Deceased/Not Found Spain - Ana Knezevich, 40, from Florida, going through divorce, trip to Madrid, 5 Feb 2024 *suicide arrested husband**

[ZaZara]

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

They will, at least to Spain (EU).


Serbia | European Judicial Network(EJN)

According to the Act on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Serbian law distinguishes and recognizes the following basic forms of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters:
1. Extradition of defendants or convicted persons;
2. Assumption and transfer of criminal prosecution;
3. Execution of criminal judgments;
4. Other forms of mutual assistance.
When requesting MLA from Serbia, the requesting party must indicate the legal basis and/ or reciprocity principle upon which such request is sought. Please note, regardless of the existence of international treaties or bilateral agreements, the requested State may have expressed reservations which limits the assistance that can be realistically provided. For example, some states have retained the right to refuse to provide judicial assistance in cases where the offense is already the subject of judicial investigation in the requested country. The main principle that should be followed is: one must always take into account the fact that the requested State will have to comply with their own domestic law and internal procedures, when deciding whether and to what extent the assistance sought can be generally accorded.

 

[Dre]

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.

I believe also by the clarity, ie book style formality of the text, is something I experienced strongly in Colombia. I would agree that it’s not a person native to Spain who wrote that, jmo!

 

[LadyL]

is the husband Columbian?

 

[Sundog]

From what I'm reading here, it sounds like the husband left the U.S. and travelled to Serbia after the news of Ana's disappearance. So if he is involved it appears that his involvement is from a distance. It sounds like there is no evidence he was travelling before Ana disappeared, so it is unlikely that he was in Madrid when Ana went missing.

 

[Charlot123]

They will, at least to Spain (EU).


Serbia | European Judicial Network(EJN)

Not this case, as we don’t yet have a poi, just a missing person. JMO - I am not a lawyer, but there is general logic in humans. Extradition/non-extradition, strictly speaking, applies to political cases or cases having political potential. Another possible situation would be difference in laws between the two countries (e.g., drugs), or huge difference in punishment for the same crime. And, the third reason to adhere to laws, more likely in some countries than others, is when the person to be extradited has enough money to bribe local officials. (But it is high risk, so we are probably talking about a lot of dough).
When it comes to garden-variety murderers, no country is eager to hold extra, so lack of mutual extradition treaty becomes a moot point. See Maricella Botello’s case. Cambodia has no extradition treaty with the US, in fact, it is on the list of “best non-extradition countries”, yet it was obviously too happy to get rid of the scary murderous couple. There are many laws allowing to “extradite without extradition”.

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.

Now, we are discussing only a potential poi, whoever they might be, and likely, it is not a husband. I am thinking, if it is a US phone company, it is not difficult for someone living in the US to get a second owner of the same account, and then it is easy to control any phone. Also, I once bought a device (a tiny portable printer) that I can now safely call “a spy”. ((( It had an app that one needed to install, and Apple Store didn’t have it, while Google play did. So much about Android safety. Then also, companies like TMobile have “digits” function. I bet Verizon or AT@T have similar programs. So, not so hard these days. Lots of other spyware around.

It would be of interest to find out if Ana bought a local phone, or used an international plan on a US one.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Updates from the Spanish press (apologies if any of this has been posted already):

*The magistrate has granted police access to her phone’s geolocation. They are also looking at local CCTV.

*Her apartment’s rental contract was due to expire in March. The day of her disappearance, she’d viewed another flat around 11:30 but turned it down.

*On Monday 5th, her planned trip to Barcelona was actually only for the day, to a convention for a ‘popular psychiatrist’.

*She was expecting visits from both her friends and family. All of this suggests a planned future in Spain, at least in the short to medium-term.

*Around 22:00, she texted a friend that she was at home with no plans to go out. At 01:30, a neighbour reported seeing lights on in her apartment. No shouts or screams are ever heard.

*Re: the text messages about meeting the man, there is a two hour gap between the English and the Spanish translation. Despite this, they both say “I’m going there *now*.”

*Also, according to her family, she didn’t use accents / tildes in her written Spanish (suggesting she didn’t have Spanish autocorrect on her phone?). She also apparently never used the word “chèvre.”

*Whatever the theoreticals about Serbia’s extradition stance, the husband *cannot* currently be obliged to declare before the Spanish authorities (be interrogated) explicitly because he’s in Serbia / Serbian.

*It’s uncertain if he was in Spain recently. Some sources say possibly for various days in January, others say he’s never entered Spain. Does he have two passports? Could explain the doubt.

*The phone was switched off on the 3rd and has not come back on since.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

This is likely meaningless but: if the top message is Ana and the bottom messages are not, then a few things jump out at me. Primarily, they have copied the double exclamation mark ‼ ending to her sentences. So, either this person knows her way of speaking and is trying to mimic that or is simply observant. What I find strange; they mix up “I’ll” with “I will”.

 

[Charlot123]

Updates from the Spanish press (apologies if any of this has been posted already):

*The magistrate has granted police access to her phone’s geolocation. They are also looking at local CCTV.

*Her apartment’s rental contract was due to expire in March. The day of her disappearance, she’d viewed another flat around 11:30 but turned it down.

*On Monday 5th, her planned trip to Barcelona was actually only for the day, to a convention for a ‘popular psychiatrist’.

*She was expecting visits from both her friends and family. All of this suggests a planned future in Spain, at least in the short to medium-term.

*Around 22:00, she texted a friend that she was at home with no plans to go out. At 01:30, a neighbour reported seeing lights on in her apartment. No shouts or screams are ever heard.

*Re: the text messages about meeting the man, there is a two hour gap between the English and the Spanish translation. Despite this, they both say “I’m going there *now*.”

*Also, according to her family, she didn’t use accents / tildes in her written Spanish (suggesting she didn’t have Spanish autocorrect on her phone?). She also apparently never used the word “chèvre.”

*Whatever the theoreticals about Serbia’s extradition stance, the husband *cannot* currently be obliged to declare before the Spanish authorities (be interrogated) explicitly because he’s in Serbia / Serbian.

*It’s uncertain if he was in Spain recently. Some sources say possibly for various days in January, others say he’s never entered Spain. Does he have two passports? Could explain the doubt.

*The phone was switched off on the 3rd and has not come back on since.

Thank you!
Do you happen to know whether it was the English text that she sent first?

If English, then, one might assume that the sender of the second text was not a natural Hispanophone. In the US, most people have Google Translate app installed on their phones. I wonder what they'd use in Europe. Anyhow, the police needs to find her phone.

About lack of accents. It was probably just Ana's style. Accents can be easily chosen by double-pressing the vowel, é, for example. As to autocorrects, i am not sure about Spanish, but from my experience, not all spellings are automatically downloaded if you install a second language keyboard. Once you start using that keyboard, though, the phone remembers the "correct" spelling, in any language, and starts correcting you. Now, here is an interesting thing. If I mistype something in Russian, the phone remembers the wrong spelling and would correct me the next time i type the word correctly - using the wrong one. It would do it once, maybe twice. Then it remembers the correct spelling. So...imagine someone was typing on Ana's phone. Using accents which Ana didn't use. The phone ought to have corrected the text to accent-less, at least the first time. The person ought to have noticed it. I see only one situation when it won't happen...

(It seems unusual that between a couple living together for several years, and in Florida, the husband would never notice Ana's accent-less typing, nor would he speak no Spanish at all.)

They should have looked at CCTVs the day after her disappearance.

 

[cottonweaver]

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

Google street and satellite views of her block show service entries to the back and an inner courtyard. ( Might be accessible to somebody inside the building who wants to later exit through the back street with somebody or something suspicious. More parking on the back street too)

 

[Charlot123]

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


View attachment 483920

I am thinking of a totally different situation.
Imagine the person visiting the same therapist, or another therapist in the building. He may have an earlier appointment, or a later one. Maybe it is a medical building. He notices Ana and one day, he approaches her. He may know something about her by discreetly observing her. In the US, seeing a therapist is not a sign of instability; post-Covid, it may be the norm.
I would see if there are offices in that building whose specialists have clients with regular appointments (a masseuse, a PT) who fall on Ana's therapy days.

 

[cottonweaver]

I am thinking of a totally different situation.
Imagine the person visiting the same therapist, or another therapist in the building. He may have an earlier appointment, or a later one. Maybe it is a medical building. He notices Ana and one day, he approaches her. He may know something about her by discreetly observing her. In the US, seeing a therapist is not a sign of instability; post-Covid, it may be the norm.
I would see if there are offices in that building whose specialists have clients with regular appointments (a masseuse, a PT) who fall on Ana's therapy days.

Yep. It could be anyone, there are enough weirdos out there, doesn't have to be an ex or some other man who is known to her. ( Stranger stalker who gleans personal info about her via her social media is an option)

Having said that, I am struck by the detail in that link from the Spanish press, uncertainty about the ex movements ( post 68 on this page)

Some sources say possibly for various days in January, others say he’s never entered Spain.

I'd not been able to find anything much in the US links, other than the claims below:

Jan 17 her husband first traveled to Serbia (Source - Ana's brother)
Jan 25 he reported to Fort Lauderdale police a theft of gear worth $6k from his Mercedes. (He must have returned to US to file report?)
He's also reported to have spoken to her by phone on the day she disappeared (Source - Rameau)
Her brother gets hold of him by phone Feb 6 and he tells brother she's missing. He speaks to Spanish LE on feb 9
By the time Ana's case hits the news, he's supposed to be back in Serbia again.

As far as possible motives go, I'm more inclined to believe the brother knows more about the divorce wranglings than the friend Rameau. ( His comments are in contrast to hers)

 

[indicolite22]

It appears that her apartment building has a concierge:

https://www.idealista.com/maps/madrid-madrid/calle-francisco-silvela/65/

Her brother mentions "la portera" in his radio interview:

 

[ZaZara]

This is likely meaningless but: if the top message is Ana and the bottom messages are not, then a few things jump out at me. Primarily, they have copied the double exclamation mark ‼ ending to her sentences. So, either this person knows her way of speaking and is trying to mimic that or is simply observant. What I find strange; they mix up “I’ll” with “I will”.
View attachment 484214

The use of 'casa de recreo' is odd, at least in Spain. They will have a house in the mountains, the village or the sierra. In some cases, that house is the old family home, which they kept after grandma died and everyone had moved to the city. But to call it a casa de recreo? Not likely, IMO.

Next, this is translated or mentioned in the other message as a SUMMER house? in February? People from Madrid with a second home in the countryside go there in winter for skiing or hunting. Or perhaps for a hike if the weather allows.

These words really irk me. So bureaucratic. Imagine someone has a cosy tea shop and invites you to visit their commercial property.

As for the rest of the story - a savvy business woman with 20 years experience in running her own enterprise, should know better than this. Very dumb copywriter at work here IMO. Even if the story is true confused woman falls for stranger on the street and leaves for countryside within 24 hrs I'd expect her to be more specific. Name, location, registration number of car, picture of the person and the like. In this day and age of selfies it is almost rude not to send one.

 

[Charlot123]

Yep. It could be anyone, there are enough weirdos out there, doesn't have to be an ex or some other man who is known to her. ( Stranger stalker who gleans personal info about her via her social media is an option)

Having said that, I am struck by the detail in that link from the Spanish press, uncertainty about the ex movements ( post 68 on this page)


I'd not been able to find anything much in the US links, other than the claims below:

Jan 17 her husband first traveled to Serbia (Source - Ana's brother)
Jan 25 he reported to Fort Lauderdale police a theft of gear worth $6k from his Mercedes. (He must have returned to US to file report?)
He's also reported to have spoken to her by phone on the day she disappeared (Source - Rameau)
Her brother gets hold of him by phone Feb 6 and he tells brother she's missing. He speaks to Spanish LE on feb 9
By the time Ana's case hits the news, he's supposed to be back in Serbia again.

As far as possible motives go, I'm more inclined to believe the brother knows more about the divorce wranglings than the friend Rameau. ( His comments are in contrast to hers)

I don't think her husband is directly involved. Could "someone interested in Ana's disappearance" hire someone from Europe, a country like Serbia? Surely.

BTW, I hope that there are more CCTVs in Spain than in the US.

For some reason, i can't get out of my mind the highway from Madrid to Barcelona, the one that features the metallic bull figures that later disappear (corrida is unpopular in Catalonia).

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Google street and satellite views of her block show service entries to the back and an inner courtyard. ( Might be accessible to somebody inside the building who wants to later exit through the back street with somebody or something suspicious. More parking on the back street too)

She lives on Francisco Silvela, 65 — I see no car park entrances for that building? As for the back street, that is Diego de Leon, which is busy, heavily-transited, with a hospital etc. We’re probably looking at different views. It’s possible Ana’s building does have off-site parking nearby. Websites show conflicting info. Some say no parking, others say the building has 21 spots.

At any rate, do we know if Ana was driving in Spain? That would be interesting as it’s really not necessary while living in Madrid and she seemingly was coming just for a while — at least initially. I would imagine the owner either kept the parking spot (if it exists) for themselves or rented it out separately. Either way, if it is somehow possible to gain access to the building this way, such a person would need the clicker for a garage door. Which either makes him a resident or he’s connected to Ana’s apartment in some way. It would be very difficult to just slip in as someone leaves and hope nobody notices you parking in their space or some such.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

It appears that her apartment building has a concierge:

https://www.idealista.com/maps/madrid-madrid/calle-francisco-silvela/65/

Her brother mentions "la portera" in his radio interview:

Do you know how old that page is? Because the building façade looks quite different. On other websites (showing the current façade) I’m seeing the word “videoportero” and no mention of parking. So, basically no more concierge, just an intercom system with video. Also, I’ll note that portero is a much more informal position than ‘concierge’. Many buildings have a portero, s/he will keep an eye out for anything dodgy, of course, but they’ll also mop up, take packages and so on. The one in my building is often out, will take all of august off etc. My point is, if there is still a portero in place, it’s unlikely this person would’ve been in the building on the Friday night in question.

https://belbex.com/detalles/calle-francisco-silvela-65/fh3979/venta/

 

[FacelessPodcast]

The use of 'casa de recreo' is odd, at least in Spain. They will have a house in the mountains, the village or the sierra. In some cases, that house is the old family home, which they kept after grandma died and everyone had moved to the city. But to call it a casa de recreo? Not likely, IMO.

Next, this is translated or mentioned in the other message as a SUMMER house? in February? People from Madrid with a second home in the countryside go there in winter for skiing or hunting. Or perhaps for a hike if the weather allows.

These words really irk me. So bureaucratic. Imagine someone has a cosy tea shop and invites you to visit their commercial property.

As for the rest of the story - a savvy business woman with 20 years experience in running her own enterprise, should know better than this. Very dumb copywriter at work here IMO. Even if the story is true confused woman falls for stranger on the street and leaves for countryside within 24 hrs I'd expect her to be more specific. Name, location, registration number of car, picture of the person and the like. In this day and age of selfies it is almost rude not to send one.

Yeah, casa de recreo was also jarring for me.

And even if you buy the story she met the love of her life in the street, it seems a little strange to say the least — not even mentioning which town he lives in. The messages were probably designed to stave off the police for as long as possible, not provide a concrete story that would keep people from ever searching for Ana. The fact that phone has never come back on tells its own story.

Side point: she said she met him walking back from therapy. So, the police would’ve spoken to the therapist, retraced her route. If she did meet such a mystery man somewhere in the street, some lens would’ve picked it up somewhere. Or, at least a waiter or nosy granny. Madrileños are nosy after all.

 

[Seni]

"Casa de recreo" doesnt work in Colombian Spanish either, it would be "finca" or "casa campestre".

 

[FacelessPodcast]

"Casa de recreo" doesnt work in Colombian Spanish either, it would be "finca" or "casa campestre".

My Colombian friend said the exact same thing.

 

[indicolite22]

Do you know how old that page is? Because the building façade looks quite different. On other websites (showing the current façade) I’m seeing the word “videoportero” and no mention of parking. So, basically no more concierge, just an intercom system with video. Also, I’ll note that portero is a much more informal position than ‘concierge’. Many buildings have a portero, s/he will keep an eye out for anything dodgy, of course, but they’ll also mop up, take packages and so on. The one in my building is often out, will take all of august off etc. My point is, if there is still a portero in place, it’s unlikely this person would’ve been in the building on the Friday night in question.

https://belbex.com/detalles/calle-francisco-silvela-65/fh3979/venta/

IIRC, the brother specifically mentions la portera as the person who gave information to Ana's friends about the man in a helmet having spray-painted the cameras.

ETA: There are some newer pictures of the façade on the same page among the 20 pics of the property.