Fiancé of influencer found dead in Zanzibar days after engagement is held for questioning as it emerges they had explosive fight before her death

Published: 22:47, 15 April 2026 | Updated: 22:57, 15 April 2026 The fiancée of a lifestyle influencer found dead in Zanzibar just days after she got engaged is being held for questioning. Ashlee Jenae – real name Ashly Robinson – was found unconscious in her villa at the Zuri Zanzibar resort on April 9 and was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was confirmed dead hours later. Tanzanian authorities have said it appears she died by suicide, but on Tuesday, the Tanzania Police Force announced that her fiancée, Joe McCann, 45, 'continued to be questioned by the Police Force and his travel document has been withheld.' They then claimed the influencer's death is 'related' to a fight the newly-engaged couple had at the resort - that became so volatile that staff members moved McCann to a separate room 'for their safety.' McCann, a crypto founder, then said he returned with a security guard to check up on Robinson, and found her hanging from a door.  Robinson's parents, though, have claimed McCann only alerted them to the tragedy 11 hours later, and has continued to be vague about what happened in the days since. They have publicly disputed claims that Robinson would take her own life, as Savannah Britt, a public relations executive and close friend of the deceased, wrote on social media: 'Anyone who knows Ash knows she would NEVER commit suicide.  Ashlee Jenae – real name Ashly Robinson – was found unconscious in her villa at the Zuri Zanzibar resort and was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was later confirmed dead The influencer had travelled to Zanzibar with her fiancé, Joe McCann, 45, to celebrate her birthday. He is now being questioned about her death Robinson had accrued over 80,000 followers on Instagram by documenting what she called a 'soft life' philosophy of positivity, as reported by NeedToKnow. She also often shared loved up photos of herself and her fiancé McCann to her social media. The influencer documented their lavish life together, which appeared to include frequent vacations. She had jetted to the holiday destination with her fiancé Joe McCann to celebrate her birthday on April 5. McCann, the founder of crypto fund Asymmetric Financial, had also proposed to her during a safari on the trip.  In her final post, she wrote: 'Chapter 31 and I'm exactly where I need to be.' Before their trip, the couple enjoyed front row seats to a Portland Trail Blazers as well as a ski trip to Bend, Oregon. Robinson celebrated her one-year anniversary with McCann on November 3. 'Chapter 31 and I’m exactly where i need to be,' she captioned one upload which showed her kissing McCann Robinson shared numerous photos of her relationship with Joe McCann on her social media At the time, she documented their milestone with a photograph of them standing together in front of a body of water. She captioned the post: '365 down. Here's to forever.' One day before her death, Robinson uploaded photos and video footage of their Zanzibar vacation. 'If this is a dream, no one wake me up,' she captioned one carousel which showed her and McCann posing for among zebras. Following the news of Robinson's death, her social media pages were flooded with tributes. Commenting underneath her final Instagram post, uploaded on April 5, one said: 'My heart is broken hearing what happened. 'I was just congratulating you a few days ago, this doesn't feel real.'  Another wrote: 'May you rest in peace Ashlee. May God bring justice and peace to you and your family. Such a bright and beautiful light inside and out.' A third penned: 'Rest in peace, my friend I told you that I wanted to meet you, but I will miss you dearly. RIP, my friend, your life was taken too short.'  This is a breaking news story and will be updated. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.