ESPN has done something it rarely ever does.
On June 18, ESPN posted a new story regarding free-agent defensive lineman Mike Pennel and a murder investigation in the Dominican Republic. Among other things, the story cited unnamed sources to support the notion that Pennel knew the woman whose remains were found on property he previously owned. ESPN has now deleted the story and posted an item with this title: “ESPN update to Michael Pennel Jr. story.”
Here’s the full text of the update: “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. 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.”
(Frankly, that’s not an “update” — it’s a full-blown retraction.)
The statement posted by attorney Brian Wainger says that “Mr. Pennel had nothing to do with the death or disappearance of Ms. Roche and was never a suspect or person of interest in that investigation. He did not know her.”
The statement also explains that “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.”
Wainger writes that “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.”
“Mr. Pennel’s Dominican attorney, Cesar A. Duran, never told anyone he expected Mr. Pennel to be arrested,” Wainger adds. “Mr. Pennel owned but never lived in the property where the remains of Ms. Roche were found. 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.”
It’s a stunning development. ESPN deleted an entire story, and it has publicly acknowledged that the story “contained errors.”
A link to the update currently appears on the front page of the ESPN website, near the bottom of the list of headlines along the right rail. As of this posting, there’s no mention of it anywhere on the ESPN NFL home page, which scrolls all the way down to the report from the middle of May that the Chiefs and Broncos will play in the first Monday night game of the 2026 season.
We had posted an item on ESPN’s now-deleted Pennel report. Given ESPN’s deletion of the item, our article has been deactivated and the corresponding tweet has been deleted.
A 12-year veteran, Pennel played 2025 for the Chiefs and the Bengals.
Read the full article here
