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Nearly a week after Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean disappeared in a canoe with her son, Gideon, the mom of three’s cause of death has been revealed. Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughter accidentally drowned officials said on Wednesday, April 8 (via People magazine). Maeve’s body was found by divers on Monday. Two days later, the Maryland Natural Resources Police announced that they had found eight-year-old Gideon’s body about 2,000 feet from where his mother was found.
In a statement to E! News , Maeve’s mother Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said, “On behalf our family, I want to share our heartfelt gratitude to Governor Hogan, Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, and the team of more than 50 professionals from the Department of Natural Resources, Anne Arundel, Charles County, and the State Police, who spent these last days searching for our fierce and loving Maeve and Gideon,” adding, ”They have helped us bring some closure to this terrible loss, and our family will always be grateful for their tireless work.”
Maeve and her family were self-quarantining at a house owned by her mother prior to her and Gideon’s disappearance. Maeve and her husband David McKean decided to leave D.C. for the property on Chesapeake Bay in order to give their children “more space” to “run around.” Maeve and Gideon were last seen on April 2 after boarding a canoe to retrieve a ball from the water. “Gideon and Maeve were playing kickball by the small, shallow cove behind the house, and one of them kicked the ball into the water,” David shared on social media. “The cove is protected, with much calmer wind and water than in the greater Chesapeake. They got into a canoe, intending simply to retrieve the ball, and somehow got pushed by wind or tide into the open bay.” The pair’s vessel was found capsized miles away by the Coast Guard on April 2.
Maeve and Gideon were presumed dead one day after they went missing. David wrote last Friday: “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.” Aside from Gideon, Maeve also shared seven-year-old daughter Gabriella and two-year-old son Toby with her husband.
Over the weekend, members of the Kennedy family participated in a Zoom prayer service led by Timothy Shriver . Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared screenshots of the Kennedy, Shriver, Lawford, McKelvey, Allen, Schlossberg, Schwarzenegger and Cuomo cousins holding up their hands in the shape of hearts during the service. The relatives, who are separated due to the coronavirus pandemic, “are having daily Zoom calls,” a family friend previously told People. “There will be a memorial service at some point in the future,” the family friend added. “This is such a horrible time to lose somebody. Everyone’s trying to be careful.”