Woman arrested after Super Bowl reporter's death may be tied to French Quarter death

The woman arrested after a Super Bowl reporter was found dead in his hotel room may be linked to another death in New Orleans’ French Quarter, authorities said. 

Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old sports reporter based in Topeka, Kansas, was in New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl for Telemundo Kansas City and Tico Sports, according to a social media post from Telemundo Kansas City. 

What happened to Adan Manzano? 

What we know:

According to police in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans, Manzano was found unresponsive in his hotel room Wednesday, Feb. 5. His colleagues called the hotel for a wellness check after he missed a morning appointment, Nola.com reported. 

A woman, later identified as Danette Colbert of Slidell, Louisiana, was seen on hotel security video with Manzano on the morning of Feb. 5. She was also seen leaving the room alone later that morning. 

Investigators said she used Manzano’s credit card at several stores in the New Orleans area. 

Colbert was arrested and is facing charges of bank fraud, computer fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, access device fraud and purse snatching. She has not been arrested for Manzano’s death.

What we don't know:

Manzano’s cause of death remains under investigation. The Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office is awaiting test results that could take weeks. 

Authorities said there were no signs of obvious trauma to his body.

Danette Colbert’s criminal history

The backstory:

Colbert has a lengthy history of drugging men and stealing credit cards and other valuable items, police said. 

In January 2022, Colbert was arrested in Las Vegas and accused of stealing $50,000 in cash and a slew of valuable items. 

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, a man told police that he met two women at a bar and invited them back up to his hotel room. He said he woke up with a bloody nose and found that $50,000 cash, a Rolex watch worth $30,000, $11,000 in casino chips, his iPhone 11, a Louis Vuitton luggage bag worth $5,000 and a satchel valued at $2,000 were all missing.

The man told police he made drinks for the women in his room but gave one woman $200 to leave because she was rude. The last thing he remembered was walking the woman to the door of the room. He told police he believes he was drugged. 

Six months later, she was arrested again in Las Vegas for a similar crime, in which a man said he invited two women back to his hotel room and believed he was drugged. The next morning, his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch worth $60,000, $1,500 in casino chips and his credit card were missing.

When she was arrested last week, she was on probation for a 2021 case in New Orleans, where she pleaded guilty to stealing about $134,000 from a man who says she drugged him while he was out drinking at a French Quarter bar, Nola.com reports. 

The victim, David Butler, said he woke up and found his ring, watch, phone and wallet missing. He also discovered that $80,000 in cryptocurrency had been transferred to an iCloud account linked to Colbert, police said. 

Butler told Nola.com that he pushed for prison time and was livid when Colbert was given suspended sentences and placed on probation. He wrote a letter to the judge in the case following her sentencing. 

"If someone dies due to her actions in the future, their blood will undeniably be on the hands of those who allowed her to escape real accountability today," he said in the letter. 

French Quarter death under investigation

Dig deeper:

Following the announcement of Colbert’s arrest, Kenner police began receiving complaints from victims reporting similar crimes, Chief Keith Conley said, according to Nola.com. 

Now, police are investigating whether Colbert was involved in the death of a tourist in December. Police said John Jenkins of Maryland was found dead in his French Quarter hotel room and was last seen walking down Bourbon Street. His death was ruled accidental, a result of cocaine and ethanol toxicity, but his family told police he had property missing.