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

(Image credit: Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images)

published 7 April 2020

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.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Explore More

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox