Spain Spain - Ana Knezevich, 40, from Florida, going through divorce, missing under suspicious circumstances on trip to Madrid, 5 Feb 2024 *Arrest*

[Knox]

The couple were seemingly not in financial difficulties either. According to Serbian media, they owned nine properties in Florida, four of which were sold with a profit in the last couple of months (after the decision to divorce). They also purportedly earned millions each year from husband's IT company.

Imperija Davida i nestale Ane: Srbin u decembru uzeo 4,11 miliona dolara od kuća na Floridi, a tek koliko zarađuje IT kompanija

Zajednička imovina Davida i Ane Knežević je vredna nekoliko miliona dolara. Za 20 dana, od kraja decembra do 15. januara, David Knežević prodao četiri kuće.

24sedam.rs

So the divorce was difficult because of thier shared assets?

 

[cottonweaver]

Maybe the hitman was watching her go to and from therapy. In the Serbian news article, her friend "Sana" says she was seeing a psychologist.

It's very true, but in that scenario is the hitman also sending the texts in Spanish to the Spanish friends and sending the English version to the Swedish friends in Sweden?

TBC. Indicolite was asking about a hitman who is ' a stranger to Ana' and my reply was about this hitman having to work under direction or have received a lot of detailed instructions.

 

[cottonweaver]

Interesting extra detail in the Serbian article, no idea if it's an accurate sighting. Puzzling that he goes back out and her last sighting is also outside ( Newsnation/Mail sources has Ana's previously told Rameau she's staying home because it's cold.)
Did she pop out again later or was called outside 30 mins after him?
Hard to know, article seems to contradict itself on last known sighting

' The last thing he knows is that on that Friday evening, Ana entered the building and that was the last time she was seen. No one saw her leave the building, but a strange event preceded her disappearance - an unknown man sprayed the cameras on the building as well as the elevator, and then went outside."It happened around 9:30 p.m. Half an hour later, Ana was last seen in front of her apartment, she was alone. Since then, no one has seen her," Sana tells us, upset.

 

[Charlot123]

On Saturday one friend received a message from her phone in English and another friend the same message in Spanish:

"I met someone wonderfull! He has a summer house about two hours from Madrid. We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. Signal is spotty. I'll call you when I get back"

"Conocí a una persona muy chévere. Tiene una casa de recreo a unas dos horas de Madrid. Ahora nos vamos y pasaré unos días allí. Aunque apenas hay señal. Te marco cuando vuelva"

The police initially did not investigate the spray painting incident because no robbery has been reported in the building. Upon entry, her apartment was found in slight disarray, but nothing abnormal was detected.

El FBI y la Policía buscan a una norteamericana desaparecida en Madrid: mensajes sospechosos y cámaras en negro

Su nombre es Ana María Knezevich Henao , tiene 40 años y han pasado más de 12 días desde que desapareció en Madrid . Aunque nació en Colombia, pasó

www.telecinco.es

And here is a thing. A new person and going to a place outside of Madrid...she'd at least leave a name. IMHO.

 

[indicolite22]

Interesting extra detail in the Serbian article, no idea if it's an accurate sighting. Puzzling that he goes back out and her last sighting is also outside ( Newsnation/Mail sources has Ana's previously told Rameau she's staying home because it's cold.)
Did she pop out again later or was called outside 30 mins after him?
Hard to know, article seems to contradict itself on last known sighting

' The last thing he knows is that on that Friday evening, Ana entered the building and that was the last time she was seen. No one saw her leave the building, but a strange event preceded her disappearance - an unknown man sprayed the cameras on the building as well as the elevator, and then went outside."It happened around 9:30 p.m. Half an hour later, Ana was last seen in front of her apartment, she was alone. Since then, no one has seen her," Sana tells us, upset.

According to her friend, she was last seen at 10pm by a neighbor. By that time the security cameras were already spray-painted. I wonder if she was seen outside of the building coming in or on her apartment floor. When did she send the message about staying in? Could it be that the perp followed her into the building and took her from there or was waiting on her floor and followed her into the apartment? There was no break-in and no signs of a struggle in the apartment. Would she be answering the door late at night?

ETA: I'm wondering if there are cameras on all floors of the building? How many were spray-painted? Just the one on the ground floor in front of the elevator? If yes, she might have been abducted from there.

 

[cottonweaver]

According to her friend, she was last seen at 10pm by a neighbor. By that time the security cameras were already spray-painted. I wonder if she was seen outside of the building coming in or on her apartment floor. When did she send the message about staying in? Could it be that the perp followed her into the building and took her from there or was waiting on her floor and followed her into the apartment? There was no break-in and no signs of a struggle in the apartment. Would she be answering the door late at night?

From the links posted on WS there are answers to only a couple of your questions and unfortunately often the links contradict each other

- Man in helmet seen spraying cameras 9.30pm. He sneaks in and then also sprays elevator camera ( Newsnation link)
- 10pm Rameau last speaks to Ana who is staying home cause it’s cold there. ( Cuomo/Newsnation)

------
Anyway... pure speculation:

To me the text contents are the biggest red flags. I interpret them as the sender being transparently ' try too hard. '
- He's doubling-up by trying to make her sound potentially unstable as well as reckless to personal safety risks. ( Therapist mentioned. Needs a walk for relief. Going off in cars with men who randomly approach you on the street.)
- If that doesn't work to throw everybody off, he chucks in the option that she's at the start of a whirlwind romance which could lead anywhere, even to a whole new life. 'Amazing connection... never had before'. ( She's happy, nothing to worry about)

- Next, he throws the kitchen sink at it. Uses google translate for the Spanish message. Then uses the English version and sends that across the Continent, to Sweden.

- Next, he creates a cover-story for absence which is both unnecessarily vague & overly specific.
Summer house 2 hrs away. Why not just say outside of Valladolid or past Segovia, for example? Next, he conveniently leaves the return date vague & open-ended ' ...for a few days ' ( Rameau has said AK had to be back Monday for a conference)
Then adds ' spotty signal'. Doubles-up by adding wtte of don't call me, I'll call you when I get back.

That's what I meant by describing it in the earlier post as ' elaborate' ( And this is without including helmeted strangers and black spray paint)
IMO, whoever ' he' is, he thinks he's very smart but you can almost visualise the Spanish detectives and FBI staff's raised eyebrows when they look at the cover-texts

 

[kaya3627]

It's very true, but in that scenario is the hitman also sending the texts in Spanish to the Spanish friends and sending the English version to the Swedish friends in Sweden?

TBC. Indicolite was asking about a hitman who is ' a stranger to Ana' and my reply was about this hitman having to work under direction or have received a lot of detailed instructions.

Once he / they had Ana's phone, they could give it over to the ex-husband who can control it remotely. This is possible with iPhones, not sure about androids. Also, the ex-husband is a cybersecurity expert.

 

[Eli9]

Once he / they had Ana's phone, they could give it over to the ex-husband who can control it remotely. This is possible with iPhones, not sure about androids. Also, the ex-husband is a cybersecurity expert.

Perhaps that's how the person with the phone knew Ana was regularly seeing a therapist. Either that or the person went through her phone messages and saw it referenced earlier. IDK

 

[happyday]

This does feel personal to me. My daughter worked and lived in Spain and I went to visit her there last year. Madrid is a lovely city, and it feels very safe. It’s a big city, so of course there is going to be crime, but it seemed like more pickpockets than anything else. So scary for her family.

 

[indicolite22]

Apparently Ana was thinking about staying in Spain and working (Google translation):
Her close friend in Madrid, who prefers to remain anonymous, also recently stated in this medium that Ana "was looking for a long-term apartment, for at least a year." She doesn't like to tie herself "to one place," but "she decided to stay here longer" and "she was even thinking about setting up a project in Spain." According to this friend, Ana told her: "I don't want to kill myself like I have done all these years, because I have given up my health and my life working and with what I worked this time I am practically retired, but I would like to do something here."

According to the article, the suspicious message in Spanish was sent two hours after the English version (on Feb 3 at 2pm and 4pm respectively).

On the use of language (Google translated):
In fact, the word "chévere" was not a term that she used and it is striking that she bothered to put periods and accents, when she had never done so before.

Some sources suggested that Ana was using dating apps recently, but her close friend from Sweden says that she wasn't seeing anyone at the time she went missing.

Nobody in her building heard any noise from her apartment on the night in question. A neighbor stated there was light in her apartment at 1am on Feb 3.

Nuevos datos sobre la norteamericana desaparecida en Madrid: su marido en Serbia, su teléfono y sus planes de futuro

Este viernes se cumplen dos semanas de la desaparición de Ana María Knezevich Henao , la mujer del sur de Florida (Estados Unidos) cuyo rastro se p

www.telecinco.es

 

[cottonweaver]

very interesting. No Noise heard and a light on until it was switched off at 1 am? Dating apps too

So you'd think .... hypothetically ....any tech expert who had been monitoring her phone or had received texts from her over a decade.... would know that she never previously used periods to punctuate messages and wouldn't make that mistake. ( They had been married for about 13 years )

Perp is somebody who doesn't know her well, instead?

Sunbiz records for EOX, where Ana is listed as company President (Takes you to associated addresses too)

Detail by Entity Name

search.sunbiz.org

 

[musicaljoke]

very interesting. No Noise heard and a light on until it was switched off at 1 am? Dating apps too

So you'd think .... hypothetically ....any tech expert who had been monitoring her phone or had received texts from her over a decade.... would know that she never previously used periods to punctuate messages and wouldn't make that mistake. ( They had been married for about 13 years )

Perp is somebody who doesn't know her well, instead?

Sunbiz records for EOX, where Ana is listed as company President (Takes you to associated addresses too)

Detail by Entity Name

search.sunbiz.org

Neighbour said the light was on at 1:00, but I don't see anywhere that it was stated the light was switched off.

 

[cottonweaver]

Neighbour said the light was on at 1:00, but I don't see anywhere that it was stated the light was switched off.

Thanks, so it's just when the neighbour last saw it ( neighbour may have fallen asleep at 1am)

I find it hard to believe that none of the exits or entries have been captured in such a busy area. Bound to have plenty of CCTV.

Does anybody know where the entrance is? Is that the camera position on the left of the door pictured below? ( If you zoom in, on the door, might be button pads)

C/ de Francisco Silvela, 65 · C/ de Francisco Silvela, 65, Salamanca, 28028 Madrid, Spain

C/ de Francisco Silvela, 65, Salamanca, 28028 Madrid, Spain

www.google.com

 

[indicolite22]

Thanks, so it's just when the neighbour last saw it ( neighbour may have fallen asleep at 1am)

I find it hard to believe that none of the exits or entries have been captured in such a busy area. Bound to have plenty of CCTV.

Does anybody know where the entrance is? Is that the camera position on the left of the door pictured below? ( If you zoom in, on the door, might be button pads)

C/ de Francisco Silvela, 65 · C/ de Francisco Silvela, 65, Salamanca, 28028 Madrid, Spain

C/ de Francisco Silvela, 65, Salamanca, 28028 Madrid, Spain

www.google.com

Button pads (source: Google Maps):

Source: NewsNation

 

[RosalindaA]

Searchlight episode for Ana by the veteran missing persons podcaster, John Lordan:

I would say, as a "UK European", the lack of media does not necessarily mean that the police are not on top of this, it's not the same as the US. Definitely looks like targeted foul play with divorce and money in the picture and a very disengaged husband. John mentioned that Ana is of very small stature, I'm reminded of other cases where a small woman is placed in a large suitcase to remove her from an apartment building/hotel. I suppose the husband would know what sort of luggage Ana took with her for this longer trip, is this missing from her apartment?

 

[RosalindaA]

Apologies, posted prior.

 

[Seni]

The word "chévere" is extremely common in Colombia. It means "nice, cool, great". It is not often used in Castillian Spanish.

I dont think it would come up in a Google translate from English to Spanish. And I don't think we know what the first English versión was.

Also, just BTW, Ana would have travelled without the need for a visa, either as Colombian or US Citizen with the right to a 3 month stay, without visa. After that, and if she wanted to work, she would have to apply for residence and obtain a work visa.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Searchlight episode for Ana by the veteran missing persons podcaster, John Lordan:

I would say, as a "UK European", the lack of media does not necessarily mean that the police are not on top of this, it's not the same as the US. Definitely looks like targeted foul play with divorce and money in the picture and a very disengaged husband. John mentioned that Ana is of very small stature, I'm reminded of other cases where a small woman is placed in a large suitcase to remove her from an apartment building/hotel. I suppose the husband would know what sort of luggage Ana took with her for this longer trip, is this missing from her apartment?

I live in Madrid and very much agree on the latter point about the suitcase. The idea that she could be forced out of her apartment and bundled into a car on that street seems impossible. It would be very tricky to even park up (illegally) outside her apartment block for half a minute without an irate bus driver or something blaring their horn. Moreover, the metro station is right there. Madrileños stay out very late throughout the year, let alone around the new year period (the main Christmas celebration in Spain is on the 6th of January). Very hard to imagine this could have happened and nobody sees a thing, leaving side all the cctv, taxi dashcam footage etc

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Searchlight episode for Ana by the veteran missing persons podcaster, John Lordan:

I would say, as a "UK European", the lack of media does not necessarily mean that the police are not on top of this, it's not the same as the US. Definitely looks like targeted foul play with divorce and money in the picture and a very disengaged husband. John mentioned that Ana is of very small stature, I'm reminded of other cases where a small woman is placed in a large suitcase to remove her from an apartment building/hotel. I suppose the husband would know what sort of luggage Ana took with her for this longer trip, is this missing from her apartment?

The word "chévere" is extremely common in Colombia. It means "nice, cool, great". It is not often used in Castillian Spanish.

I dont think it would come up in a Google translate from English to Spanish. And I don't think we know what the first English versión was.

Also, just BTW, Ana would have travelled without the need for a visa, either as Colombian or US Citizen with the right to a 3 month stay, without visa. After that, and if she wanted to work, she would have to apply for residence and obtain a work visa.

I was just going to say, whatever the accuracy of the texts sounding “like her”, chévere is a word I’ve only ever heard in Colombia / spoken by Colombian friends. (Though I’ll note it’s also spoken by Ecuadorians). Further to that, a Spaniard would not say “te marco”, (I’ll mark you), they’d say *I’ll call you*.

So, if this is someone pretending to be her, they’re doing it with at least some knowledge of Colombian words. That in itself might tell us something about the husband potentially. Words I’ve picked up from foreign partners tend to be high-usage / oft-repeated words. So, something like the way someone would say the equivalent of “great”, would likely be one a partner could pick up throughout a relationship.

Last point I’d make about not cancelling plans to Barcelona — the high-speed rail can be as cheap as €6 from Madrid. Assuming her accommodation had some kind of refund / date change policy, I wouldn’t point to this as a cast-iron reason for why she couldn’t potentially alter her plans suddenly. Not saying this is what I think happened, just adding context.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Would also note that I don’t think Serbia extradites its citizens…

Question: is there actual security camera footage or are we only talking about the intercom camera when you press her door number?