Laurence Dollimore
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ANA Knezevich had just started using the dating app Bumble when she vanished from Madrid three weeks ago, it has emerged.
The 40-year-old American expat was living in the upmarket neighbourhood of Salamanca when she seemingly disappeared into thin air on February 2.
Police in Spain have not reported any significant leads but have begun interviewing the men she was chatting to on Bumble, according to reports.
Alarm bells have been ringing since it emerged a man in a helmet was seen spray-painting the CCTV cameras of her building on the day she was last seen.
Knezevich, a real estate agent from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but of Colombian origin, is currently going through a ‘messy’ divorce from her Serbian-American husband David Knezevich, family and friends have said.
The pair, described as ‘estranged’, own a tech-support company together.
The whereabouts of her 35-year-old spouse are currently unknown, reports New York Post. There is no suggestion he is involved in her disappearance.
Her brother Felipe Henao told MailOnline: “My mother is devastated. I wish I had something new, I wish Ana was back already.
“I just hope someone with information comes forward to tell us what they know.”
Ana’s friends have now flown into Spain to help with the investigation, including by launching a crowdfund for private detectives.
The president of Spain’s National Centre for Missing Persons (CNDES), Joaquin Amills, this week said he had only seen a few similar cases during his 14 years on the job.
On the day of her disappearance, Ana told a friend she was looking at an apartment to rent long-term.
Then the next day, on February 3, out-of-character text messages that switched between English and Spanish were sent from her phone.
The first message told friends she had met someone and that they were going on a trip somewhere ‘a couple of hours away’ from Madrid, insisting they had made an ‘instant connection’.
Hours later, she then told them that she would not have good phone service for a while.
On February 4, concerned friends filed a missing persons report. Police searched her apartment and found nothing out of the ordinary. The investigation remains confidential.
The US authorities, as well as the US Embassy in Spain are following the case closely.
Ana is described as being 1.45m tall with long, brown, wavy hair and brown eyes.
