A woman known infamously as the “Bourbon Street Hustler” is being probed as a suspect in the death of beloved Super Bowl reporter Adan Manzano.
Danette Colbert, a 48-year-old with an alleged history of drugging and stealing from men, was captured on camera with Manzano, 27, out and about in New Orleans on his final night alive, police said Monday.
The two were spotted in the Big Easy before heading to a Comfort Suites in the suburb of Kenner, police added. A security camera captured them walking into a room together. Colbert allegedly left the room, returned, and left a second time in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Manzano was never seen alive again.
Colbert is accused of going on a spending spree with Manzano’s credit card as he lay dead in his hotel room. His body was discovered by a hotel manager that afternoon after colleagues requested a wellness check when he did not show up to work.
An official cause of death has not been released for Manzano, who appeared to be in good health and had no signs of trauma. He was in town covering the Super Bowl for Telemundo Kansas City, having spent the first half of the week interviewing NFL superstars like Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Toxicology reports “remain pending” for the reporter, police said Monday, saying a definitive cause of death would not be established for “several weeks.”
Police said they suspect Colbert may be involved, however, writing in a news release they had “uncovered additional evidence” linking her to the death and that their probe explores “the possibility that Manzano may have been drugged.”
A news release added that “additional charges may be warranted” and that Colbert has a history of drugging men to “facilitate theft.”
For now, Colbert is being held in a local jail on property crime charges tied to her alleged use of a dead man’s credit card. Police said Monday they “seized multiple electronic devices connected to the case” that are “undergoing forensic examination to determine if they contain relevant digital evidence.”
Among the many arrests on Colbert’s rap sheet is one for allegedly drugging a man and stealing $50,000 from him in Las Vegas in 2022, the Daily Mail reported. Colbert denied the crime but was charged with a similar offense later that year.
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said Colbert had been accused of the same type of crimes in New Orleans as recently as 2023. The Mail reported she allegedly targeted at least three men who wore Rolex watches.
In one case, Colbert allegedly lured a 35-year-old victim on the city’s famous Bourbon Street by asking if he wanted to “party.” He reportedly agreed, withdrew cash, and, by the next day, his $4,000 watch, cash, and credit cards were all gone.
“She plays a confidence game,” Conley said Friday. “She’s definitely a career criminal. All her crimes are ... access to vice, frauds, simple robberies, thefts, things of that nature.”
She also has been accused of driving recklessly, with one arrest in 2022 for driving 97 mph in a school zone where the speed limit was 25. Local cops made an example of her in posts to social media, writing, “If YOU choose to drive 97MPH in a 25MPH school zone, YOU choose to take a ride to Clark County Detention Center!”
Manzano leaves behind a young daughter who is now an orphan. His wife, Ashleigh, died in a car crash in April in Topeka, Kan. She was a second-grade teacher.
An outpouring of support has flooded online for Manzano. The Mexico native was described as a “rising star” who covered soccer, college basketball, and the Kansas City Chiefs for the local Spanish-language news network.
