Telemundo reporter Adam Mananzo was pictured walking to a H๏τel room with the so-called âBourbon Street Hustlerâ hours before his death â as it emerged she is being investigated over another recent similar fatality.
Manzano, 27, was seen smiling while carrying a plastic shopping bag as he walked behind Danette Colbert, 48, into the same room in the New Orleans H๏τel he would soon be found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in while staying there to cover the Super Bowl.
Colbert was later found with his cellphone and credit card, and investigators have said they are investigating whether she drugged and robbed the reporter.
She is also being investigated over the mysterious death of a Maryland man â John Jenkins, 55 â who was found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ from cocaine and ethanol toxicity in a French Quarter H๏τel on Dec. 15, NOLA.com reported.
âWe suspect she may be related to the case,â Kenner Police Deputy Chief Mark McCormick said of the earlier case, which was initially classified as an accidental death.
Jenkins was also in town for a football game â a Saints and Washington Commanders match-up â sparking concern from his friends who requested a wellness check when he was a no-show.
He was found unresponsive in his H๏τel room, McCormick said.
Kenner detectives are working with Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrillâs office and State Police Troop Nola to investigate Jenkinsâ death and possible ties to Colbert.
Several other alleged victims of Colbert have come forward following Manzanoâs death, including David Butler, 52, who met Colbert in the French Quarter.
During their encounter, Butler said, Colbert offered him a cocktail that made him feel disoriented and in need of help getting home.
âÂÂShe ushered me into some kind of black Suburban that was literally right there,â he told NBC News. âÂÂAnd thatâÂÂs the last thing I remember that night.âÂÂ
A property manager found Butler pᴀssed out on the floor and shook him awake, with the victim finding his phone and wallet gone and his credit cards used to make thousand-dollar charges at Best Buy and Walmart.
More than $80,000 that Butler stashed away in a cryptocurrency account for retirement was also gone, he said.
Nevada court records show that Colbert was charged in 2022 with grand larceny and administering a drug to aid in the commission of a felony in two separate cases. Both cases were dismissed after the victims refused to testify in court.
Colbert was convicted last October of computer fraud, theft, and illegal transmission of monetary funds, with Orleans Criminal District Judge Nandi Campbell forgoing prison time and instead ordering her to pay resтιтution and remain on probation for five years, according to court records.
Butler slammed the sentence and claimed Manzano would not have lost his life if Campbell had levied a harsher sentence.
âÂÂHad the court acted decisively by incarcerating Ms. Colbert or enforcing stricter conditions for her release, it is possible Mr. Manzano would still be alive today,â Butler told NBC.