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The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts performed an autopsy on the 45-year-old Campbell, who died after he fell into the ocean while paddleboarding on July 23 on Martha's Vineyard. Pathologists concluded his death was caused by "submersion in a body of water."
Despite conspiracy theories online conjuring fantastic — and often impossible — reasons for his death, the autopsy confirmed the eyewitness reports.
Campbell went paddleboarding around 7:45 a.m. in Edgartown’s Great Pond near Turkeyland Cove when he fell into the water, Massachusetts State Police reported. Witnesses told investigators that he "appeared to briefly struggle to stay on the surface and then submerged."
Search crews found his body a day later in eight-feet-deep water about 100 feet from the shore, state police said. He was not wearing a life jacket.
Campbell worked for Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House before joining their personal staff. The Obamas have a compound on Martha's Vineyard, but they were not there the day Campbell died.
The Obamas called Tafari a "beloved part" of their family in a statement and said he was a "warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter."
Tafari Campbell, who lived in Dumfries, Virginia, leaves behind a wife, Sherise, and twin boys, Xavier and Savin.
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