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The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts has issued an official ruling regarding the drowning death of the Obama family’s personal chef. The medical examiner ruled that it was an accident, according to Wednesday reports.
“Tafari Campbell, 45, worked as a sous chef for Barack and Michelle Obama and was visiting Martha’s Vineyard from Dumfries, Virginia, at the time of his passing, authorities said,” The Daily Wire noted.
Timothy McGuirk, a spokesman from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, told The Washington Post that the chief medical examiner officially listed Campbell’s death as an accident on Tuesday. He further noted that the office does not disclose autopsy reports to the general public.
Campbell reportedly was “standing on his paddleboard when he lost his balance and fell off” into the Edgartown Great Pond, the Boston Globe reported in late July following the incident. “He struggled to remain afloat before slipping beneath the water. Campbell was not wearing a life jacket and wasn’t secured to his board. Campbell’s body was found in about 8 feet of water.”
Also at the time, police said, “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. … Another paddle boarder was on the pond with him at the time and observed him go under the water.”
Previously, some oddities arose stemming from the death of Campbell that raised questions.
For one, according to the UK’s Daily Mail, “Martha’s Vineyard police left the reason for the 911 call reporting Obama private chef Tafari Campbell’s drowning blank in official logs from the night of the accident.”
And while Campbell, 45, was not on the water alone Sunday night while paddle boarding, police also wouldn’t name who he was with.
Cops did say that the 911 call was made around 7:46 p.m. from around 2 miles away, the outlet reported.
“That call is noted in Edgartown Police Department’s logs, but the reason behind it is left noticeably blank. The reason for every other call for that night is given,” the Daily Mail reported.
The call’s origin is also recorded as Wilson’s Landing, which serves as a paddle board launch site situated approximately two miles away from the Obamas’ residence on Turkeyland Cove. According to the Massachusetts State Police, that is where the initial call was made.
The Daily Mail added:
Edgartown police chief Bruce McNamee told DailyMail.com that the call log is generated by the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office.
He could only speculate on why the reason for the call is left blank, saying it may be because the caller from Obama’s property didn’t dial 911, which automatically generates location data, and instead made a direct call to a business line.
He also said the address was listed as Wilson’s Landing because that was the public launch used as the command post.
Subsequent reports following the drowning noted that the former first couple were not at home at the time of the incident. It’s not clear, however, if their daughters, Sasha and Malia – who were also in town – were at home or on the water.
That said, according to the report, dispatcher calls between emergency services note that there was someone out on the water with Campbell. Also, they confirm that the first call came from a female who then got back on the water and, by around 8:18 p.m., was on a boat going “back and forth,” presumably searching for Campbell.
“We met with the reporting party, she is on a boat with two individuals and they’re going back and forth as well,” one rescuer noted at around 8:23 p.m.
The Daily Mail noted: “That person also remains unidentified. It’s unclear if they were the person Campbell was paddle boarding with.”
