“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our valued client and dear friend, Michael Duarte,” his talent agency, Alooma Media Group, wrote in a Nov. 9 Instagram post.
Duarte was able to amass a large following on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube via his cooking videos, where he shared recipes and videos of his BBQ and grilling creations. On Instagram, his bio read “my purpose is to share to the world food to people who need it the most.”
A GoFundMe page set up by his family revealed that he was survived by his wife Jessica – to whom he had been married for nine years – and six-year-old daughter Oakley.
“This heartbreak came without warning,” the GoFundMe page reads, “leaving Jessica to incur the expense of bringing him back home to California and covering funeral expenses.
“During this time, and in the months/years ahead, we want to make sure that Jessica and Oakley are taken care of as Michael would have wanted them to be. Your support would bring comfort, stability, and a reminder that they are not carrying this weight alone.”
Duarte’s relationship with food was first fostered when he was just 14, when he worked with his ‘mentor’ uncle at a small Mexican restaurant in his hometown Calipatria, on the US-Mexico border.
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