New Jersey Family Demands Answers Following Woman’s Mysterious Death During Zanzibar Vacation

PHILADELPHIA — The tragic death of a New Jersey woman in Zanzibar, Tanzania, has garnered international attention as her family seeks clarity and answers regarding the circumstances surrounding her passing.

Ashly Robinson’s parents have expressed frustration over the lack of clear communication from Tanzanian authorities and her fiancé, leaving them in the dark about the events that led to their daughter’s untimely death.

“Our beloved Ashly is no longer with us, and we are desperately seeking to understand why,” said her mother, Yolanda Denise Endres, voicing the family’s distress.

Her father, Harry Robinson, shared his emotional turmoil, stating, “There’s so much uncertainty and mystery. I’m filled with anger and sadness; it’s as if a part of me has been stolen away.”

The family revealed that Robinson, who was celebrated online as Ashlee Jenae for her work as an influencer and content creator, had been in Zanzibar to celebrate her 31st birthday on April 5. She was accompanied by her boyfriend of one year, who had proposed just two days prior.

“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.

Less than a week later, she was dead. Her mother said Robinson called on April 8 to say she and her fiancé had argued and were moved to separate rooms.

The next day, Endres said she received a call from the fiancé.

“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 said. “I said what happened, and he told me, it had been 11 hours prior.”

Hours later, the hotel where the couple was staying notified the family that Robinson had died.

According to a hospital medical report, Robinson had an unidentified mark around her neck. The report states that her fiancé “found she hung herself on the door.”

“Sometimes Joe went back to the room with security, and that’s how they found her,” said the woman’s father.

Robinson was later taken to a second hospital, which listed her cause of death as cerebral hypoxia by strangulation and suffocation.

“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.

The family says they have contacted police, the consulate, and the embassy, but have not received additional information beyond confirmation that the death remains under investigation. They have also requested surveillance footage from the resort.

“She was loved. She was not just going to be discarded and forgotten about,” Endres said.

The family says they are considering traveling to Zanzibar to seek answers. Attempts to contact Robinson’s fiancé, the resort and the embassy were unsuccessful.