The body of the former White House sous chef who worked for former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle was recovered Monday in waters near their Martha’s Vineyard estate. The Massachusetts police reported. Tafari Campbell, 45, known as one of the chefs who brewed the White House honey beer while Obama was in office — using honey from Michelle Obama’s famed South Lawn garden — went to work for the former “first couple” at the end of the president’s term.
In a statement, the Obamas said he was one of the top chefs in the White House kitchen: “Tafari was a beloved part of our family. When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef: creative and passionate about food and his ability to bring people together. In the years that have followed, we have come to know him as a warm, funny, extraordinarily kind person who has made our lives a little brighter. That’s why, when we were preparing to leave the White House, we asked Tafari to stay with us, and he generously agreed. He has been a part of our lives ever since and our hearts are broken that he is gone. Today we join all who knew and loved him — especially his wife Sherise and their 19-year-old twin boys, Xavier and Savin — in mourning the loss of a truly wonderful man.
The Obamas have been spending part of the summer on Martha’s Vineyard for years. Massachusetts State Police said Campbell was from Dumfries, Virginia and was visiting Martha’s Vineyard at the time of his death. President and Mrs. Obama were not in the residence at the time of the incident. Authorities began searching the waters near Obama’s home after receiving reports of a paddle boarder (those who practice Stand Up Paddling: born as a variant of surfing, it involves the use of a larger and more voluminous board capable of supporting the weight of the athlete, who uses a special paddle for movement and propulsion, ed.) who disappeared on Sunday.
Campbell’s body, found shortly after 10 a.m. Monday, was recovered from the Edgartown Great Pond by Massachusetts State Police divers. The men made the recovery after Campbell’s body was located by Massachusetts Environmental Police officers “by deploying side-scan sonar from a boat.” Police also said Campbell was found “just over a hundred feet from shore at a depth of about eight feet.”
The search began Sunday at 7:46 p.m. local time, when Martha’s Vineyard Police and Firefighters responded to a call about a “male paddle boarder who entered the water and appeared to be struggling to stay on the surface, then submerged and did not reappear.” … Another paddle boarder was in the pond with him at the time and saw him go underwater. Campbell never resurfaced.