husband Ana Knezevic HenaoDisappeared on a trip to Spain, he was charged with murder in connection with his disappearance.

David KnezevicThe 36-year-old was charged Wednesday, Nov. 13, with alien domestic violence resulting in the death of a U.S. citizen and the murder of a foreigner.

Knezevich had been held in federal custody since May on a charge of kidnapping resulting in death.

Ana’s body was never found.

“This is a step toward beginning to grieve as we continue to seek answers and honor Ana’s memory by advocating for Ana’s story to be told and accountability to prevail,” Ana’s brother Diego Henao said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. he said. .

Ana’s disappearance from her apartment in Madrid, Spain, on February 2 made international headlines.

IT expert Knezevich quickly became the prime suspect.

According to friends, Ana had traveled from Florida to Madrid on December 27, 2023, after the couple broke up.

Ana’s brother, Felipe, told police that Ana and Knezevich, her husband of 13 years, “were going through a bad divorce with a significant amount of money to be split between the two of them, and (Knezevich) was not happy about the situation.” According to a Feb. 7 police report obtained by PEOPLE.

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Ana’s best friend Sanna Rameau previously told PEOPLE that Ana wants to start a nonprofit in Spain “to help women who are abused or in bad situations.”

“He wanted the divorce to happen, and he said he wanted to do it after we divided everything,” Rameau said.

Ana was last seen by security cameras entering her apartment at around 14:30 on February 2. That same day, around 9:27 p.m., security cameras captured a man wearing a helmet entering the building as people were leaving. Once inside, the man sprayed a can of spray paint onto the apartment’s security camera lens. The man was later seen “putting a piece of duct tape on the lock of the building entrance to prevent the lock from engaging to allow subsequent entry,” according to a federal complaint.

About an hour later, around 10:30 p.m., the same man was seen exiting the elevator with what appeared to be a suitcase in his hand.

Spanish police later searched his flat and found no trace of his mobile phone, laptop or charger.

During the investigation, authorities tracked down the retailer who sold the brand of paint used to spray the security camera and discovered security camera footage of “an individual identified as (David) Knezevich purchasing the spray paint along with two rolls of duct tape.” On February 2.

Investigators also spoke with a Colombian woman who met Knezevich online in October 2023. The woman told authorities that Knezevich reached her on WhatsApp on Feb. 3 and asked for her help translating a message into the “perfect Colombian.”

Allegedly, Knezevich said the translation was for a friend in Serbia who was “writing a script about a Colombian character.”

The woman then Googled her mother, Knezevich, and “contacted authorities after learning that his wife had been reported missing in Madrid,” the complaint states.

Authorities said Knezevich flew from Miami to Istanbul on January 27, then rented a Peugeot 308 in Serbia on January 29.

From there, authorities allege he went to Spain to kidnap his estranged wife. The rental car agency owner told authorities that Knezevich returned the car with tinted windows and different license plate frames.

“The passed indictment is based on the same facts and evidence,” Knezevich’s attorney, Jayne Weintraub, told PEOPLE.

Weintraub adds: “This is a desperate attempt by the government to charge everything possible and see what works. There is no evidence that David Knezevich kidnapped or murdered his wife. He will not plead guilty to those charges at a hearing next week.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to: thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The helpline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.