Lawyer: Husband denies involvement in American woman’s disappearance in Spain

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The husband of an American woman missing under suspicious circumstances in Spain had nothing to do with her disappearance, and family says impending divorce was ‘terrible’ is disputing that claim, his lawyer said Tuesday.

David Knezevic was in his native Serbia when his wife, Ana, disappeared from their Madrid apartment on February 2, according to Florida-based lawyer Ken Padowitz, and Spanish police and the FBI He said he is cooperating with both.

Ana Knezevic, 40, a naturalized American from Colombia, disappeared shortly after a man wearing a motorcycle helmet spray-painted the lens of her apartment complex’s security camera to disable it. The next day, two of her friends received a text message on her cell phone saying she was going on a run for a few days with a man she had just met. They say the message was not written in her style and she had no intention of leaving with her stranger.

“David has been cooperating with authorities. He spoke with detectives in Spain multiple times. He provided credit card information… He hired a Spanish lawyer to help Spanish authorities confirm that his wife owed money. We had them sign documents that might help them gain access to the apartment,” Padowitz said. “He’s getting the best he can from Serbia.”

He said even if Knezevic, 36, had traveled to Spain, it would not be helpful in the investigation or search.

“He doesn’t speak Spanish. He has no family in Spain. He has no friends in Spain. He has no house, no apartment, no place to live in Spain,” Padowitz said.

Ana’s friend Sanna Rameau said Tuesday that David Knezevic told both her and Ana’s brother that he was at the couple’s Fort Lauderdale home on Feb. 2, not in Serbia. .

“Whatever he did could obviously be confirmed by the authorities,” Rameau said.

Madrid police said on Tuesday that an investigation was ongoing, but did not provide further details.

David and Ana Knezevic, who sometimes spell their last name “Knezevic,” have been married for 13 years. They own his EOX Technology Solutions Inc., which provides computer support for businesses in South Florida. Records show they own the home and two other properties in Fort Lauderdale, one of which is currently in foreclosure.

According to reports, Ana’s brother Juan Henao called the divorce “terrible” in an interview with Fort Lauderdale detectives. He told police he was angry that David was sharing a large sum of money with him.

But Padowitz said the couple’s separation was amicable and they had even discussed hiring a lawyer to finalize the divorce and divide assets.

“To say they were in a ‘bad divorce’ is completely untrue,” Padowitz said.

Rameau said Anna never told him that the divorce was amicable, “but I also didn’t participate in all of their conversations.” ____

Associated Press writer Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed to this report.