Featured Image Credit: White House / PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Barack Obama, US News
Emily Brown
Topics: Barack Obama, US News
The cause of death for Barack Obama's personal chef has been confirmed after he died last month.
Tafari Campbell, 45, passed away in Martha's Vineyard on 23 July, years after he first started working for Obama during his time in the White House.
When the then-president was getting ready to leave the White House in 2017, the Obamas asked Campbell to keep working for them because they considered him part of the family.
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The Obamas have a residence on Martha's Vineyard, but they were not at the home when Campbell went to visit the area last month, MSP said in a statement.
While there, the chef went paddle boarding at Edgartown Great Pond before being spotted struggling in the water by a passerby who could not reach him in time.
Campbell was then reported missing and searchers spent hours trying to track him down, but it wasn't until the following morning that his body was recovered approximately 100 feet from shore, at a depth of about eight feet.
Massachusetts State Police (MSP) commented: "MSP Underwater Recovery Unit divers made the recovery after the victim’s body was located by Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers deploying side-scan sonar from a boat."
After Campbell's body was recovered, an autopsy was conducted to determine his cause of death.
Timothy McGuirk, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, announced this week that Campbell was determined to have died by accidental drowning due to submersion in a body of water.
McGuirk told The Washington Post that Massachusetts does not release autopsy results publicly, but said the chief medical examiner ruled Campbell's death an accident.
The Obamas paid tribute to Campbell after news of his death emerged last month, saying he was a 'beloved part' of their 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," they 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."
In a post shared on his personal Instagram page, the former president wrote: "Tafari Campbell showed us what true character looks like. He believed that actions speak louder than words. And he used his immense gifts to bring people together, provide comfort, and spread joy. I’ll miss him every day."
Campbell had studied the culinary arts at Northern Virginia Community College. He is survived by his wife Sherise Campbell, and adult twin sons, Xavier and Savin.
