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Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are mourning the loss of a staff member they considered “a truly wonderful man.” Tafari Campbell, who worked as a White House sous chef and later became the Obamas‘ chef, died on Monday, July 24, in a paddle boarding accident near the Obamas’ Katama estate in Martha’s Vineyard. He was 45.
The search started at 7:46 p.m. ET on Sunday when Martha’s Vineyard police and fire agencies responded to a 911 call for “a 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.”
Massachusetts State Police confirmed Campbell’s death to PEOPLE during a news release. According to the document, divers from Dumfries, Virginia, recovered Campbell from a pond on Edgartown Great Road shortly before 10 a.m. ET. “MSP Underwater Recovery Unit divers made a recovery after the victim’s body was located by Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers deploying side-scan sonar from a boat,” the department said in the release. The recovery was made “approximately 100 feet from shore at a depth of about eight feet.”
They also told the publication that “Mr. Campbell was visiting Martha’s Vineyard at the time of his passing. President and Mrs. Obama were not at the residence at the time of the accident.”
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama shared with the outlet a tribute to Campbell following his death. “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,” the couple said in a joint statement. “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.”
The statement continued, “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,” they concluded.
The late chef’s wife, Sherise, took to social media to ask for prayers. “My heart is broken. My life and our family’s life is forever changed. Please pray for me and our families as I deal with the loss of my husband.. @cheftafari,” she said.
The State Police Detective Unit is still investigating Campbell’s death for the Cape and Islands District and Edgartown Police.