Husband of American woman reported missing in Spain pleads not guilty to kidnapping charge

Federal investigators accuse a south Florida man of traversing two continents, stealing license plates and obscuring a security camera to kidnap his estranged wife at her apartment in Spain earlier this year. But the man and his attorneys say he has never stepped foot in Spain and insist he is innocent.

Federal investigators accuse a south Florida man of traversing two continents, stealing license plates and obscuring a security camera to kidnap his estranged wife at her apartment in Spain earlier this year. But the man and his attorneys say he has never stepped foot in Spain and insist he is innocent. David Knezevich, 36, was arraigned and pleaded not guilty on Monday to a federal kidnapping charge – four months after his wife was last seen in Madrid, according to court records. His wife, Ana Maria Knezevich Henao, has not been heard from since February 2, the day a man wearing a face covering and helmet – who prosecutors allege was Knezevich – entered her apartment building in Madrid and spray-painted the lens of a building surveillance camera. About an hour later, the man emerged from an elevator with a suitcase, according to the criminal complaint. Before Knezevich’s arrest in May, his attorney, Kenneth Padowitz, told CNN that his client “has never been to Spain” and had nothing to do with the incident. But investigators allege Knezevich has been tied to the crime using the can of spray paint, security camera footage, stolen license plates and rental car records, as well as messages he sent to a woman he’d met on a dating app. If convicted, the husband faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.