Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean’s cause of death has been revealed just days after she and her 8-year-old son Gideon went missing on in the waters off the Chesapeake Bay. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the state’s chief medical examiner confirmed that McKean, the daughter of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, “accidentally drowned in the turbulent and chilly water of the Chesapeake Bay,” PEOPLE reports. Gideon remains missing.
McKean and her son went missing on the afternoon of Thursday, April 2 after they set out by canoe into a cove in search of a ball that had fallen into the water. A preliminary investigation suggested that the pair “were unable to paddle back to shore” and were pushed further from shore by wind. An onlooker had called 911 at the time, prompting a search. According to Anne Arundel County Fire Department Capt. Russ Davies, who spoke to PEOPLE, it appeared as though “they were being pushed out into the water and were having a hard time returning to shore.” He added that it “was a rough day” with waves “two- to three-foot” high.
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On Thursday night, McKean and Gideon’s capsized canoe and paddle were recovered, and the search mission shifted to a recovery by Friday. “Despite heroic efforts by the Coast Guard and many state and local authorities, the decision has now been made to suspend the active rescue effort,” McKean’s husband, David McKean, wrote in a Facebook post at the time. “The search that began yesterday afternoon went on throughout the night and continued all day today. It is now dark again. It has been more than 24 hours, and the chances they have survived are impossibly small. It is clear that Maeve and Gideon have passed away. The search for their recovery will continue, and I hope that that will be successful.”
On Monday, Maryland officials confirmed that McKean’s body had been recovered. Her body was recovered roughly 2.5 miles from Townsend’s home in Shady Side, Maryland in about 25 feet of water. The search for Gideon’s body continues.
The tragedy marks the latest to strike the famous political family and follows the August 2019 death of 22-year-old Saoirse Roisin Hill. Hill had been found unresponsive at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis, Massachusetts and had reportedly combated depression in the time leading up to her passing.
