Arrest made after NFL reporter Adan Manzano found dead in New Orleans hotel room while covering the Super Bowl
A Louisiana woman with a history of “drugging men” and stealing their credit cards was arrested after the death of an NFL reporter who was in New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
Kenner police chief Keith Conley told reporters that hotel security footage showed Slidell woman Danette Colbert, entering the room of Kansas City Telemundo’s Adan Manzano with him at 4.35am on Wednesday.
Detectives discovered that the credit card Manzano used to check into the Comfort Suites wasn’t on his body or in the hotel room, according to Conley.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Colbert used the 27-year-old TV reporter and presenter’s credit card “at several stores in the New Orleans area”, Kenner police said in a statement.
Colbert has been “charged with property crimes, including fraud and theft-related offenses”, though “this investigation remains ongoing”, according to the police statement.
Kenner police have not said how Manzano died.
“You asked if this was a homicide, I don’t know where it’s going to end up. We’re going to let the evidence lead us to the end result and not speculate,” Conley said.
“As soon as the coroner finishes with his findings and they will classify it as either homicide or whatever death the evidence leads him to and then these charges could be upgraded.”
The suspect has an arrest record “that includes allegations of drugging men, theft of currency, fraudulent use of credit and debit cards, and other financial crimes”, said Kenner police, which asked that “anyone who may recognise Danette Colbert and has any information regarding her involvement in these crimes to call” investigators.
In 2022 in Nevada, police said Colbert was “charged with introducing a substance, a foreign substance” into a victim, Conley said, “and the other one was in Jefferson Parish, I believe it was two years ago”.
Colbert was booked on suspicion of simple robbery, access device fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, bank fraud and computer fraud, police said.
As late as Saturday (AEDT), it was not yet clear if Colbert had hired or been assigned an attorney to speak on her behalf.
Manzano’s death came just months after his wife Ashleigh Boyd was killed in a car crash in Topeka, officials said. Boyd, 24, was a primary school with Topeka Public Schools.
The couple has a two-year-old daughter who survived the car crash.
She is now in the care of his family, who are asking for support in the wake of his death.
“Adan was a kind, loving, and hardworking person who touched the lives of many with his warmth and generosity,” the family wrote in a GoFundMe page.
“As we navigate this painful time, we want to give Adan the farewell he deserves, but we need your support to make it possible.
“We are humbly asking for donations to help cover funeral expenses and provide our family with the means to say goodbye properly.”
If you wish to donate to Manzano’s family, you can do so at their GoFundMe fundraiser here.
- With 7NEWS
Originally published on NBC/7NEWS
