Louisiana man drowns after underwater marriage proposal, girlfriend says

'You never got to hear my answer,' his girlfriend wrote on Facebook.

September 22, 2019, 4:33 PM

A Louisiana man reportedly drowned after he asked his girlfriend to marry him in an underwater proposal, she said in a social media post.

"You never emerged from those depths, so you never got to hear my answer, 'Yes! Yes! A million times, yes, I will marry you!!'" his girlfriend, Kenesha Antoine, wrote in an emotional Facebook post on Friday announcing the death.

Steven Weber Jr., of Baton Rouge, died after he appeared to swim up to meet Antoine, she said.

Antoine recorded the proposal and could be heard excitedly giggling as Weber put a note on a glass window that read, "I can’t hold my breath long enough to tell you everything I love about you but ... everything I love about you, I love more every day," according to Antoine's Facebook post.

PHOTO: Steven Weber is seen here moments before his proposal turned tragic. This image was taken from a video filmed by his fiancee Kenesha Antoine.
Steven Weber is seen here moments before his proposal turned tragic. This image was taken from a video filmed by his fiancee Kenesha Antoine.
Kenesha Antoine/Storyful

The back of the note read, "Will you please be my wife. Marry me???"

He can then be seen pulling a ring out of his pocket and, seconds after, seemingly attempts to heads back up for air, according to the girlfriend's post.

"We never got to embrace and celebrate the beginning of the rest of our lives together, as the best day of our lives turned into the worst, in the cruelest twist of fate imaginable," Antoine said.

The couple was vacationing at The Manta Resort on Pemba Island in Tanzania. The resort confirmed to ABC News that a "male guest tragically drowned while free diving alone outside the underwater room."

PHOTO: Steven Weber is seen here moments before his proposal turned tragic. This image was taken from a video filmed by his fiancee Kenesha Antoine.
Steven Weber is seen here moments before his proposal turned tragic. This image was taken from a video filmed by his fiancee Kenesha Antoine.
Kenesha Antoine/Storyful

The circumstances of his death, which the resort said was accidental, were not immediately clear.

Weber's sister, Mandy Hoffman, released a statement late Sunday.

“Steven has had a very interesting life and a lot of ups and downs but he always and will always hold such a special place in the heart of so many people. He just had this infectious smile and he really played a significant role in helping people through the recovery process. His loss and his passing is going to create a void in our lives that we will ever be able to fill,” the statement began.

“Steven has been at the lowest point of his life, a low point that anyone could ever experience, and never at one point did he expect anyone to feel sorry for him or to pity him and these past few years on his life have been the happiest years of his life and even on his darkest day he had a smile on his face. He did everything to encourage everyone around him to be happy and to be the best person that they could be and that is a true testament to who he was,” said Hoffman in the rest of her statement.

According to Hoffman, the family does not yet have Weber's autopsy results and won't know until Monday when his body is going to be brought home.

Said Hoffman: "We are really desperately wanting the timeline so we can determine when we are going to get him back home because that is our most important priority… getting him back home to be with us so we can all be with him and grieve appropriately.”

"Our sincerest condolences, thoughts and prayers are with his girlfriend, families and friends impacted by this tragic accident," the resort Weber was staying at said in a statement.

The U.S. State Department confirmed "the death of a U.S. citizen in Tanzania" in a statement to ABC News.

"We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance," a State Department spokesperson said. "Out of respect tot he family during this difficult time, we have no further comment."

ABC News' Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.