Obamas’ former chef found dead near family’s Martha’s Vineyard home

Olafimihan Oshin, The Hill

Updated: Jul 24, 2023 / 06:47 PM CDT

FILE – White House Chef Tafari Campbell smiles Nov. 6, 2008, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Campbell, an employee of former President Barack Obama, has drowned near the couple’s home on Martha’s Vineyard. Massachusetts State Police confirmed that the paddleboarder whose body was recovered from Edgartown Great Pond on Monday, July 24, 2023 was Tafari Campbell, of Dumfries, Virginia. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, file)

(The Hill) — Massachusetts authorities said that the body found near former President Obama Martha’s Vineyard residence is that of the family’s former chef.

In a news release on Monday, Massachusetts State Police (MSP) said that authorities recovered the body of a missing paddleboarder from Edgartown Great Pond.

The department’s Underwater Recovery Unit divers made the recovery after a body was located by the Massachusetts Environmental Police, who found it by deploying side-scan sonar from a boat.

MSP later identified the victim as Tafari Campbell, 45, who was previously employed by the Obamas as a personal chef.

Campbell, a Dumfries, Virginia native, was visiting the family’s Martha’s Vineyard residence at the time of his death.

Authorities noted that the Obamas were not home at the time of the incident.

In a joint statement, Former President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama remembered Tafari as a “beloved part of our family,” noting the time they first met the sous chef during their time at the White House.

“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,” the Obamas said in their statement.

The Hill has reached out to the Obamas for comment.