Simon Hunter
THERE are rising concerns about the whereabouts of a US expat who disappeared earlier this month from Madrid. Relatives of Ana Maria Henao, who had moved to the Spanish capital amid a ‘difficult divorce process’ back in her home state of Florida, have now launched a crowdfunding page in a bid to hire the services of a private detective.
Henao, who also goes by her married name of Ana Maria Knezevic, is 40 years old and has joint American and Colombian citizenship. She had come to Madrid to stay with a friend due to the strains of her divorce from a Serbian national, David Knezevic, and was reportedly seeking to permanently move to Spain.
She was last heard from on February 2. That night a man wearing a motorcycle helmet disabled the security cameras at her Madrid apartment building in the upscale Salamanca neighbourhood by spraying over the lenses with black paint, according to news agency AP. He is also reported to have forced the door of the building.
The next day Henao’s friends and family received a series of text messages from her phone that ‘did not seem to have been written by her’, according to her brother, Felipe Henao. In the messages, she said that she was going away for a few days with a man that she had just met.
“She wouldn’t do this … it is very unsafe and crazy behaviour. She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t do that,” Sanna Rameau, a friend who received the texts, told AP.
The texts were written in an emotionless style, according to her contacts, and appeared to have been translated via Google.
The SOS Desaparecidos missing persons association has raised the alarm about the disappearance, and has widely distributed photos of Henao and her information.
She is described as being 1.47 metres tall, weighing 45 kilos, and having long, wavy chestnut hair. Her eyes are brown and she is of slim build, and she is listed as needing medication.
The Go Fund Me page to help find Henao has been launched by her cousin, Juan Hoyos.
“My cousin, Ana Maria Henao, has been missing since February 2, 2024,” he wrote on the page.
“She was last seen in Madrid, Spain. Her brother, Felipe Henao, who is currently living in Florida, is trying every possible way to get the word out. His family is going through a rough time and as the time goes by, the harder it is getting. Making international calls to embassies and local authorities is not being sufficient, so we would like to help Felipe raise enough to help him get a private investigator,” he added.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Henao can call SOS Desaparecidos on +34 649 952 957 or +34 644 712 806.
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