PARIS, Oct. 1 -- South Africa's ambassador to France, Nkosinathi Emmanuel "Nathi" Mthethwa, was found dead in the courtyard of a high-rise Paris hotel on Tuesday after telling his wife the night before that he intended "to end his life," Paris' public prosecutor said, according to CNN.

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Mthethwa's wife reported him missing on Monday after last seeing him shortly before 4:30 PM, when he was scheduled to attend a cocktail party. She later received a message from him around 9:30 PM, in which he apologized and expressed his intention to take his own life, according to CNN.

Mthethwa, 58, had booked a room on the 22nd floor of the Hyatt hotel about ten days earlier and checked in at 4:30 PM on Monday. His body wa...