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Daughter, grandson of ex-Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend missing on Chesapeake Bay
BALTIMORE SUN |
APR 03, 2020 | 4:41 PM
Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s daughter and grandson are missing after authorities say they were seen struggling to return to shore in a canoe in the Chesapeake Bay, a family member confirmed Friday.
David McKean says his wife, Maeve McKean, 41, and son, Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean, 8, are the people last sighted 10 miles south of Annapolis near Herring Bay.
He declined to comment further.
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The home located at 5313 Dennis Point Lane in Cedarhurst, Shady Side area. (Paul W. Gillespie)
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“At this time, our family asks for privacy and that everyone keep Maeve and Gideon in their prayers,” Alan Fleischmann, a spokesman for the family and Maeve McKean’s godfather, said in a statement.
Anne Arundel County fire officials say a concerned citizen called 911 around 4:30 p.m. Thursday to report that he saw the woman and her son in a small canoe or kayak from the Columbia Beach community pier.
Maryland Natural Resources Police believe the pair may have been paddling the canoe from a residence in Shady Side into the bay to retrieve a ball but were unable to paddle back to shore.
Marine units from local law enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard began a search of the Chesapeake Bay by boat and helicopter.
Natural Resources Police say an overturned canoe matching the description of the one believed to be used by the pair was found around 7 p.m. Anne Arundel fire officials say the vessel was found east of Rockhold Creek in Deale.
Queen Anne’s County police, Anne Arundel County police, Maryland Natural Resources Police and Maryland State Police assisted in the search. U.S. Coast Guard units continued to search overnight.
Maeve Kennedy Townsend, center rear, is seen in 2002 with her mother, then-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. They are surrounded by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, front left, sister Kate Townsend (rear-L), and father David Townsend.
Maeve Kennedy Townsend, center rear, is seen in 2002 with her mother, then-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. They are surrounded by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, front left, sister Kate Townsend (rear-L), and father David Townsend.(JOHN MAKELY)
Maeve McKean is a granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, the former U.S. attorney general and New York senator who was former president John F. Kennedy’s brother. Her mother, the eldest of Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s 11 children, lost a bid for Maryland governor in 2002.
Tragedy has famously followed the Kennedy family over the years, including the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and the 1999 plane crash death of John F. Kennedy Jr. Townsend is named for another Kennedy sibling who died in 1948 after her plane crashed in fog in France.
McKean works as a public health and human rights lawyer and executive director of Georgetown University’s Global Health Initiative, a university-wide research and service program.
She had recently urged people on social media to take the coronavirus seriously, and had encouraged service projects for “fellow Americans and global citizens during the COVID-19 crisis.”
A week ago, McKean posted a picture on Twitter of her 8-year-old son. As part of his schooling from home, he was shown smiling as he watched a livestream of basketball star Stephen Curry asking coronavirus questions of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Her tweet bore the hashtag “ParentingInAPandemic.”