Authorities apprehend husband of vanished American woman in Florida, reveals FBI
David Knezevich, a 36-year-old man residing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was taken into custody by the FBI and Diplomatic Security Service on Saturday, February 2, 2024, for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of his wife, Nathalia Knezevich Henao. Communicating with an FBI representative, James Marshall, it is said that the arrest occurred at Miami International Airport without incident. Court records show that Knezevich has not yet had his initial court appearance.
The Spanish National Police, US Customs and Border Protection, Diplomatic Security Service, and the FBI are still conducting their investigations.
Henao, 40-years-old, was reported missing in February after failing to meet a friend in Madrid. Her brother Johnny Henao informed CNN about the incident, stating that she was scheduled to take a train to Barcelona with a friend on February 5, but never arrived at the Madrid station.
Henao's friend, Sanna Rameau, claimed that she last conversed with her on February 2 through WhatsApp and was elated and emotional when hearing of her husband's arrest, "I'm hoping we are going to get some answers."
In the chats, she discussed meeting a man unexpectedly who said he had a summer home just 2 hours from Madrid. She added that he had approached her while she was out on the street a day before the disappearance, claiming they had an extraordinary connection.
The text ended with, "I met someone wonderful! He has a summer house about 2h 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."
Two days prior to her vanishing, someone had spray-painted the lenses of two security cameras at the apartment building she was staying in Madrid's affluent section of Salamanca, the building's superintendent disclosed. Cameras malfunctioning were located at the building's entrance and near the elevator. It is uncertain if the act influenced her disappearance.
The superintendent further revealed that the authorities entered Henao's apartment on February 12 with legal justification. The siblings and Rameau told CNN they separately spoke to Knezevich after their sister vanished, and he claimed he was staying in Serbia. CNN tried to contact Knezevich in February, but there was no response.
The website of a computer services company in South Florida, EOX Technology Solutions, lists Knezevich as the CEO and managing director. The company indicates that Knezevich is Serbian, and Henao is a Colombia native working as a project manager. CNN has attempted to contact the company, but no contact was made.
Spain's US Embassy declined to comment on the case in February because they were still conducting investigations and had to respect the privacy of those involved. The statement was given to CNN.
Contributors: Pau Mosquera, Al Goodman, and Carlos Suarez from CNN.
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The FBI and Diplomatic Security Service's arrest of David Knezevich in Florida is significant as Nathalia Knezevich Henao, a woman reported missing in Europe, is his wife. During their investigation, information emerged that Henao had a conversation with a man in Madrid, mentioning a summer home near the city just before her disappearance.
Source: edition.cnn.com
