EDGARTOWN, MASS. (WHDH) - A chef for the family of Former President Barack Obama has been identified as the man whose body was found in a pond on Martha’s Vineyard after going missing while paddleboarding on Sunday, state police said.
State police spokesperson David Procopio said divers helped bring the body of Tafari Campbell to shore around 10 a.m. Monday.
The recovery came after another paddleboarder told officials they saw Campbell go under the water at Edgartown Great Pond on Sunday evening.
Procopio said divers recovered Campbell’s body after Massachusetts Environmental Police spotted the body using a sonar device roughly 100 feet from shore in water that was roughly eight feet deep.
Campbell, 45, was a resident of Dumfries, Virginia and was visiting Martha’s Vineyard at the time of his death, according to Procopio. Procopio said Barack and Michelle Obama were not present at their residence on the island.
Campbell was a White House sous chef during the Bush and Obama administrations. He later worked for the Obama family.
Barack and Michelle Obama issued a statement on Monday after police identified Campbell’s body, saying “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,” the statement said. “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 statement continued. “Today we join everyone who knew and loved Tafari – especially his wife Sherise and their twin boys, Xavier and Savin – in grieving the loss of a truly wonderful man.”
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