FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The brother of a South Florida woman who went missing in Spain is seeking answers into her disappearance and is hoping for her safe return.
A news conference by Ana Knezevich’s family was held Wednesday morning.
“If anybody out there has any information about her whereabouts, we still have hope that we can find where my sister is,” said Felipe Henao, Ana’s brother. “If she’s out there, somewhere, I just want to tell her we all love her, we miss her, we support her, we’re her voice.”
Ana, 40, was missing for two weeks while she was in, Madrid, Spain back in February, which prompted her friend to ask for help.
During the conference, Knezevich’s brother thanked his sister’s friend for worrying about her and notifying authorities.
“But overall, I want to thank my sister’s friends,” Henao said. “They’re the ones who alerted everybody about all of this, and I’m just very grateful for them for Daisy, for Sana, for Elisa, for Alejandra. As you can see, my sister is very loved. She has many friends and I didn’t expect to see a room so full, and this is because of all the love my sister spreads.”
Ana’s mother was seen with her head down during the press conference while her brother spoke about his love for his sister.
“My sister is very loved,” Henao said. “I’m who I am in this country because of her. I came here, she fed me, she gave me a roof, she gave me a job, she guided me, and I am truly grateful for her. That’s why I fight for her.”
On Feb. 3 Ana texted friends and her brother that she met someone and was leaving Madrid.
“We received very bizarre messages from her phone, I have to say from her phone because I don’t believe it was her that was sending it, that Saturday afternoon before she disappeared,” said Sanna Rameau, Ana’s friend.
As an investigation into her disappearance continued, officials looked at surveillance video from the apartment she was staying at in Spain and noticed a man, who was disguised, spray painted the lens of the security camera.
Cameras at a nearby store captured a man who appeared to be David purchasing the spray paint along with two rolls of duct tape.
On Saturday, officials arrested Ana’s estranged husband, 36-year-old David Knezevich, as a potential suspect. He was taken without incident when he arrived at Miami International Airport.
According to the FBI, friends and family of Ana told investigators she and David were going through a contentious divorce, where he was unwilling to split their assets and Ana “was very fearful of [David] Knezevich and believed that he was surreptitiously monitoring her whereabouts.”
“She has not left on her own, she has been taken against her will,” said Rameau.
The FBI reported that David asked a friend to translate a message into “perfect Colombian for a friend,” and that text was then sent to Henao and friends of his estranged wife detailing how she met someone and was leaving Madrid.
“We feel great betrayal and we’re just shocked, we’re traumatized,” said Henao.
Court documents released late Monday show that agents believe David resembles the man wearing a motorcycle helmet who spray painted the security camera lens outside Ana’s Madrid apartment on Feb. 2. The man left an hour later carrying a suitcase.
A body has not yet been found.
David is a local Fort Lauderdale businessman and remains in federal for his alleged involvement in Ana’s kidnapping.
His attorney said his client is innocent and was in his native Serbia on the day his 40-year-old wife disappeared, 1,600 miles (2,500 kilometers) away. But agents say David rented a Peugeot in the Serbian capital Belgrade four days earlier.
According to the FBI when David return the rental car it had thousands of miles on it and also had new tinted windows and license plate.
While several months have passed since Ana went missing, her brother still has hope that officials will continue to search for his sister.
“We trust the American authorities, the justice system, we trust that they’re going to make justice for my sister. That’s what we all want,” he said. “I really want to thank the FBI. They answered all my calls. Every day I talk to them since I’ve learned about this. I just hope she is out there and we can find her soon.”
David will make his first court appearance on Friday.
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