Police find drowned body of Robert Kennedy's granddaughter, whose son is also presumed dead


Maryland police said Monday night that they have recovered the body of Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, a 40-year-old granddaughter of former Sen. Robert Kennedy, who disappeared along with son Gideon, 8, last Thursday when their canoe was evidently swept into the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland Natural Resources Police said they found McKean's body in 25 feet of water about 2.5 miles south of the waterfront home of her mother, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. They will resume the search for Gideon's body on Tuesday.
McKean and her son got into a canoe to retrieve a ball that had landed in the water. The canoe was found Thursday. The family was at Townsend's waterfront home to isolate from the COVID-19 coronavirus. McKean, the executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative, and her husband have two other children, ages 7 and 2. Townsend was just a teenager when her father was shot dead and just 12 when her uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. Her cousin John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard in 1999.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Bad Friend: Tiffany Watt Smith explores why women abandon friendships
The Week Recommends A 'deeply researched' account of female friendship through history
-
Brazil's reborn dolls craze
Under The Radar The 'hyper-realistic' babies soaring in popularity in South American nation have spawned controversy
-
Crossword: June 5, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attack
Speed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival
-
Kenya arrests alleged ant smugglers
speed read Two young Belgians have been charged for attempting to smuggle ants out of the country to exotic pet buyers