A woman who has previously been accused of drugging men and stealing has been arrested amid an investigation into the death of a journalist who was covering Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans – and whose body was discovered in his hotel room.
The reporter, Adan Manzano of Kansas City’s Telemundo affiliate, was staying at a hotel in Kenner, Louisiana – which is home to New Orleans’ international airport – to cover the game when he was found dead Wednesday afternoon.
Hotel surveillance video showed Manzano, 27, with a woman later identified as Danette Colbert on Wednesday morning before she later left his room alone, Keith Conley, the Kenner police chief, said on Friday.
Investigators later established that Colbert, 48, was using the credit card Manzano used to check into his hotel at multiple stores in the area. Police then determined his cellphone was pinging about one-tenth of a mile from Colbert’s known address in Slidell, Louisiana, which is about 40 miles (65km) north-east of New Orleans, Conley said.
Conley said officers detained Colbert on Thursday night on suspicion of fraud and theft. Authorities also obtained a warrant to search her home, finding Manzano’s credit card and cellphone. According to Conley, police also found drugs as well as a stolen gun, though he said investigators “do not believe the firearm is related to this case”.
Investigators had not immediately determined Manzano’s cause and manner of death, leaving it unclear whether Colbert could face additional counts.
The coroner’s office told Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana that there were no obvious signs of trauma on Manzano.
Conley on Friday made it a point to say that Colbert has a history of financial crimes, including allegations of drugging men whose confidence she gained, stealing money and fraudulently using credit cards.
At least one of those cases was in Nevada, Conley said.
Louisiana criminal court records show she was given five years of probation after pleading guilty in December 2019 to fraudulently using a credit card that a man reported losing at a New Orleans strip club.
Asked whether his agency believes Colbert fatally drugged Manzano, Conley said police were investigating to determine whether “criminal activity such as that” having occurred.
News of Manzano’s death – at Kenner’s Comfort Inn & Suites New Orleans Airport North – circulated widely after it was announced. The general manager of the Spanish-language Telemundo affiliate that employed Manzano said the late journalist had recently started anchoring while continuing his duties as a reporter.
Steve Downing, the Telemundo Kansas City general manager, told WWL Louisiana that Manzano had a “passion” for sports that “led him to do great work, and always with a smile”.
Downing remembered Manzano as “enthusiastic and very well-loved and appreciated by the sports teams that he covered here”, including the Kansas City Chiefs, who are pursuing an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl championship in New Orleans on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Manzano, who also worked for Kansas City-based Tico Sports, was a native of Mexico City. His wife died in a car crash in Topeka, Kansas, in April.
The couple’s survivors include a two-year-old daughter.
Downing said his station plans to honor Manzano in its upcoming newscasts.
“We’re a small operation,” Downing remarked to WWL Louisiana. “So we will be missing a family member.”
