Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean — a member of the famous Kennedy family — and her eight-year-old son, Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean, have been confirmed as the two boaters who went missing in the Chesapeake Bay on Thursday evening, The Washington Post reported.
According to husband David McKean, the family gathered at a waterfront house in Shady Side, Maryland, owned by Maeve’s mother, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. His wife and son eventually took a canoe into the water to retrieve a ball they were playing with and “got farther out then they could handle.”
Per CBS Baltimore , a man called emergency services from a Columbia Beach pier after seeing Maeve and her son in the Bay, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reported the pair missing at approximately 4:49 p.m. on Thursday. On Friday, Maryland DNR confirmed that an overturned canoe matching the description of the one they used was recovered at around 7:00 p.m.. McKean did not reveal that detail to The Washington Post .
The search for the pair ended on Thursday at approximately 7:30 p.m. and began again on Friday morning. CBS Baltimore reported that several local air and boat teams joined police and fire departments in the search.
The weather in the area was reportedly windy on Thursday. According to The Washington Post , a storm off the coast of New England fueled gusts that sped up to 40 miles per hour into the D.C. area.
The Kennedy family has faced many tragedies throughout its history, including the assassinations of Maeve’s grandfather, Robert F. Kennedy, and uncle, John F. Kennedy , as well as the 2019 death of her cousin, Saoirse Kennedy Hill , last year.
During an interview with Glamour in 2008, Maeve touched on the Kennedy family’s history.
“People think, because I’m a Kennedy, I’m extremely wealthy and don’t flaunt it. Ha! I have a great name, but by the time you get to the fourth generation, the money’s run out. We’re fortunate compared to the average American, but to think I’m a trust fund kid — so not true!”
“This conversation today reflects the need to discuss #climatechange from an interdisciplinary approach. We have to look at family planning, sanitation and hygiene, and access to clean #cookstoves ,” says @MaeveMckean , executive director of Georgetown’s Global Health Initiative pic.twitter.com/oWh0glYdSt
— Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) (@cleancooking) October 1, 2019
Maeve works as the executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative. She earned a joint degree in law and international conflict resolution from Boston University and Georgetown University and — like her relatives — has dabbled in politics throughout her career. Most notably, she worked for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in California, which is where she met her husband.
Gideon is the pair’s first child and was named after Clarence E. Gideon, whose 1963 Supreme Court case ordered states to be responsible for paying court-appointed public defenders.
Editor’s note: this story was previously updated with news that Maeve and Gideon had been confirmed dead based on a report from TMZ . The Inquisitr has reverted this story to its original form upon learning that the two remain missing.