The physique of one in every of two Kennedy members of the family who went lacking final week when their canoe capsized within the Chesapeake Bay w
The physique of one in every of two Kennedy members of the family who went lacking final week when their canoe capsized within the Chesapeake Bay was recovered on Monday, the authorities mentioned.
The Maryland Pure Sources Police mentioned on Monday night time that it had discovered the physique of Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, a granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy. It mentioned the search would proceed for her son, Gideon McKean, 8.
Ms. McKean’s physique was recovered in 25 toes of water about two and a half miles south of her mom’s residence in Shady Facet, Md., the place the 2 members of the family set off of their canoe on Thursday, officers mentioned.
That they had jumped into the canoe to retrieve a ball that went into the bay and have been unable to paddle again to shore, in line with the household and the Pure Sources Police.
In an announcement late Friday, Ms. McKean’s mom, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former lieutenant governor of Maryland, mentioned the household was in mourning.
“My household thanks all for the outpouring of affection and prayers as we grieve and attempt to bear this devastating loss,” she mentioned.
“We love you Maeve,” Consultant Joseph P. Kennedy III, Ms. McKean’s cousin, wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning. “We love you Gideon. Our household has misplaced two of the brightest lights. Grateful for the prayers. Maintain your family members tight.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ms. McKean’s uncle, mentioned his niece had been along with her youngsters within the yard at Ms. Townsend’s dwelling, the place Ms. McKean’s household has been staying through the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms. McKean and her youngsters had been enjoying kickball in a shallow cove behind the home when one in every of them kicked the ball into the water, mentioned David McKean, Ms. McKean’s husband and the boy’s father.
“The cove is protected, with a lot calmer wind and water than within the higher Chesapeake,” he wrote in a Fb publish. “They acquired right into a canoe, intending merely to retrieve the ball, and someway acquired pushed by wind or tide into the open bay.”
A involved citizen noticed two individuals in a canoe “drifting within the bay” and referred to as 911 from the Columbia Seaside neighborhood pier at 4:30 p.m., in line with the Anne Arundel County Fireplace Division.
“After that final sighting, they weren’t seen once more,” Mr. McKean wrote.
Boats, dive groups and helicopters from a number of regulation enforcement companies started looking out the bay, the authorities mentioned.
In response to the Coast Guard, there have been two- to three-foot waves and 29-mile-per-hour winds within the bay when the mom and son disappeared off Shady Facet, Md., south of Annapolis.
Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland referred to as the disappearance “unhappy information.” He mentioned that he had spoken to Ms. Townsend on Friday morning.
“On behalf of the individuals of Maryland, I expressed our most heartfelt sympathies and prayers to her and her complete household throughout this troublesome time,” he mentioned.
Ms. McKean was the chief director of the Georgetown College World Well being Initiative. She was additionally a Peace Corps volunteer and served on the board of the Brady Marketing campaign and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights group, Ms. Townsend mentioned.
“Our Maeve devoted her life to serving to society’s most weak,” she mentioned. Maeve and David McKean had three youngsters: Gideon, Gabriella and Toby.
“Gideon, like his mother, was a star athlete who beloved soccer, golf, and operating,” Ms. Townsend mentioned. “He took after his mother and father in essentially the most extraordinary methods.”
Mr. McKean described Gideon as a compassionate boy who might spend hours studying and beloved sports activities.
“I used to marvel at him as a toddler and fear that he was too excellent to exist on this world,” Mr. McKean wrote. “It appears to me now that he was.”
“Maeve turned 40 in November,” he added, “and he or she was my every thing.”
The disappearance evoked different misfortunes which have befallen the well-known household, recognized for producing a president, senators and different Democratic leaders. In August, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, 22, a granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, died after what seemed to be an overdose on the household compound in Hyannis Port, Mass.