Talking Dateline: Missing Ana

And this month I'm grabbing a Hugo Spritz with former reality star, Lauren Conrad.

“Here at The Drink, we love learning about someone's journey to the top.”

And Lauren and I, we go back to the very beginning of her extraordinary story.

We talk about why she always saw reality TV as temporary for her.

The scrutiny she faced in the public eye, and why she says she'll never watch Laguna Beach again. I hope you'll join us for the drink, listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Craig Melford. Cheers.

Cheers. I've always been a glass half-full kind of guy, and now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that we too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, challenges, their stories, their funny, and my candy.

So I hope you'll join me each week and who knows. You might just come away with your own. A glass half-full. Search glass half-full with Craig Melford from today. On YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi everyone. I'm playing Alexander, and this is Talking Date Lime, and today I am so excited to be joined by the one, the only, the incredible, Jose Diaz Belhart. Jose, thank you so much for joining me today. Want to treat what a privilege and what a pleasure it is.

This is so much fun. So Jose, we're going to be talking about your Date Lime debut episode entitled Missing Ana, about the disappearance of Ana Maria Canezovich, a South Florida businesswoman who moved to Madrid, hoping to start a new chapter after separating from her husband, but just months later after making that move she vanished.

And what followed was an international investigation that ultimately led authorities to focus

on Ana's estranged husband dated Canezovich, and as of today, Ana has still never been

found.

“Now if you haven't seen this episode yet, you need to go”

back, watch it. You can stream it on peacock, or listen in the Date Lime podcast feed, and then come right back here. And then later we'll have an extra clip from Ana's friends, speaking with Jose about their memories of her.

And of course, we'll answer some of your questions on social media. All right Jose, let's talk dayline. Let's talk dayline. So number one, just congratulations, a story telling was beautiful. Your questions were just so, I mean, they have the heart that I know that you have Jose.

That's who you are, and it came through in your episode. So it was, it was really a pleasure to watch. No, thanks. You know, it was also going back to me home in many ways. I grew up in Madrid, close to where Ana spent her last months of life.

And so returning to a city that I so much is so much part of my life. And so to be able to go back to a city that has opened its arms to immigrants for generations. And see that Ana was starting a new life there, and she, boy, I mean, the fact that she was able to move and live anywhere in the world, and that she decided Madrid was the place. And then meeting her friends and her friends are just like, this story is about Ana.

It's also the story about women who loved Ana and refused to accept that she could disappear. That was what struck me about this is that this story of friendship, the story of the persistence of her friends.

But let's first talk about Madrid because so often in detail, and we talk about the fact

that the cities, the locations where we go to report these stories are so often a character in and of themselves. And that's really what we saw with Madrid. But I thought that you did a fantastic job of just describing it, of bringing the city to life.

We had the Spanish guitar woven in there. I mean, you really got a sense of the city as you were watching this episode. Yeah. You know, there's a saying in Madrid, the Madrid that I see from Madrid to heaven, sad that in this case, Madrid to heaven for Ana meant one thing.

But Madrid is, it's cobblestone streets that have seen so much and it's culture, it's history, it's vibrancy, it's very much a part of this story. It is a city that makes you feel alive. I want to say that I've had the pleasure of going to Madrid. I spent some time there and I have to say, this is kind of a random, small-known,

plain fact, that was the one place and the one time in my life where I had a very strong impulse to get a tattoo. Because I was so moved by the city that I had. I don't know, I want to hear about this. I don't want to hear about this.

I have no tattoos. I got piercings and whatever, but I don't have any tattoos.

“And for whatever reason, I don't know, the spirit just got in me and I was like, what, what?”

I mean, what spirit got into you tell you, playing out with that?

tattoo. Here's the thing.

“I did not get said tattoo, but I was like, the city makes me feel so alive.”

And I was running around the streets and I was going to get some sort of saying in Spanish.

Mind you, I do not speak Spanish as you and I have discussed, but I was like, I want to get some sort of something about life and vibrancy translated into Spanish. Then my kind of like analytical investigative mind was like, wait, do I know what the health regulations are here? Is this the best place to do it?

Should I do? I, you know, I was like, maybe the language barrier, I might get something I don't want. So then my kind of like rational mind took over and the dreamy blame went away. So the urge was stopped, but that's the closest I've ever been to getting a tattoo was when I was enjoying and living in the streets of Madrid.

So I thought that's so interesting because it does have an impact and an influence on everyone. And it's a place where you can immediately feel at home and at the same time realize that there is so much history there to be found. Yes, even if you don't put on a tattoo, it's still moving.

It's still moving. I was moved. I was very moved.

“And I think that's why when you said in your episode that this is the place where”

Anna chose to basically start a new after divorcing her husband, what I thought it was such

as such a a brave act on her part because it can be difficult. I would imagine to live a life-build a life with somebody in a city and then in that marriage and stay in that same city because it would have to be that every place, everywhere you go, where you turn, you're reminded of that person and that life that you're now walking out of.

And so just step into a new country, it just told me so much about her just hearing that she did that. Yeah, they did keep in contact. I mean things seem amicable from the beginning, but she had Sana, who is a friend that lives in South Florida and they traveled throughout Europe together.

And then she had Eliza Romero, the friend of Colombian young lady, who she met in Madrid and they become fast friends in no time, as a matter of fact, when Anna first got to Madrid, she lived with Eliza for some weeks until she found that apartment on the 6th floor in South America. And that kind of tight knit, small group really covered her with confidence and

with love and gave her the confidence to start a new life. And you could feel that, I mean, there really was this sisterhood that formed amongst these ladies to the point that, I mean, we see this in so many data in episodes, Jose, is that somebody thinks they can kind of in some way use technology to throw someone off of the descent of their trail, right?

Like, okay, if I send these text messages or, you know, post on Facebook, right, that people will not be wise to the fact that this person's gone missing. And I love that her friends immediately looked and said, this doesn't sound like the way Anna and I text, this does not sound like her at all. Yeah, you know, I keep this, I keep this, this is the text communication that Anna had

with with Son. Wow. I love that. I don't know if you could see it. I can, yeah.

Just a background, the background that the two ladies chose, there's bicycles and there's hearts, and there's BFFs, and then that text, which, you know, just a day after she disappeared immediately, Son has said, this doesn't sound, this is not how, this is not how she speaks, this is not how we speak. And then when Elisa said, I was speaking, I was texting with Anna 15 minutes before

she disappeared, and then she actually, and you know, in the episode, you can, you can see how painful it is for Elisa to think back that on that night, Anna was asking her, let's go out. Let's do something. And that three times, Elisa did not tonight, not tonight.

I'm not feeling that.

And then she disappeared and for Elisa, knowing that, you know, they're always the

question marks, what if I had said yes, what if Anna had come out, and we had gone to dinner, and, you know, she wouldn't have been home, what if, yeah, what if, or the questions that I guess remain with so many people affected by it? Of course. Of course.

Of course. Let me get back. We'll have an extra clip from friends of Anna talking about how special she was. Did you invite the minions over?

“Well, you know how we talked about getting Wi-Fi from Exfinity?”

Yeah. I ordered it this morning, it was online in minutes, then they showed up. So they just came over to use the Wi-Fi, for what? Better not to know.

five years, and see minions and monsters only in theaters, Exfinity, imagine that, restrictions

“apply not available in all areas, learn more at xfinity.com/sameday Wi-Fi.”

Hey guys, Willie guys, Tear, reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit Down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with the biggest rock star of the mall, Mick Jagger, to talk about the stone's latest album, and his favorite of the band's iconic records over all these years. You can get our conversation now for free wherever you download your podcasts.

If you're detective, you mentioned that he was going through so many different small clues and pieces of evidence. Let's talk about some of that.

First, the spray painting on the cameras.

One, I've got to say that there are a few things to me, more chilling than watching somebody

“spray paint or manipulate a surveillance camera, right, because you know that they're coming”

there for an mysterious purpose. So doubt, and the fact that there were so many pieces of video that had to be strung together, but that initial spray of the camera that's in the hallway right by the elevator. And then to see how even when he spray painted the detective Montilla and others were able to see through that drying paint, evidence that tied David directly to the crime.

It was striking because as you went through the investigation, it was very clear that David had thought this through. I mean, David really, I mean, you would think thought of everything, the fact that he switched license plates switched it against, switched it again. I mean, he really thought all this through.

He put in so much planning, you know, when he, he, you know, wrote the text. And then had his Colombian friend, that was wild. In Colombia, translate the exact text to Colombian Spanish to send to Anna Spanish speaking friends. Quick questions.

That's all about being Spanish. That's different than there's a distinction. Yes. What's that? So, in a way, you know, every Latin American country has a different accent.

And I'm just thinking, you could think of, for example, you know, British English to American English. It's the same language, but there are certain differences in accents and even in words. So David, who had spent time in South Florida and South Florida, such a mix of all cultures and languages, knew that, you know, Spanish has different accents.

And so he reaches out to his Colombian friend, Anna being Colombian American and says, hey, can you translate this for a friend of mine, it's working on a project in Colombian Spanish, and then the fact that he thought of, how do I get from Serbia to Spain when there are, you know, borders, right? And cameras and license tag readers in Spain, every other block almost has a license

plate reader, and I don't know if you knew that, but I knew that he had to go through his five countries, how do I do that, undetected, and he got a burner phone, then stole these license plates, tinted the rental car, he's thinking there's got to put down the thumb by the way, when he was going through that, even though he really got me, even put down the sun mark, yep, but David thought of all of these steps.

It's really striking. It really, really is striking. I have to ask, I mean, this is your

first time doing a date line. I would assume that this is your first time really kind

of like diving in and following an investigator with such detail as they go through a case, right? You interview law enforcement all the time, but it's different when you do it for a date line. Did this kind of give you a different perspective or a different insight

“when you look into the work that detectives do on these cases?”

Absolutely. I'm going to tell you, 42 years as a journalist and this first opportunity to work with date line gave me a completely new perspective, understanding and respect for not only law enforcement, but also for the work that we do, plain, that you do, that every single person

reasons, but I've never spoken to anybody doing their first date line episode. It was

always the questions directed at me. And so to hear this coming from you, it's so exciting. It's so interesting to hear your perspective of what it was like doing this for the first time. And yes, that was one of the things that shocked me as well. It's just how in depth we're able to go in these stories, right? And how much we're able to learn like you have this now knowledge of this case that you never would have had before. You know so much about

it, right? And you feel so much about it too. Yeah, and you know, in these 42 years for me, there are just countless people that remain

with me as I have covered them. And to shine a light where there is darkness, to listen

to those who are often silent or silence. And to see that those life experiences and life lessons can be helpful to others is extraordinary. So let me ask you, what has been in your process, the most satisfying and maybe the most surprising thing you have learned from and through this. I'm smiling so big, because this is this is classic Jose, by the way, mind you, I am the interviewer. I'd hear you are asking me questions that you have flipped

“it and you have turned this thing on and said, you know, I think that the the most gratifying”

thing for me is the fact that we're able to have such long conversations. I think that, you know, in my days of doing that news today show MSBC, like all of those things where it's like we're doing interviews, but there's a deadline that's right there. And so you go in, we can maybe have a 15, 20 minute snippet of a conversation. And then it's kind of like, okay, gotta get it, gotta, you know, cut it for air. In this position, you're able

to let the conversations breathe and you're able to really go where people want to go with the discussions and you're able to let the emotions come out, right? Because these are people who have gone through something horrible. And now we're in this place where they're able to talk about it and sit down across no somebody who will listen for two hours, three hours sometimes more about this. And so I just love living in those interviews. It gives

me chills even talking about it. And in going back to Anna, I, you know, she stays with you, you know, for Sanna and for her friend, Lisa and so many others, this is something that is a permanent scar that they need to heal. Yeah, let's talk about David. I'm curious, as you were reporting this story, as you were talking to the detectives, what did you learn about David, about the type of individual this person was? A driven, crazed, I have to succeed, I have to make

money. My American dream is to be wealthy. And as Sanna says in our chat, you know, David felt as though he was in control of the car. He was driving and that he could be the only driver of the car of life. And Anna was just a passenger in the back seat. And that's how a lot of his friends describe him too. Let's talk about David's demise, dying by suicide, they're in his jail cell.

“I mean, I think that it really speaks to just everything you've said about his personality, right?”

This I have to win, I have to be, I'm driven, everything will be perfect, everything will go my way. And then when it doesn't, I love the question that you asked, you said, was that his confession? Because he was a coward as Sanna said, because he was a coward, there is no other explanation for it. I think that when someone goes through a tragedy like this, when something like this happens to their loved one, there is, of course, the pain of losing a person.

But there is this added indescribable pain that people have to carry when they don't know where their loved one is. When a body is not found, when you know that they're dead, but you only know that because you have to assume, I mean, and we've done stories like this one that comes to

“mind for me is bringing Jay home. I remember speaking with Jaylee's mom and she said every time”

she drove a stretch of road, she almost broke down because she just imagined her baby out there lying somewhere, right? And this is for more than two years. So I cannot imagine the pain that on

his family, her incredible friends, are dealing with not only not knowing where she is, but

road back to Serbia, like there are just so many questions that they really just have to carry

with them every day. And that's so terrible. Yeah, and you know, and all of the people, all of them that I spoke with say that they will continue searching for Anna in every way that they can. This is a 1600 plus mile distant trek where David could have left her. And then there are some questions. I have my theory. There are theories by her friends and by officials. I'm brought back your blame to this text, the text that he wrote and sent to her friends. I met someone wonderful.

He has a summer house about two hours from Madrid. We're going there. Signal is spotty.

Why would you, as the killer, mention a summer house, two hours from Madrid with no signal. And

if, by chance, you leave the body, two hours from Madrid, maybe that would get authorities on a whole

“difference. You know, who was it to try at the best lies? Have some hint of truth in them?”

Right, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, yeah, why, why mention a house, two hours from Madrid. If you're not going to have a reason to mention it, you know, he thought of a lot of things through. And I don't certainly detectives aren't taking this as being the only place. But they have searched the area two hours around Madrid. They've searched into Italy. They've gone through France.

They've gone through that entire 1600 mile. Hey, look at this. Here's, yeah, I love that you

like to show them how to tell this. But, but look at this thing. I mean, look at where it goes through. It's, you gotta go through different countries. But then Italy and France, up there in the Italian area, those are, that's very close to the mountainous areas. And then, you know, France, obviously into Spain. That's really mountainous stuff. So along the way, and that's, they've actually gone searching through mountainous areas of Italy and through the areas there of the, of the border

with with Spain. But it's difficult to put your mind in the mind of someone who has lost his moral, that you have many talents, my friend. But clearly being a detective is one of them. Because that is such a good insight. And also the fact that you have these haunted out of pieces of evidence here, the visual aids is striking. You jump into this case yourself. It's very, very clear. I do think about her a lot. And I know you do all of the people that

we are privileged to speak with that have gone through very difficult moments. One keeps them in one's heart and in one's memory. Well, to that point, let's close this by hearing a little bit more about who Anna was. I know that she spoke with some of her friends. There were some beautiful remembrances of her stories about her that didn't make it into the episode. But let's listen to a little bit of that now. Anna was a very nice person and a very good friend. And she was very kind

“and you can talk to her and she was never judging you. So I remember the first time we met,”

we just met up for a local happy hour. And we immediately started talking about travel memories. And discovered that we had the same interests, same likes and dislikes on destinations where we had been and where we wanted to go. I remember she told me about a trip that she had planned already to Colombia, where she's from after a couple of weeks. And I remember thinking to myself, maybe I can come and join her and said maybe she think is too early for me to

to suggest that. But she didn't. So after a few weeks, after meeting we went to Bogota together. She even said to me, she said, "Oh no, you don't have to get a hotel. I have a

“bigger room and you can stay with me." I remember our conversations, our jokes. We have”

very deep conversations. She's a very bubbly person, a great smile, you know, you can tell. She's adventurous. She was a sweetheart. You know, I think one can hope to go through life and have friends

it's interesting that that one moment that Aliza shares with us, her, all, she keeps all of the texts

“send the voice recordings that Ana sent her. And the one of Ana laughing for one entire minute”

was so representative of what Aliza says there, friendship was based on and Ana who, you know, love to learn new dances and umbias and mangas and even flamingo when she got to Spain and her laughter and her jaw to leave and her determination to make a life that wasn't based on money, but rather on love. Well, it was, it is a tragic story, but you, you told it beautifully and with such heart and compassion. So Jose, it was just a joy to talk data and with you on this

your first state line episode. I can't wait for more. Blena, I am, can I just tell you, I am so touched

and privileged to be able to share this with you, whom I so admire, so thank you. The feeling is absolutely mutual, my friend. And I'm next, we'll answer your questions from social media.

“And we're back and I'm joined by wonderful producer, the wonderful producer of this episode,”

Alex Lourade, answer some of your questions from social media. It's our harpaz who are also our producer on this hour. Has been extraordinary as well. Alex, how are you? I'm good Jose, I'm actually at the Miami courthouse today covering another case. How are you? Great. And just looking forward to answering some of the questions that we were sent and this one, my friend says, does the FBI call the shots or is it the local authorities in this case? Yeah, good question.

So this story was a little bit different, just because there was a lot of local authorities

that were working together. So at first, and as case was taken by the local Salamanca police,

which was the jurisdiction she lived in, which is the smaller sort of municipality. So they took it over and then it was handed over to the Spanish national police, which is Ramosteam and Amelia's team. And then once the FBI sort of gets involved, that's when the family contacts the FBI, let's them know that there's an American citizen that's been missing in Madrid for a few days. And that's when the FBI sort of gets involved. But initially, it's the

local police who's doing all the legwork. So this one is from Felicia's 1908. So we're the security cameras not being watched in real time. Security cameras in an apartment to me are only going to be useful if they are viewed in real time. Yeah, no, not in this case. The Ramosteam actually only watched the cameras 10 days after Anna went missing in Spanish law. You know, the person can't be declared as a missing person unless the 10 days have passed. So this surveillance footage was only

viewed by his team after that. Another one from Felicia's 1908, it takes bravery in a sense of adventure to go solo abroad. Totally. I mean, her in Santa, I think Anna and Santa's relationship was so special because they had this love for travel, you know, and Santa talks to us a little bit

“about that in the episode. And they love to travel together as solo female travelers. That's what”

she love to do. Yeah, I mean, Bobby G62 says she was so lucky to have such a friend to go look for her. I think that this is really a story of extraordinary women and extraordinary friendships. Yeah, definitely. I mean, Santa was planning on seeing her. So she just says, you know, I'm going to jump on this plane earlier than I was anticipating on going to see what's going on with my friend. Yeah, and that joint effort with Sana and Elisa in Madrid, that's something that

as we say in the episode, they were acting like detectives. Totally. A lot of that legwork that they were doing in the beginning was helpful to investigators later on. Yeah, let's highlight a little bit's agent, Alex Montilla. She's a 30 year vet of the FBI. This was her last case before she retired. And she put everything into this, Alex. Oh, yeah. No, we were actually lucky. The reason we got to interview her was because she was retired. So we got, you know, if she was still working

on the case, we might not have been able to speak with her. But yeah, she put everything into this. All right, so Alex, we asked a question from our dayline account on Friday, which is if you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go? Alex, low right, where would you go?

right after I graduated college. And it's just, it's my favorite to do the whole world. So it

“would be, it would be Madrid, honestly, for me. You're a very motherly lady in many ways. They're”

going to tell you. Thank you. And you live there as well, I know. I did. We grew up that we were exiled there for some time. My parents, you know, Cubans. We were exiled in 1959 and ended up spending pretty much my entire childhood in Madrid. And I too, I think, after Miami, I'm a guy who if I could live anywhere in the world, I'd live exactly where I live. Miami. But Madrid is a very close number two. So what about this story, Alex, left you? What are some of the things that

that this story left in you? I mean, I learned about it in his case right, right away, sort of right when she went missing. I remember hearing a lot of the stories. I'm from Miami. So originally,

“I heard about the case through our affiliate down here in BC 6. And I think what was striking to me”

initially was that again, this is a woman going to Spain, a place that I've been to many times a place that I loved a place that I moved. So I think I saw a lot of myself in her and in that way and throughout learning about the investigation and the incredible steps, the police made, you know, to come to David, it was just, it's incredible. Alex, just an April that the FBI came up and up the entity of $25,000 for information related to the remains of Anna. Is there any way to think

that they could find her body? Grandma says that he's never going to stop looking. You know, and

“I really believe that he feels strongly that he will. You know, he wants to give Anna's family”

closure and they're going to continue putting resources into looking. Alex, Laura, thank you so much. Yeah, thank you, Jose. It was pleasure talking to you. Likewise, and that's it for talking date line this week. And thank you for listening. Remember, if you have any questions about our stories, you can DM us, your audio or video on our socials at date line NBC, you can also leave us a voicemail at 212-4135252 for a chance to be featured right here. And you can watch the video

version of Talking Date Line on Peacock or YouTube or subscribe to the NBC News app. And before we go, be sure to check out Keith's new original podcast series five miles from home, the story of the

murder of a high school track star in a small desert town. The first four episodes are available

now or you can subscribe to Date Line Premium to binge the entire series ad free. We'll see you Friday for an all new date line on NBC and you can catch date line Nsbanyore whenever you'd like at Peacock and on telemundo. Thank you for the privilege of your time. To really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their trials, challenges, their stories, their funny, and my candy. So I hope you'll join me each week and who knows,

you might just come away with your own Glass Apple. Search Glass Apple with Craig confident from today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.