Chilling new video footage shows Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old sports anchor and reporter who died while covering the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, and Danette Colbert, a woman arrested in connection to his death, walking to his hotel room.
Manzano, 27, was seen carrying a plastic shopping bag while walking behind Coblert, 48, to the same room where he was found dead last week in a photo shared by the Kenner Police Department. Colbert was “charged with property crimes, including fraud and theft-related offenses" in relation to Manzano's death and was also reportedly arrested for two incidents in Las Vegas hotel rooms that took place in a six month span in 2022, both of which resulted in her drugging and stealing from men.
“We think we've opened up a Pandora's box of similar-type crimes,” said Chief Keith Conley of the Kenner, Louisiana, Police Department via KMBC.
Last week, Colbert was captured on surveillance footage leaving Manzano's hotel room and using his credit card "at several stores in the New Orleans area."
"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 during a news briefing last week via NBC News. "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."
Conley previously confirmed that Colbert had been “charged with introducing a substance, a foreign substance” during a 2022 incident in Nevada and another incident in Jefferson Parish, which "I believe it was two years ago," he said at the time.
Manzano was covering the Chiefs for KGKC, the Kansas City local Telemundo affiliate, and Tico Sports, a Spanish language sports network, KGKC station general manager Steve Downing announced in a news release shared on February 6.
"We are saddened to share that Adan Manzano passed away yesterday in New Orleans, while on assignment to cover the Super Bowl for both Telemundo Kansas City and Tico Sports," Downing said. "We are cooperating with law enforcement as they investigate this tragic event. As KGKC's Sports Anchor & Reporter, Adan was a true professional and a rising star, who exemplified excellence in his work. We will deeply miss Adan and his passion for sports, and the contributions he made to the local community. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to his family and loved ones during this difficult time."
Manzano joined KGKC in April 2021, according to his LinkedIn page, and moved from his native Mexico City to Kansas in 2018, according to a KSNT story published last year.
“I used to dream about this but I never expected that it was going to come that soon,” Manzano told KSNT while covering last year's Super Bowl as a sideline reporter. “It’s just a blessing.”
Manzano's final X post showed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes addressing a massive scrum of reporters during Super Bowl LIX's Opening Night with the caption, "Mahomes versus el Mundo," which translates to "Mahomes versus the World" in English.