ESPN has retracted a story that tied a former Jets player to a murder investigation in the Dominican Republic after discovering the report “contained errors.”
The June 18 report stated that “witnesses told police in 2021 that NFL veteran Michael Pennel Jr. had an ongoing relationship with a young woman whose body was found on a property he owned when she went missing.” The story later quotes Pennel, a two-time Super Bowl champ with the Chiefs, saying he didn’t know the woman, Carli Franchesca Guzman Roche — whose body was found this past January — and that he wasn’t in the Dominican Republic at the time of her disappearance. ESPN reported the woman’s death was being investigated as a homicide, citing prosecutors.
The link to the initial report now leads to an update from ESPN, though the original story has been archived.
Mike Pennel looks on during the Jets’ loss to the Packers on Dec. 23, 2018 at MetLife Stadium. Getty Images“On June 18, 2026, ESPN published a story about Michael Pennel Jr. and an investigation into the death of a woman in the Dominican Republic who disappeared on September 5, 2021. ESPN has determined the story contained errors and has removed it,” the update says. “Since the publication of the story, Pennel’s representatives have provided ESPN with 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. Pennel’s representatives also issued a statement, which may be found here.”
“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,” the statement from law firm Kaleo Legal said. “Mike was in Denver, Colorado being treated for a sports injury at the time and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons on September 15, 2021.”
The report claimed that Pennel’s lawyer in the Dominican Republic, Ariel Durán, said that Pennel, 35, had nothing to do with the woman’s disappearance but that he expected the defensive tackle to be charged because the body was found on his property. ESPN also reported Duran said he may not represent Pennel due to a money dispute.
According to Kaleo Legal, “Mr. Pennel’s Dominican attorney, Cesar A. Duran, never told anyone he expected Mr. Pennel to be arrested.”
Pennel owned but never lived on the property in question, the statement said, adding that “Mr. Pennel’s video surveillance system captured several people unlawfully trespassing on the property the night Ms. Roche disappeared. Mr. Pennel saved the video surveillance and shared it with the Dominican authorities who did not know it existed.”
ESPN published a previous report in April stating Pennel was a person of interest, citing Dominican sources.
Mike Pennel Jr. reacts during the Bears’ preseason win over the Chiefs on Aug. 13, 2022 in Chicago. Getty Images“This isn’t a story. I’m not legally involved,” Pennel told ESPN in the April report. “This is fake news being reported. I’d advise you to speak with my agent/lawyer … before writing a false story. Damaging my reputation.”
Guzman was declared missing on Sept. 13, 2021. She was 22. She disappeared after moving to the town of Sosua, where Pennel had a home in a gated community.
According to ESPN, Pennel sold his home last year, and the body was discovered while a worker was digging a trench in January and required a DNA sample from Guzman’s son to identify.
A 12-year veteran, Pennel began his career with the Packers after going undrafted in 2014 and spent two seasons with the Jets in 2017 and ’18.
He split last season with the Chiefs and Bengals.
Pennel had been suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy three times, and was sued in 2024 by the widow of Dwayne Haskins, who accused him of a $275,000 fraud related to a dog breeding business he operated in the Dominican.
