BREAKING UPDATE: 43-Year-Old Black Man Drowns Off Obama’s Martha Vineyard Home – Obama’s Personal Chef Tafari Campbell Identified as Victim
A body of a 43-year-old paddle boarder was found in a pond on Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard mansion on Sunday night.
The Chicago Sun Times identified the victim as Obama’s Chef Tafari Campbell.
Via The Sun Times:
In a statement, the Obamas said of 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 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.
“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.
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 Obama’s have been spending part of the summer in Martha’s Vineyard for years.
Obama was NOT PRESENT at the residence when Tafari drowned.
A body of a 43-year-old paddle boarder was found in a pond on Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard mansion on Sunday night.
The 911 call came from Barack Obama’s residence on Martha’s Vineyard late Sunday night.
Police were searching for a missing black male paddle boarder in Edgartown Great Pond on Sunday night.
According to reports, another paddleboarder saw the unidentified 43-year-old struggle to stay afloat on the surface before he drowned.
“After several hours of searching last night, efforts to locate the missing paddle boarder were unsuccessful and the operation was paused to allow dive teams, flight crews, and other responders to re-equip and assess next steps. Search assets are currently resuming operations at this time.” Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.
Massachusetts State Police divers have recovered the body of a 43-year-old man who had gone missing while paddleboarding in Edgartown Great Pond Sunday.
Police say the deceased was located using side scan sonar from a boat and was retrieved shortly before 10 am Monday from 8-foot-deep waters approximately 100 feet away from shore.
An investigation into the fatality is being conducted by the State Police Detective Unit for the Cape and Islands and Edgartown Police…
…Massachusetts State Police issued a press release Sunday night saying that at 7:46 pm, Martha’s Vineyard police and fire agencies responded to a call concerning an adult male paddle boarder who had gone into the water, appeared to briefly struggle to stay on the surface, and then submerged and did not resurface. First responders were dispatched to former President Barack Obama’s Katama estate.
Officers had been dispatched to the residence for a “possible drowning” of an African American male who’d gone missing while out paddleboarding. He was last seen wearing all black without a life preserver.
The individual’s paddle board and hat were recovered Sunday evening.
Police say that another paddle boarder was on the pond with him at the time and observed him go under the water.
The command center, from where staging operations are taking place, has been moved from Turkeyland Cove Road to Wilson’s Landing. Police are asking the public to avoid the Great Pond area.