spotted near Ana's apartment.
The FBI said that David Knezevich had driven the rental car approximately 7,677 kilometers, or around 4,770 miles, when he returned it. The distance between Belgrade and Madrid is approximately 2,600 km, or 1,600 miles.
Prosecutors pointed to other seemingly suspicious activity. They said that one of David Knezevich's employees said he instructed her to impersonate his wife to open a new bank account in April.
Prosecutors have not said what they believe happened to Ana Knezevich.
David Knezevich is being held pending a bail hearing.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
