WASHINGTON: Former US President Barack Obama’s personal chef Tafari Campbell’s death while paddleboarding in the Massachusetts resort community of Martha’s Vineyard resulted from an accident, a state official said Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Timothy McGuirk told the media that the cause of death was ruled as drowning and the manner of death was determined to be an accident.
The body of Tafari Campbell (45) was recovered from a lake on the island last month. He was the subject of a two-day search after a paddleboarder was seen struggling and going under the water in Edgartown Great Pond near a home owned by President Obama in late July. According to the state police, the Obamas were not present at the time of his death.
The former US president and his wife, Michelle Obama said last month that Campbell had been a sous chef at the White House and came to work for the family after Obama completed his second term in 2017. Campbell leaves behind his wife, Sherise, and twin sons. The deceased lived in Dumfries, Virginia.
