Mike Pennel is person of interest in Dominican Republic death | Report
Mike Pennel, who played for the Bengals in 2025, is a person of interest in the case of a missing woman who died in the Dominican Republic, per ESPN.
Defensive tackle Mike Pennel , who played in eight games for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2025 season, is considered a person of interest in a case involving the death of a woman missing in the Dominican Republic since 2021, according to a report by ESPN's TJ Quinn and Juan Recio . The report adds that the woman's body was discovered earlier in 2026 on a property that Pennel owned at the time she disappeared. An attorney for Pennel said the player did not know the woman and was not in the country at the time she disappeared, according to Quinn and Recio.
In a text message response to ESPN, Pennel called the story "fake news. " Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche was 22 when she was declared missing Sept. 13, 2021, according to the report.
After the Bengals released Pennel last October, the Kansas City Chiefs signed him one day later. Pennel had 15 tackles in the eight games in which he played for Cincinnati, which had signed Pennel to the active roster off the practice squad in September. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mike Pennel is person of interest in Dominican Republic death | Report