FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It’s been six months since Ana Knezevich disappeared from Spain. Her husband was arrested in her kidnapping months after she vanished. To this day, she has not been found.
The 40-year-old Fort Lauderdale woman’s mysterious disappearance occurred amid a contentious divorce from her estranged husband, David Knezevich.
Her family held a news conference on Thursday.
“Where is my sister?” Ana Knezevich’s brother, Felipe Henao, said. It has been more than six months. She’s been missing for more than half a year.
Prosecutors allege that David Knezevich snatched his wife from her apartment and spray-painted security cameras at her building. He has pleaded not guilty to a federal kidnapping charge.
“No one has ever seen or heard from Ana since the day her husband secretly drove across the continent and was seen disabling her security,” Adam Ingber, the family’s attorney, said.
Prosecutors said David Knezevich drove close to 5,000 miles from his native Serbia to Spain in a rental car and returned it with changed plates.
While the family awaits news of her whereabouts, they are worried that he may be let out of federal custody to await trial.
In last week’s detention hearing, David Knezevich’s lawyers argued over whether he has access to enough money to be considered a flight risk.
Ingber said the couple managed a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio and David is hiding money and does have access to funds from the sales of properties, saying he received millions in cash from real estate transactions.
David Knezevich reportedly claims the money is gone, but Ingber said he believes it is being hidden to make it appear he has no money.
The defense is pushing back against the prosecution, citing a lack of forensic evidence against David Knezevich to keep him in jail, including a recent revelation that no blood was found in his wife’s apartment.
If he is released, Ana Knezevich’s family is fearful there will be retaliation.
“How can you love somebody and then never look for them, never do anything about it?” Henao said.
David Knezevich’s attorney did not return a request for comment from Local 10 News. A judge has yet to rule on a detention hearing.