Spanish police searching for missing American woman

By Pau Mosquera, Al Goodman and Carlos Suarez, CNN

(CNN) — Spanish police are investigating the disappearance of a 40-year-old American woman who was reported missing in Madrid after she failed to meet a friend earlier this month.

Spain’s Interior Ministry identified the woman as Ana Maria Knezevich Henao, saying she “disappeared” on February 2 and requires medication.

An image posted on Spain’s National Center for Missing Persons website shows a photo of Knezevich Henao with long brown hair and brown eyes. She’s about 4 feet 8 inches in height, according to the website.

Her brother, Juan Felipe Henao, told CNN she was supposed to take a train to Barcelona with a friend on February 5, but his sister never showed up at the Madrid station. He said a missing person’s report was filed with authorities later that day. CNN does not know who filed the report.

Police have asked authorities from other countries for information that could be relevant to the case, a Spanish government official told CNN Monday.

Knezevich Henao’s friend, Sanna Rameau, said she last exchanged messages with her on February 2.

Around the time she went missing, Rameau said received a WhatsApp message from Knezevich Henao that read: “I met someone wonderful!! He has a summer house about 2h (hours) 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.”

The text message, seen by CNN, added that the man had approached her on the street a day earlier while she was walking. “Amazing connection. Like I never had before,” the text ended.

Around the time she went missing, someone spray-painted the lens of two security cameras of the apartment building where Knezevich Henao was staying in Madrid’s upscale Salamanca neighborhood, the building’s superintendent told CNN.

The cameras disabled were at the entrance of the building and near the elevator, the superintendent said. It’s unclear if the incident is related to her disappearance.

The building superintendent and two other people with knowledge of the situation told CNN that police had entered Knezevich Henao’s apartment on February 12 with judicial authorization.

Her brother and Rameau told CNN that they had been in contact, separately, with Knezevich Henao’s husband, David Knezevich, in the days after her disappearance, and that he told them he was in Serbia. CNN has attempted to reach David Knezevich, but did not immediately get a reply.

Two people who know the situation told CNN that Knezevich Henao initially rented the apartment in Madrid from January 5 to February 5. She then asked to extend the booking for another month – until March 5.

CNN has reached out to Spanish police, but they declined to comment because they are still investigating.

The website of a computer services company in South Florida, EOX Technology Solutions, lists David Knezevich as the CEO and managing director. It says David Knezevich is Serbian and Knezevich Henao is a native of Colombia and a project manager. CNN has contacted the company but did not immediately get through to anyone.

The US Embassy in Madrid had no comment on the case and cited privacy restrictions when asked by CNN.

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