Body of RFK's granddaughter's son recovered days after canoeing accident in Maryland: police
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 12: David McKean, Maeve Kennedy Townsend Mckean and family attend the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Hosts 2019 Ripple Of Hope Gala & Auction In NYC on December 12, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/Getty Im
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - The body of Robert F. Kennedy's granddaughter's 8-year-old son has been recovered nearly a week after a canoeing accident that also claimed the life of Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean.
The Maryland Natural Resources Police Underwater Operations Team say Gideon McKean's body was recovered at around 1:40 p.m. on Wednesday nearly 2.3 miles south of his grandmother's residence in Shady Side, which is where the canoe was initially launched.
RELATED: Body of RFK's granddaughter recovered days after canoeing accident in Maryland: police
Police say Gideon's body was located about 2,000 feet from where his mother's body was found.
Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean was the daughter of RFK’s oldest child, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former Maryland lieutenant governor and David Lee Townsend.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend released the following statement on Wednesday:
"On behalf of 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. They have helped us bring some closure to this terrible loss, and our family will always be grateful for their tireless work."
The Maryland Natural Resources Police was assisted in their searches by Charles County Dive Rescue and the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.
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McKean, 40, and her son Gideon were in a canoe in the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis when they disappeared Thursday. The Coast Guard called off the search Friday night.
“It is clear that Maeve and Gideon have passed away,” David McKean said on Facebook Friday. “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 D.C. to run around."
He said his wife and son got in the canoe to chase a ball that went into the water as the two of them were playing a game of kickball near a small, shallow cove behind the house.
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FOX News contributed to this report.