Zuberi Chembera, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Zanzibar, who also serves as the Deputy Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI), has provided an update on the cause of death of Ashlee Jenae, a 31-year-old Miami-based lifestyle influencer who was found dead in a Tanzania hotel just days after her engagement. Police in the Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar are currently holding her fiancé, Joe McCann, according to The Citizen.
Chembera addressed the incident on Tuesday, April 14, saying that police are conducting a thorough investigation to determine Ashlee’s actual cause of death. Joe’s passport has also been “withheld,” the local police said in a statement, according to the BBC. He is understood to be speaking to police as a witness.
What we know about Ashlee Jenae’s cause of death
Chembera refuted rumors surfacing on social media that Ashlee’s cause of death was strangulation. He clarified that the documents circulating online are not official, and were not issued by relevant authorities.
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Chembera further said that the investigation is still underway and Ashlee’s family is involved in the process, which includes the dispatch of representatives from the Coroner’s office, authorized by the Embassy and the victim’s family, to assist in the investigation.
The investigation is being carried out in collaboration with other investigative bodies. A post-mortem examination of Ashlee’s body is being done at Lumumba Hospital in Unguja.
Chembera said that the hotel management had received a report from a guest in room number 24, saying they heard an altercation coming from room number 25, where Joe and Ashlee were staying. The disturbance prompted the management to decide to shift Joe to room number 65, located about an eight-minute walk from their original room.
Before the incident, Ashlee has reportedly requested a charging cable from a hotel employee because she faced issues with her own. The employee was asked to return after ten minutes, and when he did, he found Ashlee hanging from a clothesline. She was rushed to a hospital, where she died.
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Ashlee’s Tanzania trip was meant to celebrate her 31st birthday and her recent engagement to Joe, with whom she shared several photos on Instagram. She was found dead at the Serval Wildlife Resort in Tanzania, following which Joe said that Tanzanian authorities determined she died by hanging and have characterized the death as a suicide.
Ashlee’s loved ones have rejected the suicide claim, with her parents saying her death in Tanzania “doesn’t make any sense.”
