ESPN retracts – ESPN has removed and retracted a Saturday report naming former Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Mike Pennel Jr. as a person of interest in the 2021 death of Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche in the Dominican Republic. ESPN said errors were found after Pennel’s
For nearly a week, the claim sat out in the open: that Mike Pennel Jr. — a former Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle — had been named a person of interest in the death of a woman who went missing in the Dominican Republic in 2021. Then ESPN pulled the story.
ESPN retracted its report and removed it from its website, saying the story contained errors. In a statement published to its site. ESPN said that since the publication of the story. Pennel’s representatives provided documentation — including travel and financial records — supporting Pennel’s statements to ESPN that he was not in the Dominican Republic at the time the woman disappeared.
The retraction came after ESPN’s original story. dated Saturday. April 25. reported Pennel was a person of interest in the death of Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche. whose body was found earlier this year on a property Pennel owned at the time of her disappearance. Pennel’s age was reported as 35 in the original account.
In the statement ESPN included from Pennel’s legal team. the defense reiterated that Pennel had “nothing to do with” the death of Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche and said he was never a person of interest in the investigation. The statement from Kaleo Legal also argued that “Mr. Pennel’s personal records including his passport and other travel documents. banking records and photographs along with their geotracking locations confirm Mike was not in the Dominican Republic in September. 2021 at the time of Ms. Roche’s disappearance, or in the weeks before or after it.”.
That same statement said Pennel was in Denver, Colorado being treated for a sports injury at the time, and that he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons on September 15, 2021. It continued by saying Pennel’s Dominican attorney, Cesar A. Duran, “never told anyone he expected Mr. Pennel to be arrested.”
The legal statement also addressed the property connected to the case. saying Pennel “owned but never lived in the property where the remains of Ms. Roche were found.” It said Pennel’s video surveillance system captured several people unlawfully trespassing on the property the night Ms. Roche disappeared. and that Pennel saved the video surveillance and shared it with Dominican authorities who. the statement said. did not know it existed.
Before ESPN’s retraction, Pennel denied involvement in Guzmán’s disappearance. In a text message to ESPN, Pennel said, “This isn’t a story. I’m not legally involved. This is fake news being reported. I’d advise you to speak with my agent/lawyer … before writing a false story. Damaging my reputation.” His attorney. Alexander Valbuena. told ESPN Pennel did not know the victim and claimed he was not in the Dominican Republic when she went missing.
Valbuena also said Pennel has requested his lawyers “offer his full cooperation to the Dominican authorities and help clarify the situation.” The attorney added that Pennel said his “primary concern and interest has been to get to the bottom of this since he learned of it. ” and that they were already in communication with the authorities to clarify the situation.
The original reporting described Guzmán as 22 when she disappeared in 2021 in the province of Puerto Plata. It also said her body was discovered in January of this year while a worker was digging a trench on the property. Officials identified Guzmán’s body through a DNA sample provided by her son, who is now 8. Officials were unable to determine a cause of death but are investigating the incident as a homicide.
ESPN’s earlier account also included the reaction of Guzmán’s grandmother. Paula González. who told ESPN she had not been informed who owned the property where the remains were found and said she had “no idea” why her granddaughter would have been there. González described Guzmán as “pretty, a student, very loving,” adding, “Everyone loved her. She had lots of friends.”.
As the story circulated, Pennel was also dealing with other public accusations. The original report noted that his claim he had no involvement in Guzmán’s disappearance came two months after influencer Jhonni Blaze accused him of domestic violence connected to a past relationship. Pennel responded with a lengthy denial via Instagram. saying Blaze was trying to extort him. and the original account said neither party reported the other to law enforcement.
Pennel had also deactivated his Instagram account on Thursday. April 23. as unsubstantiated rumors about his alleged involvement in Guzmán’s death began to spread. according to ESPN. At the time of the original report. authorities had not said whether there are any other persons of interest in the case.
The facts now, at least in ESPN’s reporting, have changed. ESPN has determined the earlier story contained errors and removed it, pointing to documentation provided by Pennel’s representatives as support for Pennel’s claim that he was not in the Dominican Republic when Guzmán disappeared.
Pennel, meanwhile, is currently a free agent. The original reporting said he had split the 2025 season with the Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals and tallied 26 tackles across 16 games. He remains free after his NFL career of 12 seasons was detailed in ESPN’s earlier account.
ESPN Mike Pennel Jr. Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche Dominican Republic person of interest Kansas City Chiefs Cincinnati Bengals Atlanta Falcons Kaleo Legal Alexander Valbuena Cesar A. Duran