The family was at a waterfront home near Annapolis, Maryland, on Thursday. At about 4 p.m., children were kicking a ball back and forth in a yard, and the ball went into the water, McKean’s husband, David McKean, told The Washington Post.
He said his wife and son “popped into a canoe to chase it down. They just got farther out than they could handle and couldn’t get back in,” he told The Post.
“My heart is crushed, yet we shall try to summon the grace of God and what strength we have to honor the hope, energy and passion that Maeve and Gideon set forth into the world,” she said in a statement.
Kennedy Townsend, 68, is the daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel Kennedy.
According to her statement, McKean was executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative and taught bioethics and human rights there as an adjunct professor.
McKean’s mother also gave a statement to USA Today.
“Maeve was vivid,” Kennedy Townsend said. “You always knew when she was in a room. Her laughter was loud, unabashed and infectious. She did everything with her full self and her whole heart. She gave the best hugs, sang loudly and out of tune, danced, wrestled, argued, forgave. Maeve shone … The role she treasured most was mom.”
McKean’s husband also posted a statement on Facebook Friday evening.
“I am writing here to address the countless people who have loved my wife Maeve and my son Gideon. As many of you have seen, they went missing in the Chesapeake Bay yesterday afternoon,” he wrote.
“Despite heroic efforts by the Coast Guard and many state and local authorities, the decision has now been made to suspend the active rescue effort. The search that began yesterday afternoon went on throughout the night and continued all day today. It is now dark again. 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.”
David McKean also provided more details about what happened.
“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 wrote. “Gideon and Maeve were playing kickball by the small, shallow cove behind the house, and one of them kicked the ball into the water. 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. 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 canoe, which was capsized and miles away, at approximately 6:30 yesterday evening.”
