The idyllic waters of Martha’s Vineyard were rocked by tragedy on Sunday night when a 43-year-old male paddleboarder went missing in Edgartown Great Pond, an area near the Obama family’s $12 million mansion.
The man was apparently struggling to stay afloat before disappearing under the water and not resurfacing.
After an exhaustive search effort involving numerous agencies, his body was eventually recovered by divers just before 10am on Monday morning.
When news broke about the missing paddleboarder, emergency responders from all corners of the island leapt into action.
Firefighters from Edgartown and other island fire departments joined forces with local police, State Police patrols, Air Wing detectives, Dukes County Sheriff’s Department personnel, and Coast Guard members to scour the waters for any sign of the individual.
They conducted searches through the night but unfortunately had no luck – so they paused their efforts early Monday morning to re-equip and assess next steps.
It wasn’t until around 10am that MSP Underwater Recovery Unit divers located the body using side-scan sonar deployed from a boat approximately 100 feet away from shore in an area where water depths reached eight feet.
While it is still unclear whether former US President Barack Obama was staying at his Martha’s Vineyard estate at the time of this incident, it has been confirmed that 911 calls were made from there and dispatched to that address.
In light of this tragic event our thoughts are with both victim’s family and friends during this difficult time as they come to terms with what happened over those fateful few days.
We also commend all involved in organizing and carrying out such an extensive search operation and hope justice will be served for everyone involved in due course.
