Obama family chef’s drowning ruled accident

The drowning of Tafari Campbell, the Obama family’s former chef, was ruled an accident by the Massachusetts medical examiner, according to state officials.

Massachusetts State Police confirmed Campbell, 45, drowned near the Obama family’s home on Martha’s Vineyard after his body was found July 24 in Edgartown Great Pond. 

According to police, Campbell, originally from Dumfries, Va., was visiting the Obama family’s Martha’s Vineyard home at the time of his death. Neither former President Obama nor former first lady Michelle Obama was home at the time of the incident, police said. 

Timothy McGuirk, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, told The Associated Press that Campbell’s death was determined to be an accidental drowning following “submersion in a body of water.”   

Police said they used side-scan sonar from a boat to help find Campbell’s body, which was located around 100 feet from the shore at a depth of about 8 feet. He was not wearing a life jacket, police said. 

In a previous statement obtained by The Hill, the Obamas said Campbell was a “beloved part” of their family.

“That’s why, when we were getting ready to leave the White House, we asked Tafari to stay with us, and he generously agreed,” the Obamas said in their statement. “He’s been a part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he’s gone.” 

Campbell is survived by his wife and the couple’s twin boys, according to a previous statement from the Obamas. 

The Hill reached out to Obama’s spokesperson, the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security for comment. 

The Associated Press contributed.