Overjoyed internet star, 31, shared video of her boyfriend proposing to her on paradise island of Zanzibar... six days later she died in mysterious circumstances

By LAURA PARNABY, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 17:17, 14 April 2026 | Updated: 17:28, 14 April 2026 A beloved internet star has died just two days after her boyfriend proposed to her during what she described as a 'dream' vacation in Zanzibar.  Popular lifestyle influencer Ashly Robinson was reported dead on April 9 while holidaying on the island off east Africa, according to her family.   The New Jersey native, who goes by Ashlee Jenae on social media, got engaged to her boyfriend Joe McCann during a safari on April 3, as chronicled in a jubilant video shared with her 110,000 Instagram followers.  Footage shows McCann getting down on one knee before they kissed and held hands while walking among giraffes, zebra and wild cats on the animal tour.  Less than a week later, she was found dead. McCann said Robinson hung herself on a door in the hotel, while a hospital listed her cause of death as cerebral hypoxia by strangulation and suffocation.  Nobody has been arrested or charged in connection to the death. Her heartbroken relatives are demanding answers.  'My daughter Ashly, she's no longer here with us, and we're trying to find out why,' her mother, Yolanda Denise Endres, told ABC13.  'Uncertainty. Mystery. Anger. Sadness. It's like a part of me has been taken,' her father, Harry Robinson, added.  Beloved internet star Ashly Robinson has died just two days after her boyfriend proposed to her while on a dream vacation in Zanzibar, an island off the coast of east Africa The influencer's boyfriend Joe McCann proposed to her during a safari days before she died The devastated parents said their daughter had been traveling with her boyfriend of one year and appeared to be having the time of her life on the island off Tanzania.  'She was starting the next chapter of her life. She called us to FaceTime us to share with us her travel and her vacation,' Endres said. Robinson's social media posts echoed the same sentiment.  'Chapter 31 and I'm exactly where I need to be,' she wrote on her final post dated April 7, after describing her vacation as 'a dream' three days prior.  But her mother said she called on April 8 to tell her parents that she had argued with her fiancé, and they had moved to separate rooms.  The next day, Endres said she received a disturbing call from McCann.  'He told me that Ashly did something to herself and she was being taken to the hospital, and he told me she was stable,' Endres told ABC13.  'I said what happened, and he told me, it had been 11 hours prior.'  Robinson was reported dead on April 9 while holidaying on the island off east Africa The New Jersey native, who goes by Ashlee Jenae on social media, got engaged to her boyfriend Joe McCann during a safari on April 3, as shown in a jubilant video shared with her 110,000 Instagram followers. The newly-engaged couple is shown above days before she died New Jersey influencer Ashly Robinson was reported dead on April 9 while holidaying with her fiancé on the island off east Africa, according to her family Several hours later, the hotel where the couple had been staying broke the devastating news that Robinson had died.  A hospital report seen by ABC13 stated that Robinson had a mark on her neck, and that her fiancé had 'found she hung herself on the door'.  Robinson was later taken to another hospital later, which listed her cause of death as cerebral hypoxia by strangulation and suffocation.  Endres said there were no signs that her daughter would have taken her own life.  '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.  'She was loved. She was not just going to be discarded and forgotten about,' the heartbroken mother added. The family said they are considering traveling to Zanzibar to seek answers, as police have not given any information beyond confirming the death.  Nobody has been arrested or charged in connection with Robinson's passing.  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.