ESPN Retracts Article About NFL Player And Dead Woman In Dominican Republic

On June 18, ESPN published a report that connected NFL free agent Mike Pennel Jr. to the death of a woman in the Dominican Republic. This week, the network retracted the article and issued a brief statement. The article, bylined by T.J. Quinn and Juan Recio, claimed that Pennel had "an ongoing relationship" with Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche, who disappeared in 2021 and whose body was discovered in January 2026 on Pennel's property in Puerto Plata. The original report, which has since been deleted but can be found at an archived link, cited "interviews with people close to the victim and police records." Also mentioned in the piece were LeAndre Kemont Jefferson and Tyree Lamont Davis, two of Pennel's friends. In the original article, Pennel denied any connection to Guzmán and said he wasn't in the Dominican Republic at the time. He also added this: