ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA — A 31-year-old New Jersey social media influencer was found dead in her hotel room at a luxury resort in Zanzibar days after her fiancé proposed during what was supposed to be a dream birthday vacation.
Ashly Robinson, known online as Ashlee Jenae to her 119,000 Instagram followers, died April 9 at the Zuri Zanzibar resort after hotel staff found her unresponsive in her villa. Her death came just hours after she and her fiancé Joseph McCann were separated by hotel staff following a heated argument that other guests reported as a domestic disturbance. Tanzanian police have confiscated McCann’s passport while they continue investigating the circumstances of Robinson’s death, though officials say he is not currently a suspect. The case has left Robinson’s family demanding answers about what they call a “suspicious passing” that has transformed their daughter’s celebration of love and life into their “worst nightmare.”
Robinson and McCann had checked into the luxury resort April 6 to celebrate her 31st birthday during what her family believed was part of her dream job as a lifestyle influencer. McCann proposed to Robinson on her birthday April 5, with video on her Instagram page showing hugs and kisses after the proposal. Her final Instagram post, published April 5, showed her feeding a giraffe surrounded by rose petals spelling “HBD Ashlee” with the caption “Chapter 31 and I’m exactly where I need to be.” “She was starting the next chapter of her life. She called us to FaceTime us to share with us her travel and her vacation,” Robinson’s mother Yolanda Denise Endres told ABC News. But the celebration quickly turned tragic when Robinson called her mother April 8 to report she and McCann had argued and were moved to separate rooms by hotel staff.
Zanzibar deputy police commissioner Zuberi Chembela confirmed that hotel staff alerted authorities to a “romantic conflict” between Robinson and McCann on the night of April 8 after other guests reported the domestic disturbance. North Unguja Regional Police Commander Benedict Mapujira said staff intervened and moved McCann to a different villa about 8-10 minutes walking distance from Robinson’s room. Robinson was found unresponsive in her room “about two or three hours” later by hotel staff, according to police. McCann called Endres on April 9 telling her that Robinson “did something to herself and she was being taken to the hospital,” and that “she was stable,” Endres said. Robinson was taken to a local hospital, then transferred to another facility before being declared dead on April 9. A hospital report indicated McCann told medical staff he found Robinson after she had hanged herself on a door, according to her mother.
Police initially said they were investigating Robinson’s death as a possible suicide, but officials have not issued a confirmed ruling on the cause of death. The results of a medical examination remain pending, and an autopsy was expected to be completed this week. Robinson’s parents spent Tuesday in Washington, D.C., trying to obtain information from the embassy after saying they were getting nowhere in earlier attempts to learn what happened. “No one wants to talk to us. Just let us know what happened, that’s the only thing we want to know is the truth,” Robinson’s father Harry Robinson said. The family has received no confirmed information from authorities about the cause of death. “There is nothing that is confirmed. We don’t have anything from the police or law enforcement that states there is a conclusion to anything. It’s under investigation, and it’s under investigation because it doesn’t look right,” Endres said.
Robinson was originally from Woolwich, New Jersey, and had moved to Miami to pursue her career as a lifestyle influencer, sharing travel adventures and life updates with her substantial social media following. Her parents described her as happy and said nothing in her behavior suggested she would harm herself. “She’s never done anything that would ever ever lead me to believe that she would do something to harm herself like that. She was happy,” Endres said. The family is now pushing for security footage from the Zuri Zanzibar hotel to verify McCann’s account of events. “If there’s security footage, that would tell the story. So we just want to know if there’s any security footage, if there’s anything, just to say his story is true,” Harry Robinson said. The hotel provided a brief statement saying it was “deeply saddened by a tragic incident involving one of our guests” and was cooperating with local authorities and the U.S. Embassy.
The investigation continues as Robinson’s family prepares to fly to Zanzibar to seek answers in person about their daughter’s death. McCann remains in Tanzania while police continue questioning him as a witness, and authorities have not announced any charges in the case. The U.S. State Department confirmed the death of an American citizen in Zanzibar and said it offers “sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones on their loss,” but declined further comment citing privacy considerations. “She was loved. She was not just going to be discarded and forgotten about,” Endres said. Attempts to reach McCann for comment have been unsuccessful, and it remains unclear whether he has retained an attorney. The family says they will continue pushing for transparency as the investigation proceeds, with Harry Robinson stating, “I just know I need to keep moving forward. I’m never going to give up. I just want the truth out there.”
The case remains under active investigation as Tanzanian authorities work to establish the cause of death and examine all events leading up to the incident. Robinson’s family continues working with U.S. embassy officials and local authorities while awaiting the results of the pending medical examination that could provide crucial answers about how their daughter died during what should have been a celebration of her engagement and new chapter in life.
