Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughter and his great-grandson drowned to death in a canoeing accident, officials in Maryland have ruled.
Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, and her 8-year-old son Gideon went missing early this month after the two went canoeing in the Chesapeake Bay. The family had been quarantining because of the coronavirus pandemic at a family house in Maryland when they reportedly got into the water in an attempt to retrieve a stray ball.
McKean’s body was found three days after the duo went missing. She was found about 2.5 miles away from the home and submerged in 25 feet of water. Underwater imaging sonar technology was used to locate her remains. Gideon’s body was found the following day, submerged about 2,000 feet from where his mother was discovered.
A spokesman with the Maryland Department of Health said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that officials found the deaths to be accidental.
“The cause of death for Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean was drowning and the manner is accidental,” the statement read. “The cause of death of Gideon McKean was drowning complicated by hypothermia, and the manner is accidental.”
McKean is also the daughter of former Democratic Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and worked as the executive director of Georgetown University’s Global Health Initiative.
“She was the brightest light I have ever known,” her husband, David McKean, said in a Facebook post. He described his son as “incredibly social, athletic, and courageous.”
“It is impossible to sum up Gideon here. I am heartbroken to even have to try it,” 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.”
