CNN
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Adan Manzano was in New Orleans to cover Super Bowl LIX, but the sports reporter was found dead in his hotel room before kickoff. Police are trying to figure out what happened and what, if anything, “a career criminal” police say is known to run fraud schemes in the city’s French Quarter had to do with his death.
The 27-year-old sports reporter had been working for the local Telemundo station in Kansas City for nearly four years and came to New Orleans to report on the big game.
The Kansas City Chiefs would end up failing to achieve their dream of a historic three straight Super Bowl championships Sunday, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles, but Marzano never got to report on the game’s outcome. Wednesday afternoon, days before kickoff, he was found dead in his hotel room in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, Louisiana, according to police.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that Manzano was drugged before his death, police said Monday.
Manzano was seen entering his room at a Comfort Suites hotel with a woman who police later determined to be Danette Colbert at about 4:35 a.m. Wednesday, security cameras in the hotel showed. According to Kenner Police, Colbert left a short time later, then returned. At 6 a.m., police said, she left again and did not come back. Manzano was never seen leaving the room.
Colbert and Manzano had met earlier Wednesday in New Orleans and were seen together in several places around the city, according to police.
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley told reporters Monday that investigators “do have two or three pieces of information, video footage coming out of New Orleans that she was with him in the French Quarter.”
Police arrived at the hotel Wednesday after Manzano’s body was found in his room. Investigators reviewed security camera footage and discovered the credit card Manzano used to check into the hotel was missing, along with a cell phone, police said.
Colbert, 48, was arrested in New Orleans on Thursday night and charged with “property crimes, including fraud and theft-related offenses” police said, and a search of her home in nearby Slidell, Louisiana, uncovered the missing phone along with the credit card, which she had used in New Orleans. Investigators also found narcotics and a stolen firearm, though they said they don’t believe the firearm is related to Manzano’s death.
In a statement, Telemundo called Manzano “a true professional and a rising star, who exemplified excellence in his work.”
“Sports journalism has lost a great man. … More than an unrivaled journalist, he was a loving father, a friend, a brother and a great human being,” Telemundo said.
Manzano’s wife died in a car accident last year, and he had a 2-year-old daughter who lives with his in-laws in Topeka, Kansas, according to Steve Downing, the general manager of Telemundo Kansas City.
Colbert has what Conley called “quite a record and rap sheet,” including “allegations of drugging men, theft of currency, fraudulent use of credit and debit cards, and other financial crimes,” according to police.
Colbert is not currently facing charges for Manzano’s death. She is being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center awaiting criminal proceedings for charges related to theft and fraud, police said. It is not clear whether Colbert has legal representation; CNN has contacted the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office for additional details.
“While Colbert was initially charged with property crimes, including fraud and theft-related offenses, investigators are now working closely with forensic experts and the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office to determine whether additional charges may be warranted,” police said in a news release Monday.
Police are still awaiting autopsy results on Manzano, and CNN has reached out to the coroner’s office for information.
“Toxicology reports remain pending; we expect it will take several weeks to become available. However, investigators are exploring all available evidence in this case, including the possibility that Manzano may have been drugged before his death. Colbert has an arrest history that includes similar allegations involving drugging individuals to facilitate theft,” police said in the release.
No drugs were found in Manzano’s hotel room, according to police.
Colbert was described by Conley as a “career criminal” who was previously charged with at least two other similar incidents – once in 2022 in Nevada and a second incident in Jefferson Parish in Louisiana. It’s unclear how and whether those cases were resolved.
Police said that since Colbert’s arrest, they have been contacted by multiple people claiming to be victims of similar crimes or to report deaths under similar suspicious circumstances, though it is unknown whether these are connected to Colbert.
“I don’t know where it’s going to end up,” Conley said. “We’re going to let the evidence lead us to the end result and not speculate, but you know these are the kind of things that can happen if you’re out in any city by yourself.”
CNN’s Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report.
