The granddaughter of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and her son are presumed dead after a search of Chesapeake Bay failed to find them.
A Coast Guard search for Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, and Gideon McKean, 8, that began on Thursday “has turned from rescue to recovery,” according to a Friday statement, Fox News reported.
McKean and her son were last seen in a canoe struggling to return to shore.
The family had been gathering Thursday at a home owned by Maeve McKean’s mother, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who’s the daughter of Robert Kenndy and a former lieutenant governor of Maryland.
Maeve’s husband, David McKean, offered an explanation for the tragedy on his Facebook page.
“We were self-quarantining in an empty house owned by Maeve’s mother Kathleen on the Chesapeake Bay, hoping to give our kids more space than we have at home in DC to run around,” he said. “Gideon and Maeve were playing kickball by the small, shallow cove behind the house, and one of them kicked the ball into the water. The cove is protected, with much calmer wind and water than in the greater Chesapeake.
Unearthed clip exposes how far Talarico was willing to go on raising taxes during COVID era
Amy Klobuchar calls for major anti-terrorism investments after alleged Mall of America plot
Mamdani Releases Statement Remembering Oct. 7, but Spends 75 Percent of His Words Defending Hamas’ Actions
Film Legend, ‘North by Northwest’ Star Eva Marie Saint Has Died
DHS unloads on teachers union boss over ‘dangerous rhetoric’ and anti-ICE activism
Two-thirds of Israeli voters say Oct. 7 is major factor in upcoming elections, want state investigation into fault
Imperiled House Democrat gets ripped by left and right after flip-flop on transgender sports
Supreme Court chief justice hands 99-year-old judge lifeline in yearslong suspension battle
Golden, naked Trump statue unveiled at European Parliament
Conservatives Are Done with ‘They’re Going to Jail’ – Actually Give Us the Perp Walk
Cocky Singer, Trump Hater Miley Cyrus Breaks Humiliating Record, as Album Release Sees Historic Crash and Burn
Memphis City Council devolves into chaos after data center moratorium vote postponed
Rubio to deliver urgent plea to save Western civilization during speech in its birthplace
DHS orders deportation of illegal migrant who sold fraudulent DHS, FBI ‘immunity’ cards
Declassified docs raise questions about Jack Smith’s Trump trial testimony and more top headlines
“They got into a canoe, intending simply to retrieve the ball, and somehow got pushed by wind or tide into the open bay,” he wrote.
“About 30 minutes later they were spotted by an onlooker from land, who saw them far out from shore, and called the police. After that last sighting, they were not seen again. The Coast Guard recovered their canoe, which was capsized and miles away, at approximately 6:30 yesterday evening,” David McKean added.
“This was a difficult case, and even more difficult to make the decision to suspend the search,” Coast Guard Cmdr. Matthew Fine said, according to CNN.
Unearthed clip exposes how far Talarico was willing to go on raising taxes during COVID era
Amy Klobuchar calls for major anti-terrorism investments after alleged Mall of America plot
Mamdani Releases Statement Remembering Oct. 7, but Spends 75 Percent of His Words Defending Hamas’ Actions
Film Legend, ‘North by Northwest’ Star Eva Marie Saint Has Died
DHS unloads on teachers union boss over ‘dangerous rhetoric’ and anti-ICE activism
Two-thirds of Israeli voters say Oct. 7 is major factor in upcoming elections, want state investigation into fault
Imperiled House Democrat gets ripped by left and right after flip-flop on transgender sports
Supreme Court chief justice hands 99-year-old judge lifeline in yearslong suspension battle
Golden, naked Trump statue unveiled at European Parliament
Conservatives Are Done with ‘They’re Going to Jail’ – Actually Give Us the Perp Walk
Cocky Singer, Trump Hater Miley Cyrus Breaks Humiliating Record, as Album Release Sees Historic Crash and Burn
Memphis City Council devolves into chaos after data center moratorium vote postponed
Rubio to deliver urgent plea to save Western civilization during speech in its birthplace
DHS orders deportation of illegal migrant who sold fraudulent DHS, FBI ‘immunity’ cards
Declassified docs raise questions about Jack Smith’s Trump trial testimony and more top headlines
“Our crews and partners did everything they could to find them. We’ve kept the family informed at every step during the search, and our thoughts are with them tonight.”
The Coast Guard said the wind in Herring Bay, an offshoot of the larger bay, was at 26 knots, or roughly 30 mph, when Maeve McKean and her son entered the water.
Waves were between two and three feet high at the time.
The Coast Guard began its search Thursday and by Friday afternoon had covered 2,275 square miles, according to The Washington Post.
Townsend announced the loss of McKean and her son “with profound sadness.”
“Our Maeve devoted her life to helping society’s most vulnerable,” she said in a statement. “She was a Peace Corps volunteer who pursued a career in law to give voice to the voiceless.”
“My heart is crushed, yet we shall try to summon the grace of God and what strength we have to honor the hope, energy and passion that Maeve and Gideon set forth into the world,” she also said.
McKean served as the executive director of Georgetown University’s Global Health Initiative. She was an adjunct professor at the university, teaching bioethics and human rights.
Summing up his son on Facebook, David McKean wrote, “I used to marvel at him as a toddler and worry that he was too perfect to exist in this world. It seems to me now that he was.”
In writing about his wife, he said she “was my everything. She was my best friend and my soulmate.”
“She was the brightest light I have ever known,” he wrote.
Story cited here.
