The former White House sous chef who drowned in Martha’s Vineyard in a paddle boarding accident knew how to swim.
Videos posted to Tafari Campbell’s Instagram page show the 45-year-old chef swimming laps in a pool earlier this year as he worked on ‘endurance’ training. One of these videos was even hash tagged #survivalskills.
Those videos came years after Campbell posted a photo of him and his wife in the ocean in Aruba, which was captioned #stillcantswim.
Campbell, a longtime sous chef for the Obamas, vanished Sunday evening while he was out with another paddleboarder on Edgartown Great Pond, Massachusetts. He was last seen struggling to stay above water.
The chef’s body was ultimately found Monday morning in the eight-foot-deep waters approximately 100 feet from shore.
Tafari Campbell, 45, drowned while paddle boarding off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard over the weekend
Videos posted to his Instagram show the sous chef knew how to swim
Campbell added that he was working on ‘endurance’ training, sharing a photo of his progress on an Apple Watch
Witnesses first told cops Sunday night that a man – later identified as Campbell – went underwater and then briefly reappeared as he struggled to stay afloat, before submerging again around 7.46pm.
The witness – who was not identified – was paddle boarding on Edgartown Great Pond with Campbell.
A massive joint-agency search was launched when a 911 call was made from the Obamas’ Martha’s Vineyard home on Turkeyland Cove Road. The former president and first lady were not at the residence at the time.
The dispatch call said: ‘Edgartown Fire and Water rescue personnel, Turkeyland Cove Road. For a 40-year-old male, possible drowning.’
In the aftermath of the call, Chief Alex Schaeffer of the Edgartown Fire Department told the Vineyard Gazette, island police and firefighters conducted door-to-door searches.
Firefighters also searched the pond’s shoreline on foot.
The search efforts resumed Monday morning for the venerated chef who was last seen wearing all black without a lifejacket.
His paddle board and hat were recovered Sunday – and his body was found at around 10am Monday.
That marks a change from 2017, when he posted this photo of him with his wife Sherise with the caption #stillcantswim
Campbell struggled to stay afloat after paddle boarding on Edgartown Great Pond, a witness told authorities. He is pictured here with his wife and two 19-year-old sons
In a statement Monday, the Massachusetts State Police said: ‘Shortly before 10 AM the body of the missing paddle boarder was recovered from Edgartown Great Pond by Massachusetts State Police divers.
‘MSP Underwater Recovery Unit divers made the recovery after the victim’s body was located by a Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers deploying side-scan sonar from a boat.
The US Coast Guard, Edgartown Fire, Air Wing, detectives and Dukes County Sheriff’s Department were all part of the rescue mission.’
A command post was later set up at Wilson’s Landing, which is across the narrow Cove from Obama’s mansion.
Just after midday, Edgartown Police Department confirmed that Wilson’s Landing had been reopened. Edgartown Great Pond is an 890 acre body of water.
The investigation into the man’s death is being conducted by state police with the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office and Edgartown police.
Campbell was touted by the Obamas as one of the best chefs in the White House
A view of Obama’s house from Turkeyland Cove where Campbell worked as the Obama’s personal chef
Emergency services rushed to the scene in Martha’s Vineyard last night. It’s understood that the 911 call and dispatch address for the incident came from Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard home
A helicopter, part of the search mission, is seen flying over the area on Monday morning
Pictured: Edgartown Great Pond. The scene of the desperate search for Campbell was launched after a paddleboarder went missing in the water off Martha’s Vineyard on Sunday
Following the news of Campbell’s untimely death on Monday, Michelle and Barack Obama said Campbell – who was married with 19-year-old twins – was 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.’
Campbell first joined the White House chef staff under the George W. Bush administration
He stayed on during Obama’s presidency, and became known for brewing White House honey ale beer, using honey from Michell Obama’s South Lawn garden
Campbell is seen preparing food in the background as the Today Show’s Savannah Guthrie interviewed then-President Obama from the White House
Campbell’s family told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 2009 he had always shown an interest in cooking and would frequently whip something up when his large family came to visit.
He graduated from a culinary school in Virginia, and had briefly owned his own restaurant before applying for a job at the White House.
The sous chef was eventually hired under the George W. Bush administration, and was one of just four White House cooks asked to stay on under Obama.
During the Obama presidency, Campbell became known for brewing White House honey ale beer, using honey from Michell Obama’s South Lawn garden.
‘I immediately thought of the African Americans who brewed beer for Washington and Jefferson, and was pleased to see the historical arc played out through the suds,’ historian Adrian Miller writes of Campbell in his book The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas.
Following the news of Campbell’s untimely death on Monday, Sherise shared a photo of her husband on Instagram, saying she was ‘heartbroken.’
Following the news of Campbell’s untimely passing, his wife Sherise shared this photo to Instagram noting she was ‘heartbroken’
Family members said he has always had an interest in cooking and would frequently whip something up when his large family came to visit
Tafari and Sherise were married in 1999. They are pictured here on their wedding day
Staffers at Edgartown Meat and Fish Market also paid tribute to the chef, whom they remembered as a ‘wonderful guy’.
‘We saw him last week, he was such a nice and happy guy,’ one staff member told DailyMail.com. ‘He didn’t seem to live here but would be here a lot in summer and fall, and bought various things.
‘He was nice and quiet, it’s awful to hear that’s happened to him.’
The employee added Campbell ‘had been coming here for a few years now.’
‘When he came in he would chat to us about what he was cooking up,’ the staffer said. ‘One of the things he would always special order is juice — orange juice and strawberry lemonade.’
