Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean (40), the granddaughter of murdered U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) and niece of United States President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), who was also assassinated, is apparently dead. Her husband David McKean said on Facebook that the search for her and their son Gideon (8) had ended after more than 24 hours. "The chances that they survived are incredibly slim," McKean wrote in a long article. "It is obvious that Maeve and Gideon have died."
They just wanted to get a ball
David McKean also explained what apparently happened: "We were in a self-isolated house in Chesapeake Bay, owned by Maeve's mother Kathleen." They traveled there to give their children more space to play during the Corona Crisis than they did at home in Washington, D.C. have had. When kickball, the ball accidentally fell into the water – Maeve and Gideon got into a canoe to bring it back. They were driven out by the wind or the current.
About 30 minutes later, they were seen again by an eyewitness who discovered them "far out in the country" in the bay and informed the police. After that, the two had disappeared. Around 6:30 p.m. their capsized canoe was found many miles away.
Maeve leaves behind her husband David, their seven-year-old daughter Gabriella and their two-and-a-half year old son Toby. After the accident, Gabriella surprised her father "with her maturity and grace", but it broke his heart that the young Toby would no longer have his mother and brother around him, as he continues to write.