Robert F. Kennedy’s Granddaughter, and her Son, 8, Missing After Canoe Trip

Last night, Maryland authorities revealed that a 40-year-old woman and an 8-year-old boy went missing Thursday afternoon on the Chesapeake Bay when they appeared to be overtaken by strong winds while canoeing near Herring Bay in Shady Side. No one imagined at the time that a connection to Robert F. Kennedy would be revealed.

Robert F. Kennedy’s Granddaughter Missing

Today, it was learned that Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughter Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and her young son, Gideon, are the two missing boaters. Her husband David McKean confirmed the news to the Washington Post.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources officials noted that the mother and child were reported missing around 4:49 p.m. Thursday after paddling out to retrieve a ball with the winds making it unable for them to paddle back to shore.

“They just got farther out than they could handle and couldn’t get back in,” David McKean told the Post.

CBS Baltimore reported the Coast Guard got word from the Maryland State Police that two people were seen struggling to return to shore in a canoe and they were not seen again. A man had called 911 from the Columbia Beach community pier where he saw the boaters drifting in the Bay.

McKean is the daughter for former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel’s 11 children. She serves as executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative in Washington D.C. where her family resides. She and David McKean have three other children.

At approximately 7 p.m. last night, an overturned canoe matching the description of the one they were in, and a paddle, were located near Deale, Md., according to Anne Arundel County Fire.

“At this time, our family asks for privacy and that everyone keep Maeve and Gideon in their prayers,” the Kennedy family said through a family friend. The search for the missing pair continued Friday.