NFL free agent Michael Pennel Jr. is a person of interest in the homicide investigation of a woman whose body was found buried on a property he owned in the Dominican Republic at the time of her disappearance in 2021, two sources close to the case told ESPN.
The remains of Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche, who was 22 when she went missing, were discovered in January while a worker dug a trench on the property in a gated community in Sosúa, a northern coastal tourist town in Puerto Plata province. The body was identified only recently through DNA testing that compared it to a sample from Guzmán’s now-8-year-old son, authorities said. The national attorney general’s office has reopened the case as a homicide investigation, which remains in its early stages. No charges have been filed.
Guzmán was last heard from on Sept. 5, 2021, and was declared missing eight days later on Sept. 13, after she had recently moved to Sosúa. At the time, Pennel owned the property where the body was later found. He sold the home last year.
Pennel, 34, a defensive lineman who played last season for the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals and is now an unrestricted free agent, has denied any involvement. In a text message response to ESPN, he called the report “fake news.”
“This isn’t a story. I’m not legally involved. This is fake news being reported,” Pennel wrote. “I’d advise you to speak with my agent/lawyer … before writing a false story. Damaging my reputation.” He told ESPN on Saturday morning that he has not been contacted by Dominican authorities.
His Dominican attorney, Alexander Valbuena, said Pennel has directed his legal team to offer full cooperation with authorities.
“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. The attorney added that Pennel did not know Guzmán and was not in the Dominican Republic at the time of her disappearance.
Timeline Raises Questions About Possible Involvement
Establishing a clear timeline is complicated by limited public information, but available details show both opportunity and counterclaims from Pennel’s side.
Guzmán disappeared in early September 2021. Pennel had been released by the Chicago Bears on Aug. 31, 2021, and signed to the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad on Sept. 15 — two days after Guzmán was reported missing. That window between teams left him without immediate NFL obligations, though his attorney maintains he was not in the country during that period.
The property link is direct: Pennel owned the Sosúa home when Guzmán vanished, and her body was buried there. He sold the property in 2025, before the January discovery. Authorities interviewed “foreigners” during the initial missing-person search and have done so again since the remains were identified, but no other persons of interest have been publicly named.
Pennel’s representatives stress he has had no contact with investigators in the current phase of the probe and is eager to clear his name.
Guzmán’s grandmother, Paula González, told ESPN she had no idea why her granddaughter might have been at the property. She described Guzmán as a “pretty, a student, very loving” young woman “with lots of friends” whom “everyone loved.”
The investigation continues. Dominican officials have not released a cause of death or additional details on suspects. Pennel, who has played for multiple NFL teams, including the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, and Chiefs during an 11-year career, has faced previous off-field issues, including NFL substance-abuse suspensions, but none are connected to this case.
This story is developing.
Flip the pages for photos of Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche
