Zanzibar – Police here have said American lifestyle influencer Ashly Robinson, who was widely known online as Ashlee Jenae, died after what officers described as a suicide attempt at a hotel in Nungwi, in the north of Unguja.
North Unguja Police Commander Benedict Mapujira said Robinson allegedly used a piece of cloth from her dress to hang herself inside a wardrobe on Thursday, April 9, 2026, and died in the hospital on Friday, April 10, after she was found alive and taken for treatment.
The statement is the most detailed official account yet issued in a case that has attracted international attention.
Mapujira said investigators had found no immediate sign of criminality and that Robinson’s fiancé had not been detained, saying the circumstances outlined by police did not justify legal action.
According to police, Robinson and her fiancé had initially been staying in the same room before hotel management separated them after a disagreement.
Mapujira said staff at the resort later alerted Nungwi Police Station because a guest appeared to be at risk of suicide, and that Robinson was still alive when the incident was reported.
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Robinson was a 31-year-old US citizen described in published reports as a Miami-based lifestyle influencer, while relatives in American media reports also linked her to Woolwich, New Jersey.
Online reports say she had travelled to Zanzibar to celebrate her birthday on April 5, and became engaged during a safari trip with her fiancé, Joe McCann.
That chronology has sharpened public interest in the case. In a joint statement, Robinson’s relatives described her death as sudden and devastating, saying: “One moment she was celebrating love and life in truly Ashly fashion, and the next, she was gone.”
Accounts carried in US media have broadly matched the timeline outlined by police, while placing greater emphasis on unresolved questions.
Robinson reportedly told her mother on April 8 that she and McCann had argued and had been moved into separate rooms, and that McCann later told her mother Robinson had “done something to herself” and had been taken to the hospital.
Reports indicate that hospital paperwork listed the cause of death as cerebral hypoxia by strangulation and suffocation.
Robinson’s family has also said that self-harm would have been out of character for her, while urging the public not to circulate unverified claims as inquiries continue.
For now, however, the official position remains that police found no evidence of foul play at the scene.
Mapujira also said Robinson’s body remained in the country pending further examination before repatriation arrangements to the United States could be completed.
