David Knezevich, charged in the kidnapping and murder of his estranged wife Ana Maria Knezevich who disappeared in Spain last year, has died by suicide in jail, his attorney and Ana Knezevich’s family said in statements Monday.
Ana Knezevich, 40, was last seen on Feb. 2, 2024. She went to Madrid in December 2023 as she and David Knezevich were separated and preparing to divorce; she was considering staying abroad more permanently. Family and friends last received an odd text message from her phone, saying she had met a “wonderful man” and would be staying with him and have no cellphone service.
In May 2024, David Knezevich, 37, was arrested by federal authorities at Miami International Airport and had been held in the Federal Detention Center Miami without bond. He was indicted in November on charges of kidnapping resulting in death, foreign domestic violence resulting in death, and foreign murder of a U.S. national.
The indictment accused Knezevich of flying to Istanbul before renting a car, driving from Serbia to Spain, spray-painting the security cameras at Ana Knezevich’s apartment, then exiting with a suitcase. The suspicious text message sent from her phone was the same as one Knezevich had asked a Colombian woman to help him craft in Spanish for a novel he said his friend was writing.
Knezevich was found “unresponsive” at FDC Miami shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. Employees tried life-saving measures, and emergency medical services personnel pronounced him dead. No employees or other inmates were injured, the statement said.
David Knezevich’s defense attorneys, Jayne Weintraub, Christopher Cavallo and Bruce Zimet, said in a statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel: “The Defense team is devastated to learn of this news. We sincerely hope that an appropriate and prompt investigation will be conducted.”
While authorities continue to search, Ana Knezevich’s family is pained that they may never recover her body, they said in a statement Monday.
“It is a cruel final insult that we may never recover Ana’s remains or know the full extent of the betrayal she suffered,” their statement said. “Still, we remain committed to seeking the truth and justice for Ana through our attorney, Mr. Ingber, and to preserving Ana’s memory while honoring her life with dignity, strength, and love.”
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.”
Sun Sentinel staff writer Shira Moolten contributed to this report.
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