The personal chef of former US President Barack Obama drowned close to the family's Martha's Vineyard residence.
Tafari Campbell, 45, a paddleboarder, was identified as the body found in Edgartown Great Pond on Monday (local time) by Massachusetts State Police
Campbell, who worked for the Obamas, was in Martha's Vineyard. When the accident happened, the Obamas weren't at home.
Campbell was referred to as a "beloved part of our family" by the former president and his wife, Michelle Obama, in a statement.
The pair recalled that when they first met him, he was a skilled sous chef working at the White House. He was imaginative and passionate about food and its capacity to unite people. We got to know him as a warm, jovial, incredibly kind person in the years that followed, making all of our lives a little bit brighter.
Because of this, we begged Tafari to join us as we left the White House, and he graciously accepted. Since then, he has been a part of our lives, and his passing has shattered our hearts.
After hearing from another paddleboarder that the missing person had battled on the surface, submerged, and failed to surface, the search for him began on Sunday.
The search was suspended late on Sunday, but state police reported on Monday that sonar from a boat had found the body at a depth of about 2.4 meters, about 30 meters from the coast. Police reported that Campbell was not donning a life jacket.
Campbell's wife and their twin boys, according to the Obamas, are his only heirs.