The Obamas’ chef, Tafari Campbell, perished in a paddle boarding accident close to the former first family’s Massachusetts home at Martha’s Vineyard.
Tafari Campbell was reported missing on Sunday during his paddleboarding trip and authorities retrieved his lifeless body from Edgartown Great Pond on Monday morning. According to reports by authorities, at about 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, Martha’s Vineyard police and fire departments responded to a complaint of a missing male paddleboarder on Edgartown Great Pond, a coastal pond close to Turkeyland Cove.
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Witnesses at the scene say they noticed Mr. Campbell struggling to stay afloat before he disappeared under the water never to be seen alive again. Several people struggled to search for the paddle boarder on Sunday evening and he was eventually located on Monday morning.
In a published press release, the Massachusetts State Police said that Mr. Campbell’s body was found approximately 100 feet from shore at a depth of about eight feet and retrieved at around 10 a.m. The press release also notes that the victim’s body was discovered by a Massachusetts Environmental Police Officer using side-scan sonar deployed from a boat which prompted the MSP Underwater Recovery Unit divers to complete the recovery. The police have launched an investigation as to what led to the untimely death of the talented paddle boarder.
Barack and Michelle Obama have released a statement to express their grief after losing the 45-year-old chef. The Obamas have said that Tafari Campbell had become a part of their family and their hearts are broken by the unfortunate incident.
Tafari was a beloved part of our family. When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House — creative and passionate about food and its ability to bring people together. In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter. That’s why, when we were getting ready to leave the White House, we asked Tafari to stay with us, and he generously agreed. He’s been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he’s gone.
The Obamas’ Statement on Tafari Campbell’s Death
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The former first family also consoled with the chef’s family in grieving the death of Mr. Campbell.
