( 📸: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza )
Cousins! A former White House employee and personal chef to President Barack Obama has tragically passed away following a reported paddle-boarding incident!
Tafari Campbell was reported missing on Sunday evening around 7:45 PM within the Edgartown Great Pond area says Massachusetts State Police. Sadly, his body was recovered by divers around 10 AM the following morning.
Reports read that the 45-year-old’s body had been discovered in approximately 8 feet of water nearly 100 feet from the shore. According to CBS News, officials were contacted after a witness reported a paddleboarder had gone underwater as they struggled at the surface. Another eyewitness explained that the boarder failed to resurface after a while.
Authorities were able to locate Tafari’s body by using a side scan sonar.
The Obama family issued a shared statement following Tafari’s tragic death.
“Tafari was a beloved part of our family,” said the Obamas in their statement. “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.”
Sources state that Tafari remained with the Obama family after they left the White House as they had asked him to stay with them and he had agreed.
“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.”
Tafari had been visiting Martha’s Vineyard at the time of his untimely death. The Obama were not at the Vineyard residence at the time of the accident.
According to CNN, The State Police Detective Unit for the Cape and Islands District and Edgartown Police are investigating Campbell’s death, state police said.