A girl with a historical past of drugging and robbing males has been arrested in reference to the mysterious loss of life of a Kansas Metropolis sports activities reporter who was in New Orleans protecting the Tremendous Bowl. Danette Colbert, 48, was taken into custody after being captured on CCTV leaving journalist Adan Manzano’s resort room and allegedly utilizing his bank cards.
Colbert, described by locals because the ‘Bourbon Road Hustler’, has an intensive legal historical past courting again over a decade. Though she has solely been charged with monetary crimes up to now, police are investigating whether or not she performed a job in Manzano’s premature loss of life.
A Chilling Scene in a New Orleans Resort
Manzano, 27, a rising star at Telemundo Kansas Metropolis, was found lifeless in his resort room on the Consolation Suites in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans, on Wednesday afternoon. His employer raised the alarm after he failed to look for scheduled protection of the Tremendous Bowl, in keeping with the Daily Beast.
CCTV footage reportedly exhibits Colbert arriving at Manzano’s resort room with him at 4:30 a.m., leaving alone moments later, then returning as soon as extra earlier than leaving once more at 6 a.m. Manzano was by no means seen exiting the room.
By 9 p.m. on Thursday, Colbert was arrested after allegedly utilizing the deceased journalist’s bank cards to make purchases throughout town. She is at present going through expenses of financial institution fraud, unlawful transmission of financial funds, and entry gadget fraud, amongst others, in keeping with the New York Post. Nevertheless, investigators haven’t dominated out upgrading her expenses pending the outcomes of Manzano’s toxicology report.
Manzano’s Tragic Dying Leaves Daughter Orphaned
Manzano’s physique confirmed no seen indicators of trauma, and the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Workplace is conducting toxicology checks to find out if he was drugged, in keeping with the Each day Beast. His loss of life is especially devastating because it comes simply 9 months after his spouse, Ashleigh Boyd, died in a automobile crash in Topeka, Kansas. Their toddler daughter is now left with out each mother and father, per the New York Put up.
Initially from Mexico, Manzano had constructed a promising profession in sports activities journalism, protecting the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ historic run in the direction of a 3rd consecutive Tremendous Bowl look. Solely days earlier than his loss of life, he had been on task interviewing NFL stars together with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
A Prison Historical past of Drugging and Robbing Males
Colbert’s arrest has introduced renewed consideration to her intensive legal previous. Through the years, she has been accused of repeatedly focusing on males in bars, drugging them, and stealing valuables starting from Rolex watches to huge sums of cash.
Authorities in New Orleans and Las Vegas have linked her to a number of incidents, together with a 2022 case by which she allegedly spiked a person’s drink and stole £39,000 ($50,000) in money, a £23,000 ($30,000) Rolex, and £8,700 ($11,000) in on line casino chips. In one other occasion, she reportedly satisfied a person to ask her again to his resort room, just for him to get up hours later to search out his valuables lacking.
Her crimes prolong past theft. In 2014, Colbert was arrested after being caught utilizing a stolen bank card at a Winn Dixie grocery store in New Orleans. When retailer workers recognised her from a police-issued wished poster, she fled the scene—solely to return later with two accomplices to assault the shop supervisor, in keeping with the Daily Mail.
She was additionally arrested in Las Vegas for one more drugging and theft case in July 2022. In that occasion, a person claimed that Colbert and one other girl pressured him to drink an unidentified liquid, inflicting dizziness. He later realised he had been drugged and that his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch value £47,000 ($60,000), £1,200 ($1,500) in on line casino chips, and his bank card had been lacking.
An Ongoing Investigation
At current, Colbert has solely been charged with property-related crimes in connection to Manzano’s case, in keeping with Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley. Nevertheless, given her historical past of focusing on and drugging males, authorities should not ruling out additional expenses as soon as toxicology stories are launched.
“This brings to mild that there are individuals on the market that prey on others, carry them into their confidence, after which victimize them,” Conley stated. He additionally warned that criminals usually journey to main occasions just like the Tremendous Bowl to reap the benefits of these unfamiliar with the world.
Manzano’s sudden and tragic loss of life has despatched shockwaves by the sports activities journalism group, with many remembering him as a devoted skilled. His colleagues at Telemundo Kansas Metropolis described him as a “rising star” with a vivid future.
Whereas Colbert stays in custody, the circumstances surrounding Manzano’s loss of life stay unsure. Authorities proceed to research whether or not the ‘Bourbon Road Hustler’ was concerned in additional than simply monetary crimes this time.
