Apr 25, 2026, 01:30 PM ET
The body of a woman missing in the Dominican Republic since 2021 was discovered earlier this year on a property that was owned by NFL veteran Michael Pennel Jr. at the time she disappeared, two Dominican sources close to the investigation told ESPN.
The sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Pennel is considered a person of interest in the case.
An attorney for Pennel said the player did not know the woman and was not in the country at the time she disappeared.
Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche was 22 when she was declared missing Sept. 13, 2021, after recently moving to the northern coastal tourist town of Sosúa, where Pennel had a home in a gated community. The national attorney general's office said in a statement that she had not been heard from since Sept. 5 and that the search for her covered the entire province of Puerto Plata.
Two sources close to the investigation said Pennel sold his property last year, and the body was discovered while a worker was digging a trench in January. Guzmán's body was only recently identified after officials compared her DNA to a sample from her son, who is now 8.
Officials did not release a cause of death, but the attorney general's office said authorities are pursuing Guzmán's case as a homicide.
Responding to a text, 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."
Pennel, 34, played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals last season and is a free agent.
His Dominican attorney, Alexander Valbuena, said Pennel asked his lawyers "to offer his full cooperation to the Dominican authorities and help clarify the situation."
Pennel told ESPN on Saturday morning that he has not been contacted by Dominican authorities.
The attorney general's office characterized the case, which was reopened after Guzmán was identified, as being in an early stage. The office said "foreigners" were being interviewed in the investigation.
The Dominican sources did not say if there were other persons of interest.
"It is also important to clarify that we are already in communication with the authorities to clarify the situation, as Mr. [Pennel's] primary concern and interest has been to get to the bottom of this since he learned of it," Valbuena said.
At the time of Guzmán's disappearance, Pennel was between teams, having been released Aug. 31, 2021, by the Chicago Bears. He signed with the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 15, two days after Guzmán was declared missing.
Guzmán's grandmother, Paula González, told ESPN that police never told her who owned the property where Guzmán's remains were found or whom they might suspect in her death. Asked why her granddaughter might have been at the property, González said she had "no idea at all."
"She was pretty, a student, very loving," González said. "Everyone loved her. She had lots of friends."
Pennel has had a number of legal and administrative issues in the past. NFL records say he was suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy three times, twice in 2016 and once in 2020, He was sued in 2024 by the widow of NFL quarterback Dwayne Haskins, accusing him of defrauding her out of $275,000 in a dog breeding business he operated in the Dominican Republic.
Pennel also was recently in a public spat with social media influencer and singer Jhonni Blaze, who accused him of physically abusing her. Pennel denied the accusation and accused Blaze of trying to extort money from him. Neither one said they reported their accusations to law enforcement.
Pennel's Instagram account was deactivated Thursday after unsubstantiated accounts connecting him to Guzmán's death began appearing in the Dominican press and on social media.
ESPN's Tod Robberson contributed to this report.
