Fatal Underwater Proposal Wasn't Drowning: Sister

The sister of a Louisiana man who died while proposing to his girlfriend last week isn't convinced he really drowned, the New York Post reports. "This is all we keep talking about," says Mandy Hoffman. "Something other happened besides him running out of breath." Her late brother, Steven Weber, proposed while swimming outside a submerged-bedroom window at their Tanzania resort—but didn't emerge to hear his girlfriend's "I do." The autopsy has been completed but remains under wraps in Tanzania, which leaves the family wondering what happened to the "strong" swimmer. Hoffman also reveals more about the tragic proposal to girlfriend Kenesha Antoine, telling KSLA he "asked her to start videoing, and he ran back upstairs, jumped in, made the proposal."

Antoine then "ran back up to the top to go meet him, and he just never returned." So she jumped in the water and shouted for help, attracting boaters who brought Weber back up. "He had a slight pulse whenever they brought him, but they tried to do CPR and they just couldn't bring him back," says Hoffman. Whatever happened, Weber's intense romanticism shines through: "He's a romantic," says his sister. "And I know in his mind, this was the best way to do this. So that Kenesha could have this memory forever. And I hate that this is the memory that she's going to have." Hoffman has posted a GoFundMe page that's raised over $22,000 for Weber's burial expenses. The funeral is scheduled for next Tuesday in Baton Rouge, per WAFB. (See video of Weber's proposal.)