Nearly one month after influencer Ashlee Jenae was found dead in Zanzibar, her fiancé is finally coming home. Joe McCann passport returned news broke Thursday when Tanzanian authorities handed back his travel documents. The Ashlee Jenae fiancé investigation kept McCann in East Africa for weeks as he cooperated with local police.
The 45-year-old voluntarily surrendered his American passport the day after his fiancée’s death. Tanzanian authorities returned the actual document, not a new replacement, on Thursday. Despite circulating online rumors, McCann was never arrested. His lawyer confirmed he stayed fully cooperative throughout the process.
The couple had been vacationing in Zanzibar, celebrating Jenae’s 31st birthday. Days earlier, McCann proposed during a safari. Then came a heated argument that got them separated into different rooms by hotel staff. Hours later, Jenae was found unconscious. Local authorities have ruled her death a suicide, but her family refuses to accept that conclusion.
With passport in hand and permission to leave granted, McCann will return to an “undisclosed location” on U.S. soil. His lawyer, Edward Andrew Paltzik, confirmed authorities authorized the departure.
The timing is significant. McCann missed Jenae’s funeral entirely. Her parents, Yolanda Endres and Harry Robinson, barred him from the Second Baptist Church service in Paulsboro, New Jersey. They have not spoken to him since their daughter’s death.
Days before getting his passport back, McCann broke his silence in a lengthy public statement. He called Jenae his “best friend, confidante and fiancé” and described her death as “an incomprehensible tragedy.” He remembered her as a nurturing presence who dreamed of becoming a mother.
The family is conducting an independent autopsy, unconvinced by the suicide ruling. Jenae’s engagement ring and other personal belongings have still not been returned. For now, McCann heads home while questions remain—and a family keeps pushing for answers that don’t yet exist.
