The Massachusetts medical examiner has determined that the death by drowning of former President Barack Obama’s personal chef last month near the family’s home on Martha’s Vineyard was an accident.
According to the Massachusetts State Police, Tafari Campbell, 45, of Dumfries, Virginia, drowned on July 24 while paddleboarding in Edgartown Great Pond.
The Obamas employed Campbell, who was in residence on Martha’s Vineyard. At the time of the incident, the Obamas weren’t at home.
Following “submersion in a body of water,” Campbell’s death was judged to be an unintentional drowning, according to Timothy McGuirk, a spokesman for the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who made the announcement on Wednesday.
In a statement released after Campbell drowned, the former president and his wife, Michelle Obama, referred to Campbell as a “beloved part of our family.”
The pair recalled that when they first met him, he was a skilled sous chef working at the White House. He was imaginative and passionate about food and its capacity to unite people. We got to know him as a warm, jovial, incredibly kind person in the years that followed, making all of our lives a little bit brighter.
Because of this, we begged Tafari to join us as we left the White House, and he graciously accepted. Since then, he has been a part of our lives, and his passing has shattered our hearts.
Campbell reportedly battled on the water’s surface, submerged, and vanished without being seen, according to a fellow paddleboarder.
Campbell’s body was discovered by state police using sonar from a boat, they claimed, some 100 feet (30 meters) off the shore at a depth of roughly 8 feet (2.4 meters). Police reported that Campbell was not donning a life jacket.
Campbell’s wife and their twin boys, according to the Obamas, are his only heirs.
Following Campbell’s passing, a flurry of unfounded rumors and conspiracy theories about what transpired were disseminated on social media.