Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughter and her eight-year-old son are feared dead after they went missing when they took a canoe out on a Maryland bay to retrieve a lost ball during the state’s coronavirus lockdown.
Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, and her son Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean were last seen paddling in the Chesapeake Bay on Thursday but never made it back to shore.
McKean’s mother, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, is the eldest daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy and niece of the late President John F. Kennedy.
Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan addressed the pair’s disappearance during a coronavirus briefing on Friday, during which he offered sympathies to the family and said an intensive search had been underway.
‘I reached out to and spoke with Lt. Gov. Townsend this morning and on behalf of the people of Maryland I expressed our most heartfelt sympathies and prayers to her and to her entire family during this difficult time,’ Hogan said.
David McKean confirmed on Thursday that his wife, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, and son Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean (center right) were missing
Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said Friday: ‘News of this tragedy hit me and my family hard this morning.’
‘We are holding Kathleen and her family in the light and holding our own loved ones a little closer as we reflect on their pain and their loss,’ he said.
Maeve and Gideon had still not been located as of Friday afternoon.
The search started on Thursday afternoon after authorities responded to a report of two people on a canoe in the Chesapeake Bay who appeared to be overtaken by strong winds.
Authorities said the pair, who they didn’t name, were paddling the canoe from their home in Shady Side to retrieve a ball but couldn’t paddle back to shore.
An overturned canoe matching the one used by the mother and son was found later on Thursday night.
Maeve’s husband, David McKean, told the Washington Post that the family had been at his mother-in-law’s home when the ball they were playing with flew out into the water.
He said his wife and son ‘popped into a canoe to chase it down’ but said ‘they just got farther out than they could handle and couldn’t get back in’.
The Maryland State Police, US Coast Guard, and local police and fire departments all joined the search the the mother and son.
The search was called off overnight but resumed Friday morning.
McKean’s mother, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, is the eldest daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy and niece of the late President John F. Kennedy. Kathleen (right) and her daughters Maeve (center) and Katie (left) are pictured above in 1995
Maeve had shared a photo of Gideon watching the conversation between Dr Anthony Faucy and Stephen Curry as part of his ‘homeschooling’
Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and her family were at her mother’s house in Shady Side, Maryland (above) when she and her eight-year-old son set off in a canoe but failed to return to shore
The Anne Arundel County Fire Department said in a Friday statement that dispatch received a call at 4.30pm on Thursday saying that two people in a ‘small canoe or kayak’ were drifting in the bay at the Columbia Beach community pier off Shady Side
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s coronavirus-related shutdown has prohibited most forms of recreational boarding but kayaking and paddleboarding are still allowed.
There are currently more than 2,700 infections recorded in the state with the death toll now at 42.
Maeve, who is the executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative, had tweeted a photo of her son Gideon just last week as she home-schooled him during the coronavirus pandemic.
The photo showed the eight-year-old smiling as he watched an interview between Stephen Curry and Dr Anthony Fauci – the nation’s top coronavirus expert.
‘@StephenCurry30 and Dr. Fauci’s very informative interview was part of my 8-year old son’s homeschooling today! #ParentingInAPandemic,’ she tweeted alongside the photo.
The disappearance of the mother and son is the latest to involve the Kennedy family.
It comes less than a year after Saoirse Kennedy Hill, another of Robert F Kennedy’s granddaughters, died from an overdose at the age of 22.
Among the prescription drugs found in her system were diazepam and nordiazepam (first marketed as Valium), fluoxetine (Prozac) and norfluoxetine (the anti-depressant Luoxetine).
Her death came just one month before she was set to start her senior year at Boston College.
Saoirse, who was the daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill, is Maeve’s cousin.
The disappearance comes less than a year after Saoirse Kennedy Hill (above), another of Robert F Kennedy’s granddaughters, died from an overdose at the age of 22. Saoirse, who was the daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill, is Maeve’s cousin
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s coronavirus-related shutdown has prohibited most forms of recreational boarding but kayaking and paddleboarding are still allowed. There are currently more than 2,700 infections recorded in the state with the death toll now at 42