Police in the Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar are currently holding Joe McCann, the fiancé of Ashlee Jenae, after her death, according to The Citizen. The 31-year-old Miami-based lifestyle influencer was found dead in a Tanzania hotel just days after her engagement to McCann.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in Zanzibar, who also serves as the Deputy Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Zuberi Chembera, addressed the incident on Tuesday, April 14, saying that police are conducting a thorough investigation to determine the actual cause of death.
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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 the incident so far
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, including her close friend, PR executive Savannah Britt, who wrote on X, “We need justice for my friend Ashlee Jenae who was found dead in her hotel in Tanzania and her fiance Joe McCann claims she hung herself. Anyone who knows Ash knows she would NEVER commit suicide. We need answers now!”
