A Louisiana woman dubbed the “Bourbon Street Hustler” on social media is accused of stealing a Super Bowl reporter’s credit card before he was found dead in his hotel room last week in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans.
Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old Telemundo reporter based in Kansas City, Missouri, traveled to New Orleans on assignment to cover Super Bowl LIX.
He was found dead on Feb. 5, the same day security footage from the Comfort Suites hotel in Kenner allegedly showed Colbert entering Manzano’s room and Colbert leaving by herself later on, according to Telemundo 39.
Danette Colbert, 45, who Kenner police described as a “career criminal,” is facing four counts of being a fugitive, two counts of a traffic violation, one count of “purse snatching,” one count of aggravated device fraud, one count of illegal transfer of funds, one count of bank fraud, one count of computer fraud and one count of robbery.
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Adan Manzano was 27. (Telemundo Kansas City)
Kenner police said Monday that Manzano may have been drugged, and other people have come forward with similar stories about “suspicious deaths under similar circumstances” that authorities are working to investigate, according to FOX 4 Kansas City.
On Friday, Kenner Police Department Chief Keith Conley told reporters during a press conference that detectives found one of Manzano’s credit cards was missing while processing his hotel room.
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Danette Colbert (Kenner PD)
“It was the same credit card that was used to check into the hotel, as well as a cellphone that was missing,” Conley said.
Authorities said they also obtained video surveillance footage from security cameras at the hotel and noticed Manzano arriving at his hotel room around 4:35 a.m. on Feb. 5. Colbert can be seen leaving and re-entering his room “a short time later.” Then around 6 a.m., she leaves and does not return, according to Conley.
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Adan Manzano was on assignment at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. (Telemundo Kansas City)
Detectives reportedly obtained a search warrant allowing them to track the credit card’s location, at which point they were led to Colbert.
“Miss Colbert has quite a record and rap sheet for confidence games, access device fraud and robbery schemes.”
Authorities said they executed a search warrant at Colbert’s address after identifying her as a potential suspect and located a stolen firearm that did not appear to be related to Manzano’s death and narcotics.
Conley said the suspect “plays a confidence game.”
Kenner PD Chief Conley said the suspect “plays a confidence game.” (Facebook)
“She’s definitely a career criminal. All her crimes are against … persons, such as access device frauds, simple robberies, thefts, things of that nature,” he told reporters.
He added that there are three separate criminal cases “in which she’s got access to their personal information and their credit cards in that manner, and there’s several others on her rap sheet.”
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Colbert reportedly has a lengthy criminal history out of Las Vegas, according to local reports. She was initially arrested on Jan. 17, 2022, in connection with a theft at Wynn Las Vegas, a high-end resort and golf club. A man told police he invited two women up to his hotel room and woke up with a bloody nose and tens of thousands of dollars worth of cash and personal belongings missing. She was charged with theft valued at $25,000 or greater but less than $100,000 and administering a drug to aid in the commission of a felony. Colbert was released on bond, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
On July 9, 2022, Las Vegas police arrested Colbert after another man told authorities a similar story that he invited two women to his hotel room at Encore, another luxury Vegas resort. A struggle ensued after the women allegedly forced him to consume a drink and he asked them to leave, but that was the last thing he remembered before waking up and finding thousands of dollars worth of personal items missing from his room, the Review-Journal reported.
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Telemundo 39 remembered Manzano as “a true professional and a rising star, who exemplified excellence in his work.” (Telemundo Kansas City)
She was charged with grand larceny of more than $25,000 and administering a drug to aid in the commission of a felony and later released on a surety bond, according to the outlet.
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Telemundo 39 remembered Manzano as “a true professional and a rising star, who exemplified excellence in his work” in a statement.
“We will deeply miss Adan and his passion for sports, and the contributions he made to the local community,” the statement reads.
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Manzano’s wife, Ashleigh Boyd, died in a car crash last year in Kansas.
Conley said there may be additional charges filed once the local coroner completes Manzano’s autopsy. Colbert is being held on $14,500 bond in Jefferson Parish.
