David Knezevich Case: Arrest, Death in Custody, and Missing Remains

The David Knezevich case is a federal murder prosecution that ended without a trial: a Fort Lauderdale businessman was charged with kidnapping and killing his estranged wife, Ana Maria Henao Knezevich, in Madrid in February 2024, then died by suicide at the Federal Detention Center in Miami on April 28, 2025, while awaiting a June 2025 trial. Her remains have never been found.¹

A Contentious Divorce and an $8 Million Estate

Knezevich, originally from Serbia, and Henao, 40, a Colombian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, were married 13 years. They co-owned EOX Technology Solutions Inc., a South Florida computer support company, and had built a real estate portfolio of roughly 15 Broward County properties with more than $8 million in equity.²³

By late 2023 the marriage had collapsed. Prosecutors described a contentious divorce over the division of that fortune and said Knezevich did not want his wife to receive an equal share. His defense attorneys instead called the separation “amicable, with anticipation of a divorce.”¹⁴ Henao left Florida for Madrid on December 26, 2023, telling friends she wanted a fresh start while the divorce was finalized and planned to launch a nonprofit for women who had experienced abuse.⁵

The Disappearance in Madrid

Surveillance footage caught Henao entering her apartment building in Madrid’s Salamanca neighborhood at about 1:42 p.m. on February 2, 2024. She joined a video call around 7:00 p.m. and sent her final text to friends at 10:01 p.m.⁶

At approximately 9:27 p.m., a building security camera recorded a man in a motorcycle helmet and reflective vest entering the lobby and spray-painting the surveillance camera. About an hour later the same figure was captured leaving with what investigators believe was a rolling suitcase containing Henao’s body.⁷ When Henao missed a planned trip to Barcelona on February 5, Spanish firefighters conducted a welfare check. She had been officially reported missing on February 4.⁸

How Investigators Built the Case

The FBI and Spain’s national police assembled a case built on surveillance video, vehicle tracking data, and digital communications. Prosecutors alleged Knezevich flew from Miami to Istanbul, traveled to Serbia, and rented a dark blue 2019 Peugeot 308 in Belgrade about four days before his wife vanished. He then drove the car through Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, and France to reach Madrid.⁹⁷

Investigators linked Knezevich to the helmeted figure through physical characteristics; prosecutors said the man on camera matched his height and eyebrows.⁹ Madrid surveillance also captured him buying duct tape and spray paint at a hardware store on the day Henao was last seen.¹⁰

Knezevich allegedly took several steps to cover his tracks. He stole license plates from a car on the street where Henao lived and mounted them on the rental Peugeot. Toll cameras recorded a vehicle matching that description near Madrid on the night of February 2 and the morning of February 3.¹⁰ When the Peugeot was returned to the rental agency in Serbia five weeks later, it had logged nearly 4,800 miles. Its windows had been tinted, two identifying stickers had been removed, and the license plate frame had been swapped.⁹ At the bond hearing, an FBI agent also testified that blood had been found in Henao’s apartment.¹¹

The Translated Text Message

One of the more striking pieces of evidence involved a fabricated text. The morning after Henao disappeared, prosecutors alleged, Knezevich contacted a woman he had met on a dating app in the fall of 2023 and asked her to translate English sentences into “perfect Colombian” Spanish, telling her it was for a friend writing a screenplay. The text he provided read: “I met someone wonderful. He has a summer house about 2 hours from Madrid. We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. There is barely any signal though. I will call you when I come back. Kisses.”¹²

After the woman returned the translation, the message was sent from Henao’s own phone to two of her friends. Both grew suspicious because the tone did not sound like her and contacted Spanish police, helping to spark the investigation.¹²

Arrest, Indictment, and Detention

FBI agents arrested Knezevich at Miami International Airport in May 2024 as he arrived on a flight from Serbia.¹³¹⁴¹¹

Defense attorney Jayne Weintraub called the case “defensible” and suggested Henao might have staged her own disappearance, citing what she described as documented mental health issues.¹¹

In November 2024 a federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment charging Knezevich with kidnapping resulting in death, foreign domestic violence resulting in death, and foreign murder of a United States national.¹¹⁵¹³

Allegations Against the Defendant’s Brother

David Knezevich’s brother, Ugljesa Knezevich, came under scrutiny as the case progressed. On January 7, 2025, FBI agents seized a cell phone and laptop from Ugljesa when he arrived at Miami International Airport.¹⁶ A search warrant accused him of paying inmates on David’s behalf to conceal communications, adding himself as an authorized user on the victim’s American Express accounts, impersonating the victim on a call with American Express, and reporting David’s iPhone as lost or stolen to block law enforcement access. Although Ugljesa told the FBI he was estranged from his brother, federal warrants indicated the two had exchanged phone calls and emails since David’s arrest.¹⁷

The defense objected to the government’s review of the devices, claiming Ugljesa was part of the defense team and that the devices held privileged material. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled the airport seizure was not a routine border search and ordered a filter team to screen the data before prosecutors could see it. The defense called the search warrant allegations “completely false, based on pure speculation.”¹⁵¹⁶ Ugljesa Knezevich had not been formally charged as of the available reporting.¹⁷

The Money Trail and the Civil Suit

Prosecutors said that between December 2023 and February 2024, Knezevich sold seven Broward County residential properties for approximately $6.7 million. Despite those sales, he reported an estimated net worth of only about $2.5 million to the court’s probation office.¹⁵

In February 2025, Henao’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Miami-Dade County naming David Knezevich, his brother Ugljesa, and several attorneys and law firms as defendants. The claims included wrongful death, fraudulent transfers, conspiracy, interference with the family’s rights to Henao’s body, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In Broward County, the family also filed petitions for the administration of Henao’s estate, a legal determination of her death, and to invoke Florida’s Slayer Statute to prevent those responsible for her death from inheriting her assets.¹⁸

A May 2026 civil complaint filed by Henao’s brother Felipe alleged that Knezevich had drained roughly $6 million in equity through fraudulent transactions beginning in October 2023. The complaint noted that a $900,000 home in Oakland Park, Florida, was sold the morning of Henao’s disappearance; though the deed listed her as the sole owner, the family said they never received the proceeds.³

Death in Federal Custody

On the morning of April 28, 2025, Knezevich was found unresponsive in his cell at the Federal Detention Center in Miami at about 8:15 a.m. Staff performed life-saving measures, but he was pronounced dead by emergency medical services. Weintraub confirmed he had died by suicide.¹ The Bureau of Prisons said no staff or other inmates were injured and that the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service had been notified. Prosecutors were expected to dismiss the criminal charges following his death.¹⁹

Family attorney Adam Ingber said, “While his death spares this family from the agony of a trial, it also leaves many questions unanswered, which we continue to pursue.”²⁰ Felipe Henao said the family had held a “naïve hope” that Knezevich would reveal what he had done with her body.¹⁹

The Search for Ana Maria Henao’s Remains

Henao’s remains have never been recovered. Investigators believe Knezevich disposed of her body during his drive back from Madrid to Belgrade, a route that passed through France, Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia.⁷ In April 2026 the FBI announced a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the recovery of her remains.⁶ The bureau has also noted that a distinctive necklace and a journal belonging to Henao remain missing and may be recognizable to the public.²¹ The case remains an active investigation out of the FBI’s Miami Field Office.

1
NBC Miami. South Florida Man Charged in Wife’s Murder in Spain Found Dead in Jail
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WMTW. Florida Woman Missing in Spain
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People. Ana Maria Henao Disappearance David Knezevich Death
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WBAL-TV. Ana Maria Knezevich Henao Disappearance David Knezevich FBI Case
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People. Ana Knezevich Henao Missing Spain
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NBC Miami. FBI Offers $25K Reward for Remains of Woman Believed Murdered by Husband in Spain
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FBI. Ana Maria Henao Knezevic – Seeking Information
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Local 10. Reward Offered as FBI Seeks Remains of Woman Allegedly Killed by Estranged Husband
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NBC Miami. Man Facing New Murder Charge in Disappearance of Estranged Wife in Spain
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WBAL-TV. Miami Florida Man Charged Killing Wife Spain
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Local 10. Miami Federal Judge Denies David Knezevich Bond in Wife’s Madrid Kidnapping Case
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WSVN. FBI Lays Out Detailed Case Against South Florida Man Accused in Wife’s Disappearance in Spain
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Orlando Sentinel. Estranged Husband Accused in Wife’s Death Abroad Dies by Suicide in Jail
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CourtListener. United States v. David Knezevich
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Miami Herald. David Knezevich Pleads Not Guilty
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NBC Miami. Warrant Accuses Brother of Tampering in Probe of Man Charged in Wife’s Murder in Spain
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Newsweek. Man Accused Killing His Wife Wrote Disturbing Quotes Notebook
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Miami Herald. Family of Ana Maria Knezevich Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit
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Miami Herald. David Knezevich Found Dead at Federal Detention Center
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Sun Sentinel. Estranged Husband Accused in Wife’s Death Abroad Dies by Suicide in Jail
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CBS 12. FBI Offers $25,000 for Info About Location of Florida Woman’s Remains in Europe