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American woman goes missing in Spain shortly after man disables cameras

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Ana Maria Knezevic traveled from South Florida to Spain in December to get away for a while. Her family and friends say the naturalized American originally from Colombia has been going through a nasty divorce from her Serbian husband, but the trip was also a chance to explore new places.

Then, she vanished — two weeks ago, shortly after a man wearing a motorcycle helmet disabled the security cameras at her Madrid apartment building by spray painting the lenses. The next day, two friends received separate text messages — one in English, one in Spanish — from the 40-year-old’s phone saying she was running off for a few days with a man she had just met.

“She wouldn’t do this … it is very unsafe and crazy behavior. She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t do that,” said Sanna Rameau, the friend who got the English text. It was written, she said, in an emotionless style that wasn’t Ana’s. The Spanish message was so flat it appeared to have been written in English and run through Google Translate, she said.

“It just didn’t make sense,” Rameau told The Associated Press.

Spain US Missing American
This undated image provided by Sanna Rameau, shows Ana Maria Knezevic, right, and Rameau. 

Sanna Rameau / AP


She’s also tiny — smaller than the 4-feet-11-inches tall (1.5 meters) listed on her driver’s license, Rameau said. “I can lift her up with one arm and carry her away,” the friend said.

Police in Madrid and Fort Lauderdale were notified, launching investigations on each side of the Atlantic. Both agencies are being closed mouthed about where the search stands, with each declining comment. The American embassy in Madrid also declined comment.

Spain’s Missing Persons Association has posted Knezevic’s photograph around the nation’s capital, but has not received any responses, spokesman Joaquin Amills said.

David and Ana Knezevic have been married for 13 years and own EOX Technology Solutions Inc., which does computer support for South Florida businesses. Records show they also own a home and two other Fort Lauderdale properties, one of those currently under foreclosure.

Ana’s brother, Juan Henao, called the divorce “nasty” in an interview with a Fort Lauderdale detective, a report shows.

“There is a substantial amount of money on the line to be split up between the two and David is not happy about it,” the report says.

David Knezevic’s current whereabouts are unknown.

Henao told the detective he believes his brother-in-law traveled to his home country of Serbia in January. After Ana disappeared, Henao texted David to ask if he knew her whereabouts. He replied “‘Whats up?” before telling Henao that Ana was missing, which he already knew. “Nothing else besides that,” Henao said.

In a short phone interview, Henao said he hopes the international attention will make finding Ana a top police priority.

Spain US Missing American
A poster for missing woman Ana Maria Knezevic displayed on a streetlight in Madrid, Spain. 

Manu Fernandez / AP


“Let’s just keep pushing and see if that will get them to do more to help us find my sister,” he said.

No one answered the door Thursday at the Knezevics’ Fort Lauderdale home, where the mailbox is overflowing and the cars are covered in dirt and dust. No one answered the phone at their company, and David Knezevic did not respond to emails and a voicemail.

Rameau said Ana never mentioned fearing her husband or that he was abusive.

“She never said to me that she felt in danger,” said Rameau.

Ana chose an apartment in Madrid’s wealthy and fashionable Salamanca quarter, traveled with Rameau in Austria in January, and planned to see a Spanish friend in Barcelona on Feb. 5 before reuniting with Rameau in Madrid starting Feb. 8.

But on Feb. 2 at about 9:30 p.m., the helmet-wearing man disabled the apartment complex’s security cameras — something no one searching for Ana knew for almost a week. She had a normal phone call with a friend about a half hour later. Neighbors said they last saw her about that time.

Spain US Missing American
This undated image provided by Sanna Rameau, shows paint obscuring a building’s security camera where Ana Maria Knezevic was staying in Madrid. 

Sanna Rameau / AP


The next day, Rameau became alarmed when she got a text from Ana’s phone.

“I met someone wonderful!! He has a summer house 2H (hours) from Madrid,” it read. “We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. Signal is spotty. I’ll call you when I get back.”

That was followed a minute later by a second text: “Yesterday after therapy I needed a walk and he approached me on the street! Amazing connection. Like I never had.”

The Spanish friend got similar texts, the ones that appeared to have been translated by computer.

Rameau said there is no chance she would run off with a stranger, and never told her friend that night she had met someone.

Spain US Missing American
This image of a screen shot provided by Sanna Rameau, shows a Feb. 3, 2024 text message thread between Ana Maria Knezevic and Rameau. 

Sanna Rameau / AP


Rameau and the Spanish friend contacted police after she didn’t respond to their increasingly frantic calls and texts. Firefighters went to her apartment for a wellness check, looked inside and found nothing amiss, Rameau said.

Madrid police said they would investigate if she didn’t show up for her Barcelona trip. When she didn’t, detectives asked a Spanish judge for permission to search her phone records and apartment, but absent strong evidence of a crime, they were denied.

Rameau and the Spanish friend then went to her building on Feb. 8, and learned from a clerk about the helmeted man painting the cameras. They alerted police.

Now, Ana’s family and friends wait for news.

“I’m just desperate to find answers,” Rameau said. “I’m just desperate to find a reason for who could have done this.”



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Former New York Gov. David Paterson, stepson attacked while walking in New York City

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NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.

The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.

Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.” 

The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.” 

Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added. 

Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor. 



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Teen critically wounded in shooting on Philadelphia bus; one person in custody

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Biden to travel to disaster areas afffected by Hurricane Helene | Digital Brief


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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.

At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.

There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.

According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.

Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.

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Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said  

CBS Philadelphia


Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.

Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.

The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said. 

Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind. 

According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.

“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”

This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.



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