Cnn
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Adan Manzano was in New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl Lix, but the sports journalist was found dead in his hotel room before kick-off. Police try to understand what happened and what, if necessary, “a career criminal”, the police are known to manage fraud regimes in the French district of the city had to do with his death.
The 27-year-old sports journalist worked for the local telemundo station in Kansas City for almost four years and came to New Orleans to report on the big match.
Kansas City chiefs would finish Do not realize their dreams According to a history, three consecutive championships of the Super Bowl on Sunday, losing against the Eagles of Philadelphia, but Marzano was never supported on the result of the game. Wednesday afternoon, a few days before the kick-off, he was found dead in his hotel room in the suburbs of New Orleans in Kenner, Louisiana, according to the police.
Investigators examine the possibility that Manzano was drugged before his death, police announced on Monday.
Manzano was seen enter his room into a hotel in Comfort Suites with a woman who later decided to be Danette Colbert around 4:35 am on Wednesday, showed security cameras of the hotel. According to Kenner police, Colbert left shortly after, then returned. At 6 am, the police said, she left again and did not come back. Manzano has never been seen when leaving the room.
Colbert and Manzano had met earlier Wednesday In New Orleans and were seen together in several places in the city, police said.
Kenner police chief Kenner Keith Conley told journalists on Monday that investigators “have two or three information, video sequences coming out of New Orleans that she was with him in the French district”.
Police arrived at the hotel on Wednesday after Manzano’s body was found in his room. Investigators examined the images of the security camera and discovered that the credit card that Manzano used to check in the hotel was missing, with a mobile phone, the police said.
Colbert, 48, was arrested in New Orleans on Thursday evening and accused of “property crimes, in particular infringements of fraud and theft,” said the police, and a search of his house in Slidell, Louisiana , discovered the missing phone with the credit card, which she used in New Orleans. Investigators also found narcotics and a stolen firearm, although they said they did not think that the firearm was linked to the death of Manzano.
In a press release, Telemundo called Manzano “a real professional and a rising star, which illustrated 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 parents-in-law in Topeka, Kansas, according to Steve Downing, Managing Director of Telemundo Kansas City.
Colbert has what Conley called “a sheet of any record and rap”, in particular “the allegations of drug men, the flight of currency, the fraudulent use of credit and debit cards and other financial crimes “, According to the police.
Colbert is not currently faced with the death charges of Manzano. She is owned at the Correctional Center of Jefferson’s parish awaiting criminal procedures for accusations related to theft and fraud, police said. It is not clear if Colbert has a legal representation; CNN contacted the office of the Jefferson parish prosecutor for more details.
“While Colbert was initially accused of property crimes, including fraud and theft offenses, investigators are now working in close collaboration with medical-legal experts and the Jefferson parish coroner office to determine if Additional accusations can be justified, “police said in a press release on Monday.
Police are still expecting autopsy results on Manzano, and CNN contacted the Coroner office for information.
“Toxicology reports remain pending; We expect it to take several weeks to become available. However, investigators explore all the evidence available in this case, including the possibility that Manzano was drugged before his death. Colbert has a history of arrests which include similar allegations concerning the drugs of individuals to facilitate theft, “the police said in the statement.
No drugs were found in Manzano hotel room, police said.
Colbert was described by Conley as a “career criminal” which was previously accused of at least two other similar incidents – once in 2022 in Nevada and a second incident in the parish of Jefferson in Louisiana. We do not know how and if these cases have been resolved.
Police said that since Colbert’s arrest, they have been contacted by several people claiming to be victims of similar crimes or to report deaths in similar suspicious circumstances, although they do not know if they are linked to Colbert.
“I don’t know where it will end,” Conley said. “We will let the evidence lead us to the final result and not to speculate, but you know that this is the kind of thing that can happen if you are in a city by yourself.”
Shawn Nottingham from CNN has contributed to this report.