Body of RFK’s Missing Great-Grandson Found

Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean with her family, including her son Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean, bottom right. Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean/Facebook via AP

The body of the grandson of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and the great-grandson of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was recovered on Wednesday afternoon, said the Maryland Natural Resources Police and other officials.

The remains of Gideon McKean, 8, were found two days after his mother, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean—the granddaughter of RFK—was found dead in the Chesapeake Bay.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan confirmed the boy’s death on Twitter, asking the public to “please continue to keep their family in your prayers as they mourn this devastating loss.”

Authorities searched for Gideon McKean for five days and it involved “aviation and underwater imaging sonar technology,” Hogan’s office said.

David McKean, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and family attend the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Hosts 2019 Ripple Of Hope Gala & Auction In NYC in New York City on Dec. 12, 2019. Mike Pont/Getty Images for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

“I want to sincerely thank the MDNRPolice and all of the agencies and dedicated personnel who worked around the clock to support this recovery mission,” the governor wrote on Twitter.

Townsend Mckean and Gideon went missing on the Chesapeake Bay around Shady Side, Maryland, where her mother has a home. The pair went out into the water with a canoe to retrieve a ball they had lost, but they were pushed further out into the water.

According to a news release from the Maryland Natural Resources Police, McKean was found dead in about 25 feet of water at 5:30 p.m. ET after they used underwater sonar technology. She was located some 2.5 miles south of her mother’s residence in Shady Side, Maryland, officials said.

Her husband, David, wrote that his family was in Maryland to shelter at home during the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus pandemic.

“It is clear that Maeve and Gideon have passed away,” McKean’s husband David wrote on Facebook over the weekend. “We were self-quarantining in an empty house owned by Maeve’s mother Kathleen on the Chesapeake Bay, hoping to give our kids more space than we have at home in DC to run around,” he added.

“They got into a canoe, intending simply to retrieve the ball, and somehow got pushed by wind or tide into the open bay,” her husband wrote. “About 30 minutes later, they were spotted by an onlooker from land, who saw them far out from shore, and called the police. After that last sighting, they were not seen again. The Coast Guard recovered their capsized canoe, miles away, at approximately 6:30 [Thursday] evening.”