Kennedy Family Tragedy: Divers Find Body Of RFK's Great-Grandson Gideon McKean

Divers from the Maryland police were finally able to find the body of 8-year-old Gideon McKean, the great-grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, following a five-day search.

The boy was reported to have disappeared with his mother, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay in the afternoon of April 2.

The Maryland Natural Resources Police confirmed on Wednesday, April 8, that Gideon's body was located in 25 feet of water some two miles south of their family residence in Shady Side, Maryland, where he had been on a canoe with his mom.

Maeve's body was recovered two days earlier and was about 2,000 feet away from where the divers found Gideon.

David McKean, Maeve's husband, and Gideon's father told reporters that they were in Shady Side to observe the coronavirus quarantine with the family. Maeve and Gideon disappeared in the water after they tried to retrieve a ball they were playing with.

"They got into a canoe, intending simply to retrieve the ball, and somehow got pushed by wind or tide into the open bay," McKean said. "About 30 minutes later they were spotted by an onlooker from land, who saw them far out from shore, and called the police." Witnesses said that Maeve and Gideon were not wearing life jackets.

McKean, who regarded his wife as his "everything" in a Facebook post, said that he is also heartbroken about losing Gideon.

"I used to marvel at him as a toddler and worry that he was too perfect to exist in this world. It seems to me now that he was."

Maeve is the daughter of former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and the granddaughter of former senator Robert F. Kennedy. In a statement, Kennedy Townsend said that her heart is crushed by the tragedy.

"We shall try to summon the grace of God and what strength we have to honour the hope, energy and passion that Maeve and Gideon set forth into the world," Kennedy Townsend said.

Some 120 members of the Kennedy family held a memorial service for Maeve and Gideon on Monday via Zoom, while authorities were still searching for the bodies.