Man Accused Of Kidnapping Wife Painted Over Security Cam The Day She Vanished: FBI | EUROtoday

The estranged husband of a lacking Florida lady has been arrested on a federal kidnapping cost after authorities mentioned somebody matching his look was seen blacking out the safety digicam at her condominium constructing in Spain on the day she disappeared.

David Knezevich, 36, was arrested at Miami International Airport Monday when he arrived on a flight from Serbia, authorities mentioned. His spouse, Ana Maria Knezevich Henao, 40, vanished in Madrid, the place her brother instructed police she had gone to “clear her head” amid the couple’s acrimonious divorce.

“Ana and David are going through a nasty divorce and there is a substantial amount of money on the line to be split up between the two,” her brother, Juan Felipe Henao, instructed police, based on an incident report obtained by the Sun Sentinel.

The former couple shared an actual property enterprise in Ft. Lauderdale and labored collectively at an IT firm referred to as EOX Solutionsthe place David Knezevich served as CEO, the Sun Sentinel reported.

The FBI laid out an eyebrow-raising case towards Knezevich in an in depth legal grievance obtained by HuffPost.

Knezevich Henao, a local of Colombia, was final seen alive on the afternoon of Feb. 2, when a safety digicam captured her getting into a Madrid condominium constructing, authorities mentioned. At midday that day, safety cameras filmed a person who authorities mentioned seems to be David Knezevich at a Madrid retailer, the place he bought two rolls of duct tape and spray paint — the identical model utilized in an try and disable the safety digicam at Knezevich Henao’s condominium constructing at round 9:30 p.m.

The paint didn’t utterly obscure the lens although, so the digicam captures the person fastening duct tape to the constructing’s entrance door, stopping it from locking. An hour later, the video footage exhibits him strolling out of the constructing’s elevator with what seems to be a suitcase.

Spanish investigators later found that Knezevich Henao’s cellphone and laptop computer had been lacking from her condominium.

Knezevich’s lawyer, Ken Padowitz, instructed The Associated Press in February that his consumer was in Serbia on the time of his spouse’s disappearance and insisted their divorce was amicable. Padowitz didn’t reply to HuffPost’s request for remark.

Investigators mentioned they uncovered proof that ties Knezevich to the Madrid road the place his spouse was staying.

On Jan. 29, he rented a automobile in Belgrade, returned it six weeks later with its home windows tinted, completely different license plate frames and a recorded mileage of seven,677 kilometers (4,770 miles), based on the legal grievance. Investigators calculated the driving distance between Madrid and Belgrade to be 2,592 kilometers (1,610 miles).

The particular mannequin of Knezevich’s rental automobile, a Peugeot 308, was captured on toll cubicles passing via Spain late on the evening of Knezevich Henao’s disappearance. It sported stolen license plates, which had been captured by a plate reader database on a automobile on the road the place Knezevich Henao was final seen.

Two completely different ladies instructed investigators that Knezevich enlisted their assist in impersonating his spouse after her disappearance, based on the grievance.

One lady, utilizing a telephone quantity traced to Knezevich, referred to as an insurance coverage firm on March 4 to cancel three completely different insurance policies held by Knezevich Henao for the previous couple’s enterprise.

Knezevich requested one other lady, an worker, on April 24 to pose as Knezevich Henao so as to open a brand new checking account in her identify, based on the grievance.

A girl from Colombia who met Knezevich through a relationship app instructed investigators that he had contacted her on-line, asking her on Feb. 3 to translate a message into “perfect Colombian” for what he mentioned was a pal’s script.

“I met someone wonderful,” the workshopped message learn. “He has a summer house about 2h from Madrid. We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. There is barely any signal though. Signal is spotty. I’ll call you when I come back.”

The lady later googled Knezevich’s identify and located a information article about Knezevich Henao’s disappearance, quoting textual content messages purportedly despatched by her to buddies utilizing the precise wording she had written for Knezevich. The buddies instructed The Associated Press that the messages didn’t match Knezevich Henao’s fashion or tone.

At a information convention Wednesday, Knezevich Henao’s household expressed their shock and betrayal following Knezevich’s arrest.

“It’s not closure, but questions have been answered,” Felipe Henao, her brother, instructed reporters. “It’s a bittersweet feeling. It’s not good, but you want to at least learn the truth.”

Knezevich is taken into account a flight threat and is being held with out bond. His subsequent court docket date is about for Friday in Miami, based on court docket information. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 20.