Ashlee Jenae fiancee, Joe McCann, Asymmetric Financial CEO held for questioning, forbidden from leaving Tanzania as investigation of lifestyle influencer’s death intensifies. Death follows the couple having an explosive argument just days after engagement. Officials have not stated the fiancee being a suspect as family continue to demand accountability and transparency after insisting daughter, Ashley Robinson (real name) was at a high and would never have killed herself. But did she?
The fiancee of a lifestyle influencer found dead in Tanzania just days after their engagement is being questioned by authorities and has been forbidden from leaving the country as the investigation into her death intensifies.
Ashlee Jenae, 31, whose real name was Ashly Robinson, was discovered unconscious in her villa at the Zuri Zanzibar Resort on April 9. The 31-year-old was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead hours later. Authorities have said the death ‘appears to be a suicide’.
However, the Tanzania Police Force announced Tuesday that her crypto CEO fiancee, Joe McCann, 45, ‘continues to be questioned,’ and that his travel documents have been withheld.
Ashlee Jenae death related to ‘explosive’ argument couple had
Police said Robinson’s death is believed to be ‘related’ to an ‘explosive’ argument the couple are alleged to have had at the resort that escalated to the point of staff intervening and moved McCann to a separate room for safety.
McCann, the founder of Asymmetric Financial, told authorities he later returned to check on Robinson with a security guard and found her hanging from a door. A hospital report listed her cause of death as cerebral hypoxia due to strangulation and suffocation.
According to police, the couple checked into their Zanzibar hotel on April 6th, with the influencer found unconscious in her hotel room two days later and pronounced dead on April 9.
Officials have indicated McCann is currently being treated as a witness and is not suspected of wrongdoing, sources told the BBC.
Lifestyle influencer family press for answers as they demand to know how she came to die
Robinson’s family, however, has raised serious concerns about the circumstances surrounding her death. They claim McCann did not notify them until roughly 11 hours after the incident and say he has been vague about what occurred.
Her parents have publicly disputed the suggestion that she took her own life, describing her death as ‘suspicious’ and calling for answers as the investigation continues.
Her sister, Alyssa Endres, said Robinson was a vibrant and positive person, and that suicide would have been ‘extremely out of character.’
‘She was beautiful inside and out, and everyone who knew her knew that,’ Endres said. ‘All she could bring was life to everyone.’
From safari proposal to ending up in separate bedrooms
Robinson’s mother, Yolanda Denise Endres, said her daughter had been enjoying a vacation in Tanzania and appeared happy in the days leading up to her death. The influencer had traveled to the island with McCann, her boyfriend of about a year, to celebrate her birthday.
Just days earlier, McCann had proposed during a safari, a moment Robinson shared with her followers in a video showing the couple celebrating among wildlife. Her social media posts in the days before her death described the trip as ‘a dream.’
But her mother said Robinson called on April 8 to say she and her fiancee had argued and were staying in separate rooms, according to ABC 7.
The next day, Endres said McCann called to report that Robinson had ‘done something to herself’ and was being taken to the hospital, initially describing her condition as stable.
Hours later, the family learned she had died.
Ashley Robinson family demand accountability and transparency
A hospital report noted a mark on Robinson’s neck and stated she had been found hanging from a door. She was later transferred to another hospital, which confirmed her cause of death as cerebral hypoxia due to strangulation and suffocation.
Robinson, who had built a following of more than 80,000 people by sharing what she described as a ‘soft life’ centered on positivity and travel, had posted just one day before her death.
‘If this is a dream, no one wake me up,’ she wrote alongside photos from the trip.
As investigators continue to examine the case, Robinson’s family says they are seeking clarity and accountability in their daughter’s ‘sudden’ loss.
‘At this time, there is an active investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ashly’s passing,’ the family said in a statement. ‘We have many questions and are placing our trust in authorities as we search for answers.’
