A Florida woman who went missing in Spain two weeks ago had started using dating app Bumble in the months before she disappeared, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Investigators have tracked down at least two men with whom 40-year-old Ana Knezevich was talking before she was last seen outside her rented apartment in Madrid on February 2.
A day later, close friends received “bizarre” WhatsApp messages from the handsome Fort Lauderdale real estate agent, claiming that an “amazing” man had approached her on the street and that they spent the next few days together.
They were unable to reach her and do not believe the texts were written by Ana, who was officially declared missing on Monday February 5 when she failed to meet a friend to travel to Barcelona for a conference.
Colombian-born Ana has been living in Spain off and on since last summer, when her marriage to Serbian-American businessman David Knezevich (35) ended.
Ana Knezevich, 40, was ready to say goodbye to her estranged husband David Knezevich and started using Bumble before she went missing in Madrid two weeks ago, friends have revealed
The Florida real estate agent’s best friend, Sanna Rameau, told DailyMail.com that police have been in contact with “several people” Ana had spoken to on the dating app
Sanna said she didn’t know if Ana used the app for romantic dates or for the ‘bff’ feature to make new friends in Madrid
The couple made several attempts to reconcile, but Ana was ready to move on and used Bumble, according to best friend Sanna Rameau, who traveled to Spain earlier this month to help her search.
She doesn’t know if the petite brunette was looking for romantic dates or was just using the app in ‘bff’ mode to make new friends.
“All I know is that the police have been in contact with several people she spoke to,” Sanna told DailyMail.com.
‘I met one of them who tells me they were not in a romantic relationship but were friends.
“I keep saying we need to get into her phone and look at the platforms she was using.
“We have to look there for any clues, but we’re not there yet.”
Adding to the mystery, investigators checked surveillance cameras and found footage of a suspicious man wearing a motorcycle helmet strolling around Ana’s building on Friday, February 2.
He was first seen waiting outside for two people to leave and then sneaking inside before the door could close around 9:30 p.m.
He then sprayed black paint on two cameras, one above the elevator and another on the intercom at the entrance, to obscure his movements.
According to her brother Felipe Henao, Spanish police have yet to track down the man or make any arrests in connection with Ana’s disappearance.
Sanna and Ana’s brother, Felipe Henao, revealed they had received a series of bizarre text messages from her phone claiming she was going out with someone she had ‘greatly’ met on the street
Friends say Ana was going through a ‘tough’ divorce from husband David Knezevich when she disappeared from her apartment on February 2 while on holiday in Madrid.
Ana’s best friend Sanna Rameau said she asked David for help in the search, but he has since fled to his native Serbia.
“My mother is devastated,” he told DailyMail.com. ‘I wish I had something new, I wish Ana was back already.
“I just hope someone comes forward with information and tells us what they know.”
Ana and her partner of 13 years, David, also known as Dusan, had yet to formally file for divorce.
They ran a real estate company, owned as many as six properties and tried to fix their marriage several times before calling it quits in January, when she called her family in tears to let them know.
David indicated to close friend Sanna that he would travel to Spain to help search for Ana, but never arrived, she told DailyMail.com.
‘The fact is that I went to Madrid to look for Ana. I asked him to come to me and look for her.
“But instead he said he left Florida for Serbia. That’s all I can say.’
David did not respond to phone calls and WhatsApp messages and there was no response when DailyMail.com called the estranged couple’s $900,000 home, which has five bedrooms and a swimming pool.
Ana’s Mercedes convertible was parked in the driveway, along with a Nissan and several motorcycles. Parcels and mail were piling up outside.
Colombian-born Ana had been living in Spain on and off since last summer, when her marriage to Serbian-American businessman David, 35, ended
The couple married in 2011 and moved to the city of Fort Lauderdale in South Florida
Ana and David’s $900,000 Fot Lauderdale home features five bedrooms and a pool
“They were a very playful, cuddly couple, they seemed happy,” said neighbor Guy Hackman.
“David’s a flashy guy, a nice guy. He would walk around with his shirt off. He looked quite cocky.’
Several locals told DailyMail.com that they saw Ana and David sunbathing naked on their roof in broad daylight.
“They were lying there naked enjoying the sun,” said one. ‘It’s Florida. They’ve lived here long enough to know that no children live here.
“I never even heard a raised voice come from that house. It’s so sad, she’s such a sweet girl.’
The couple has been embroiled in a number of recent lawsuits, including a bank suing them last year for allegedly defaulting on a $399,000 mortgage.
David was sued again last October for being behind on a $435,000 second mortgage, but both cases were dismissed.
DailyMail.com can also reveal that David filed for a restraining order against two men in 2018, claiming they had stalked him and threatened to kill him.
The orders were revoked because David failed to show up at a hearing to decide whether they should be made permanent.
Ana’s supposed last message to Sanna at 2pm on Saturday February 3 said she had ‘met someone wonderful’.
Ana was officially declared missing on Monday February 5 when she failed to meet a friend to travel to Barcelona for a conference
It continued: ‘He has a summer house about two 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.’
Another post elaborated further: ‘Yesterday after therapy I needed a walk and he approached me on the street!. Great connection. Like I’ve never had before.’
Neither she nor Ana’s anguished family believe the missing woman is the author of the texts. Her WhatsApp account has since been offline.
‘That wasn’t Ana. She is not impulsive or irresponsible. She doesn’t do drugs or drink liquor,” Sanna said of her “smart, adventurous” friend.
She added ominously, “I knew immediately something terrible had happened.”