AN operation has begun to recover the bodies of Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughter and her son after they went missing while they tried to retrieve a lost ball from a bay in a canoe. Maeve Ken…
Maryland police have found the body of Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, who has been missing since her canoe disappeared in the choppy waters of the Chesapeake Bay on April 2.
After a days-long search that involved aviation and underwater imaging sonar technology, police and members of the Charles County Dive and Rescue, recovered McKean's body in 25 feet of water about 2.5 miles south of her mother’s Shady Side, Md. residence, according to a release from Maryland Natural Resources Police.
It is from this residence that authorities believe McKean, 40, had launched the canoe to retrieve a missing ball with her eight-year-old son, Gideon. Police believe, strong winds and heavy seas prevented the pair from paddling back to shore. After a rescue search, the overturned canoe that the duo were in was found Friday.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday evening that the 26-hour search that covered more than 3,600 square miles of air, sea and land would be suspended.
The Maryland Natural Resources Police will resume search operations for Gideon McKean in what is deemed a recovery effort.
McKean was the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, the grandniece of former President John F. Kennedy, and daughter of former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy's eldest child.
David McKean detailed on a Facebook post Friday what he has "come to understand" about the tragedy that befell his wife, who served as the executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative. Together the couple shared Gideon, 8, along with daughter Gabriella, 7, and son Toby, 2.
"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."
Kennedy Townsend said in a statement Friday that her family's "hearts are 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. My family thanks all for the outpouring of love and prayers as we grieve and try to bear this devastating loss."
Maryland police have found the body of Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, who has been missing since her canoe disappeared in the choppy waters of the Chesapeake Bay on April 2.
After a days-long search that involved aviation and underwater imaging sonar technology, police and members of the Charles County Dive and Rescue, recovered McKean's body in 25 feet of water about 2.5 miles south of her mother’s Shady Side, Md. residence, according to a release from Maryland Natural Resources Police.
It is from this residence that authorities believe McKean, 40, had launched the canoe to retrieve a missing ball with her eight-year-old son, Gideon. Police believe, strong winds and heavy seas prevented the pair from paddling back to shore. After a rescue search, the overturned canoe that the duo were in was found Friday.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday evening that the 26-hour search that covered more than 3,600 square miles of air, sea and land would be suspended.
[...]
McKean was the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, the grandniece of former President John F. Kennedy, and daughter of former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy's eldest child.
David McKean detailed on a Facebook post Friday what he has "come to understand" about the tragedy that befell his wife, who served as the executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative. Together the couple shared Gideon, 8, along with daughter Gabriella, 7, and son Toby, 2.
"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."
[...]
Happened onto this video in which Polly is pointing out the links between Mauve, The Global Health Initiative and the whole "Bill Gates Vaccination Nation" Cabal.
She worked for/with Mark Dybel, Feinstein, and several others and was neck deep in advocating vaccines.
At 9:30 in the video, the details of Trump wanting vaccines investigated by Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and Mauves negative comments are noted in an article.Next, Bill Gates is seen in the video, saying how he "stopped Trump from investigating the ill results of vaccines" in his "aspergers" way of stating stuff.
Oh My, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is NOT holding back now!
If his Niece and her boy were murdered to try to shut HIM up, it BACKFIRED badly!!
Here is some of the stuff he has posted:
Verified
Vaccines, for Bill Gates, are a strategic philanthropy that feed his many vaccine-related businesses (including Microsoft’s ambition to control a global vac ID enterprise) and give him dictatorial control over global health policy—the spear tip of corporate neo-imperialism.
Gates’ obsession with vaccines seems fueled by a messianic conviction that he is ordained to save the world with technology and a god-like willingness to experiment with the lives of lesser humans.
Promising to eradicate Polio with $1.2 billion, Gates took control of India ‘s National Advisory Board (NAB) and mandated 50 polio vaccines (up from 5) to every child before age 5. Indian doctors blame the Gates campaign for a devastating vaccine-strain polio epidemic that paralyzed 496,000 children between 2000 and 2017. In 2017, the Indian Government dialed back Gates’ vaccine regimen and evicted Gates and his cronies from the NAB. Polio paralysis rates dropped precipitously. In 2017, the World Health Organization reluctantly admitted that the global polio explosion is predominantly vaccine strain, meaning it is coming from Gates’ Vaccine Program.
The most frightening epidemics in Congo, the Philippines, and Afghanistan are all linked to Gates’ vaccines. By 2018, ¾ of global polio cases were from Gates’ vaccines.
In 2014, the Gates Foundation funded tests of experimental HPV vaccines, developed by GSK and Merck, on 23,000 young girls in remote Indian provinces.
Approximately 1,200 suffered severe side effects, including autoimmune and fertility disorders.
Seven died.
Indian government investigations charged that Gates funded researchers committed pervasive ethical violations: pressuring vulnerable village girls into the trial, bullying parents, forging consent forms, and refusing medical care to the injured girls. The case is now in the country’s Supreme Court.
In 2010, the Gates Foundation funded a trial of a GSK’s experimental malaria vaccine, killing 151 African infants and causing serious adverse effects including paralysis, seizure, and febrile convulsions to 1,048 of the 5,049 children.
On Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, took to social media and shared a lengthy message about billionaire Bill Gates and his "obsession with vaccines" ...
The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday evening that the 26-hour search that covered more than 3,600 square miles of air, sea and land would be suspended.
Questions concerning the presented evidence - Maeve McKean and son, Gideon
The primary focus of this thread bears on the recent death of Maeve Fahey Kennedy and her son, Gideon. Both mother and son suffered a horrific end by drowning in the Chesapeake Bay (April 2nd, 2020) after setting out in a canoe from the house to retrieve a ball from the water. Maeve and Gideon were wife and son of David McKean. David was reported to be at the house with his family - the house was actually Maeve’s mothers house on the Chesapeake and not David’s, and they were at this house during Covid-19 quarantine, being a place that gave the family some refuge from the city.
At that time of this tragic incident that had claimed both mother and son, had followed the reports of the incident from sources for a number of days/weeks after reading the initial statements. Had made some notes and vowed to keep checking in to see what else might or might not be said. It is now over two months later.
So, had read this thread from the very first post (thank you each), however during this time following the presented evidence of facts; almost all exclusively from the press (with the absents of any official reports), said notes presented some gaps which had hoped to be filled in. Two months later they still exist, at least as far as can be found.
(Note: within there are photos and charts added to provide a more detailed picture over what had been included in media releases)
There has been, to my knowledge, no official investigation released, and I’m of the opinion it will not be, as this is what often happens in closed cases when accidental deaths such as this are the outcome. The Coroner ruled of an accidental drowning early on after finding the bodies, and the family thus started the process of coming to grips with their lose.
People here can well understand the hazards of water, and over the years, individuals or pairs, and even in groups, people have succumbed in this way. The forum/SoTT has reported cases that were either sad ends (as this seems to be as reported), strange ends, or questionable ends in drowning cases (411 Missing is sometimes recalled when the individual(s) are found in water). This case, by all appearances, is the former, it is just a sad tragic end.
For the first few weeks, almost to the word, the press reported it using variations of the same quote originally found, with additions noted by police et cetera. From April 2nd to April 12th - on the day the family had organized an internet (Zoom) memorial service for mother and son, the news narrative basically stopped and the press, more or less, became silent. This is understandable, a family is grieving and, as said, the coroner had ruled death by accidental drowning.
This case found multi-agency involvement, and it would have remained in the hands of the police pending the coroners determination, which came quickly. The Police would hold the primary investigation, although other agencies that were involved would have submitted their investigative findings to the police. The U.S. Coast Guard (Federal) may have other considerations, yet they, too, would have provided a statement of their investigative and search activities. Search and Rescue may have been the lead incident command point for coordination; unsure.
In looking at this case, the data seemed skimpy, at least to what is accessible, so it is just an overview to see if it all makes sense, starting with the position that what indeed happened, happened as reported.
The initial statements, as said, would see journalists using quotes that upon first look made me pause a few times - it is how things get written in the press that can lead one, or veer one away. The only full statement, other than initially what was provided (which has yet to be determined), came from a Facebook post by David McKean himself. This statement by David provided a little more context because one could then see how the press utilized his words - propagating, and yet there appears to be gaps that did not close when the story first appeared prior to when David gave his statement overview. As such, I would also like to explore these gaps, if seen that way, to canvas what anyone else here thinks or can add to help correct and close them - has this case stayed in the minds of anyone here? Indeed, it may seem to have been just an open and shut accidental drowning as was ruled, and perhaps I should have dropped it myself, yet when the Kennedy’s are involved it kept me curious, if only in the end to dispel this curiosity later. In this respect, I’m looking to dispel it by closing the gaps.
Here is an example of one of the first articles quoted, and later being near the same by dozens of other news outlets, if not a hundred globally reporting on the case with variations.
Following the Ball
Mr. Mckean told the Washington Post that his family was staying at a waterfront home in Maryland owned by his wife’s mother. While playing by the water at 16:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on Thursday, Mrs McKean and Gideon “popped into a canoe” to chase after a ball that had rolled away, Mr McKean said.
This time of 16:00 that came up in this article has been re-quoted by others, yet only a few, and later it does not come up directly other than being originally established by the writer and not by David in direct quote, so keep this time in mind.
The quote “popped into a canoe” seemed somewhat odd to me on its own – firstly, leading the reader to a conclusion that it was a firsthand observation. Secondly, it seems a somewhat odd thing to say “[popped] into a canoe” rather than something like 'I observed them getting into a canoe to retrieve the ball that I saw roll into the water’. So, going with the 'ball,' which at first seemed to have been observed being in play, and then it goes into the water to be fetch (presumably observed from a window or other), while also adding in the "popped into a canoe" words, the conclusion seems evident. You will see this rephrased a number of times coming up.
The second article of this thread (and most articles read say about the same thing) looked like this (partial quotes from Facebook by David):
"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 {David}. "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 somehowgot 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.”
The point of this quote might leave the reader with the impression that at least some of this was observed directly by David, which does not seem to be the case at all (as will be seen). Now with the first statement bolded, it seems to denote an observation, yet here also it acknowledges that "one of them" kicked the ball into the water, so that was not observed. Which begets the question, was there a ball in the water? The focus is on the ball in most all articles (the reason for mother and son's actions) often in articles by direct quote or the journalists own words (example being they ‘hoped’ to retrieve the ball et cetera).
Next comes details of the cove itself, which seems to be somewhat descriptive "by the small, shallow cove”. So, one might ask, was it necessary to be so descriptive? Maybe, undecided. Of the canoe, again, here David is saying they got into it (an observation due to later findings) while reminding the reader of the intent ("intended") "simply to retrieve the ball". And then it was "somehow" they entered the open waters outside the cove. This was not observed.
“Simply” suggests that the ball rolled into the water and then they just got into the canoe to go and simply retrieve it. Seems pretty basic, yet the reader will have to weight this as we go along.
I’ll pause here and ask what was exactly observed? There was a ball, there was play, an acknowledgement that Maeve and her son got into a canoe, and then nothing else, until when an onlooker saw them “far out from shore.” The onlooker was unnamed. Notice also the point made above concerning ‘their’ canoe being found at 6:30. Keep this time also in mind, it comes up again (some say 7:00 pm).
To recap, from 16:00 to 16:30 (the latter time was when they were observed by the onlooker), nothing is known, or is it? It is presumed that at 16:00 ‘someone’ observed them playing kickball, then the ball rolled into the water and both mother and son “popping’ into the canoe to go and “simply” retrieve it. “Somehow” they were pushed out into the open water, and then observed “far from shore” at 16:30. A map further along will provide the locations of the home and observation point. Thus, for 30 minutes, according to the times provided, both Maeve and Gideon were unobserved, at least at first look.
The journalist writing the above provided that time of 16:00 when all these things first started. How was this time established? As said, it does not really come up again, as after April 2nd it appears to be mostly omitted by further statements. It was semi-stated by David April 3rd working back from the observed 30 min. from the onlooker's time, and not directly stated. It appeard on a couple of map illustrations in articles, too.
Facebook Statement (written on April 3rd)
On April 3rd David McKean made a full statement on Facebook, so will add it here. Previously, from all the other articles where direct quotes from David were cited using different words, I’m just not sure where they came from (a brief statement to the press April 2nd by a third party?). Here is an April 3rd article with updates on the 6th and 8th that includes the full Facebook quote by David (I will come back to the article also):
David McKean released the following statement on Facebook yesterday afternoon
“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. I tried to reach out personally to as many people as possible before the news became public. However, I know that I was only able to scratch the surface. For those of you learning of this news here, I am sorry. I know Maeve would have loved for you to have gotten a personal call.
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.
I know that people have many questions about what happened as we grapple with this tragedy. Here is what I have come to understand. 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. 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.
Gideon was 8, but he may as well have been 38. He was deeply compassionate, declining to sing children’s songs if they contained a hint of animals or people being treated cruelly. He hated if I accidently let a bad word slip. He spent hours upstairs reading, learning everything he could about sports, and trying to decipher the mysteries of the stock market. But he was also incredibly social, athletic, and courageous. For his school picture, he gathered a couple of his many friends to be in the shot with him. He played every sport he could, complaining to me that even though he was often playing six days a week, there was still that seventh day, and why hadn’t I signed him up for something else. And he was brave, leading his friends in games, standing up to people who he thought were wrong (including his parents), and relishing opportunities to go on adventures with friends, even those he’d just met. It is impossible to sum up Gideon here. I am heartbroken to even have to try. 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 turned 40 in November, and she was my everything. She was my best friend and my soulmate. I have already thought many times over today that I need to remember to tell Maeve about something that’s happening. I am terrified by the idea that this will fade over time. You could hear Maeve’s laugh a block away—and she laughed a lot. She was magical—with endless energy that she would put toward inventing games for our children, taking on another project at work or in our community, and spending time with our friends. There were weeks when we had people over to our house so often that our kids would be confused when we were just having dinner as a family. Maeve once spent the hours before New Year’s Eve organizing a 40-person party at our house, complete with a face painter, during a cross country flight home, while also reading to one of our kids in her lap. She once landed in DC after a 30-hour trip home from Asia, and then took a cab straight to the pool to play with our kids. She did the Peace Corps, she ran the Boston Marathon, she knew how rub Gabriella’s legs when they cramped, and being in her presence somehow allowed you to be a better version of yourself. She was the brightest light I have ever known.
At seven, Gabriella is heartbroken, but she amazes me with her maturity and grace. Toby is two-and-a-half, so he’s still his usual magical and goofy self. I know soon he will start to ask for Maeve and Gideon. It breaks my heart that he will not get to have them as a mother and brother.
There has been an overwhelming outpouring of love and support from so many people. Given who Maeve and Gideon were, I am not the least surprised. I am trying my best to respond. Many have asked what they can do. I don’t have any answers for that right now. If people have photos of Maeve or Gideon, those would be great for us to have, especially for me to share with Gabriella and Toby. And feel free to tell stories here. As Gabriella and Toby lay sleeping next to me last night, I promised them that I would do my best to be the parent that Maeve was, and to be the person that Gideon clearly would have grown up to be. Part of that is keeping their memories alive. Any help with that would be welcome.”
This is a heartfelt statement to friends and the public from a husband who has just lost his wife and son the day before. It is sad beyond belief. However, I pause on the one section with the bold just to keep it in discussion:
I know that people have many questions about what happened as we grapple with this tragedy. Here is what I have come to understand.
I may be reaching here as David follows up with some of what you have read in other quotes with slightly different words, such as “popped into the canoe” rather than here, whereby “They got into a canoe”. However, my impression is that David did not actually observe, or he only partially did as he then states things as his (I) understanding of them. Other than the initial statement of the details from home, other points would have been augmented by others, such as the police, search and rescue et cetera. David would have had someone putting together the events for him so he could respond publicly. Here on Facebook, David did not provide an initial time (16:00) as was brought up by TheWashington Post earlier, yet he did mention the 30 minute gap when the onlooker spotted them (16:30) being far away, and at “approximately” 6:30 (18:30) when the canoe was retrieved - I’ll get to the canoe and its retrieval later, yet briefly from the same article it states:
Maryland authorities said an overturned small canoe matching the description of the Kennedy’s had been recovered, but the two subjects have not yet been found.
On April 10th, Peoples.com (assuming of Peoples Magazine fame) makes a comment that I’ve not found repeated, yet it may establish the time (16:00) when they “popped into the canoe”:
, she and Gideon had been playing kickball behind the house, which borders a “small, shallow cove” on the bay, according to her husband, David McKean.
The ball went into the water and Maeve and her son went into their canoe, hoping to quickly retrieve it and returnto dry land. It was a clear day and cool, only partly cloudy.
“Earlier in the afternoon” does not provide an exact time, thus it is an unknown factor. “Hoping” to retrieve the ball and then to “return to dry land’ is also an odd way to write it, yet I digress. Here is the part that raised my eyebrows somewhat, and the explanation would, one would think, be in the official police investigation:
Police tell PEOPLE that someone did see them get into their canoe but declined to be more specific, citing the investigation.
Nowhere else have I seen this Police reference mentioned (might have missed it in other links not reviewed). This reference comes along on April 10th in the People.com’s article (eight days later). The Police will not define who that ‘someone’ is. David and the other two children were ‘alone’ at the house it has been mentioned, so it could have been either – or was it ‘someone’ else? The coroner had ruled accidental death at this point, and the family were moving to the service preparations held a few days later, and as said, I’m not sure the investigation will ever be published. Thus, this point of reference remains a question that may exist or it may never be answered.
Future in the same article (with variation in other articles – not significant):
About 30 minutes later, a man on the pier atColumbia Beach in Shady Side, just south of where Maeve and Gideon first set out, spotted them and grew concerned. Their boat was very small, and neither was wearing a life jacket.
He called 911. It was 4:30 p.m.
“It looked like they were being pushed out into the water and were having a hard time returning to shore,” Anne Arundel County Fire Department Capt. Russ Davies tells PEOPLE.
The water was frigid that day and the winds whipped at 15-to-20 mph, with gusts of more than 30 mph and whitecapped waves of two-to-three feet.
‘About’ 30 minutes establishes a time from the statement by police that “someone did see them get into their canoe” who is not named nor provided in earlier statements in the press, and that time seems to be what David came to ‘understand’ as being 16:00, although not specifically stated by him.
If David had observed any of this: put yourself in the shoes of a dad watching his son get into a canoe without a life jacket and the water is cold – ‘frigid,’ as was said in April, let alone Maeve allowing her 8-year-old son to do the same. There are also laws about life jackets and Maeve was said to be ‘strict’. So I don’t know, yet would submit that both David and Maeve would not have allowed this to take place over a mere ball going into the water (it is possible, though, and seems to have been what took place). Now ‘someone’ claims to have seen this, at least as it establishes an initiating time and activity.
Again, from the same Peoples.com, here we now have third party observations and rapid response is mentioned, and I don’t dismiss this at all except perhaps the part that conflicts:
Within five or six minutes of the 911 call, Capt. Davies says, first responders were on the scene.
“[They] had eyes on the canoe, but it was far off from the pier,” he says. Maeve and Gideon were seen “several miles from the pier drifting south in the Chesapeake Bay,” the county fire department said last week.
Firefighters “watched it when it went out of sight,” Davies says. “At that time, both people were still on it.”
Concerning the third party observations, here (April 4th) it does not indicate what Peoples.com had said:
“The two missing after a canoe trip in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, since Thursday are former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s daughter and grandson.
Odd choice of words, a canoe trip, however it then states:
The U.S. Coast Guard said the two “were seen struggling to return to shore in a canoe near Herring Bay and not seen again by the reporting individual.”
Rescue crews searched for the pair 10 miles south of Annapolis, near Herring Bay.
McKean and her son may have been overtaken by strong winds, according to a report to Maryland Natural Resources Police.
A statement from the agency, which didn’t name the missing people, said they may have been paddling the canoe from a home in Shady Side, Maryland, to retrieve a ball and couldn’t paddle back to shore, The Associated Press reported….
So, at 16:30 the onlooker (the Coast Guard does not corroborate with Cpt. Davis ‘eyes’ that I can find) has them miles away towards Herring Bay. How is this possible in 30 minutes?
I checked Anne Arundel Search and Rescue /Fire Department’s Facebook for April 2 – 4th and they had nothing on it, which may not be unusual, nor nothing on the alleged canoe itself found in an odd place, in my opinion (we will get to this also).
So, the fact that the U.S. Coast Guard singularly only mentions the “reporting individual” (that would be the caller of 911 at 6:30, whoever that person was) and not the first responders who had “eyes on the canoe” and had “watched when it went out of sight” (Davies) is in conflict. There could be a reporting answer, yet there are no official reports to read, only the Coast Guards statements and that of the The Associated Press attributed to Capt. Davies.
A 911 call is made at 4:30 and details taken. Those details would then be relaid from dispatch to Search and Rescue, wherein they would need to record them and activate someone in the field or from station at Anne Arundel. From the initiating call to arrival on the pier it took "5 to 6" minutes according to statements. That is fast.
Another article on the April 4th makes the lone onlooker into ‘they’ onlookers:
A water rescue dispatch arrived shortly after a concerned citizen at Columbia Beach community pier, in Shady Side, Maryland, placed a 911 call, saying they saw two people drifting in a small canoe.
So, 36 minutes elapses between the time that Maeve and Gideon got into the canoe and were seen ‘several miles’ off the pier. I asked if this was possible? - I guess so, especially if the time of 16:00 is a mistake (after getting into the canoe). I’ve canoed most of my life and several miles (wind or not) is not easily done in 36 minutes, especially with an 8-year-old child in wind and whitecaps.
Here is a small snip of a map from the same article by Martin Schwartz (Photo):
The Pier at Columbia Beach appears to be located roughly where the marker is at the “S" in the "Spotted From...” label when the 911 call was placed. Recall the onlookers is seeing them miles away to the south.
On April 3, 2020 at 9:11 a.m. MDT TheWashington Post reports on the missing canoers (41 year old woman with her 8 yr old son) “after a concerned person called authorities around 4:30 p.m. Thursday to say he saw two people in a “small canoe or kayakdrifting in the bay” while at the Columbia Beach pier.”
At this time the names of Maeve and Gideon had not been released.
Maeve and Gideon Found
There are some conflicts of distances, however will start with the Mercury News (April 9th) who included a map with points (see ‘Point’ text for location descriptions):
They discovered the boy’s body in 25 feet of water and 2.3 miles south of the Shady Side home of his grandmother, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the state’s Natural Resources Police said (Point 4 on map).
He was found about 2,000 feet from where authorities on Monday found the body of his mother, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 41.
The two were last seen on the afternoon of Thursday, April 2, outside the home where the family was quarantining (Point 1 on map). One of them had kicked a ball into the water and they got into a canoe, without life jackets, to retrieve it, said Maeve McKean’s husband, David McKean.
[…]
At 4:30 p.m., a 911 call from the community pier at Columbia Beach (Point 2) reported canoers in distress
The overturned canoe was found around 7 p.m. Friday near the community of Deale, about 5 miles from the Townsend home, police said (Point 3)
Reading other articles from NYDN here, they can’t seem to get the dates correct, such as “The two went missing last Friday after their canoe…” which was reported April 3rd when it was Thursday April 2nd.
An online service (Zoom) for the family was held April 12th, 2020, which is also when there was nothing much else presented in the press, and to date, no formal official investigation can be found.
The following is direct from the U.S. Coast Guard that includes the search grid and the parties engaged in the search. It is also noted (from many articles) that the official search did not hit the water or air until 18:30 the night of the incident - 2 hours after the 911 call from the onlooker and the arrival of Search and Rescue to the pier. The search start corresponds to when they found the canoe. Note the mention of the “Maryland State Police members that two individuals were seen struggling to return to shore in a canoe near Herring Bay and not seen again by the reporting individual” and Herring Bay is near to where the canoe was found, which is a long way from the Pier whereby the onlooker had called 911.
There were nine different agencies involved in this multi-agency search using aircraft and boats:
Update/Final: Coast guard suspends search for missing canoers near Annapolis, Maryland
U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 04/03/2020 09:43 PM EDT
News Release
Update/Final: Coast Guard suspends search for missing canoers near Annapolis, Maryland
Editors' Note: Click on images to download high resolution version.
Coast Guard personnel searched a combined total of 3658 square miles over air, sea, and land over a period of 26 hours.
"This was a difficult case, and even more difficult to make the decision to suspend the search," said Cmdr. Matthew Fine, deputy sector commander and active search suspension authority at Sector Maryland-National Capitol Region command center. "Our crews and partners did everything they could to find them. We've kept the family informed at every step during the search, and our thoughts are with them tonight."
That was very big search grid considering they had already found the canoe (they started the search at 18:30) and they also knew where the canoe (with Maeve and Gideon onboard) initiated from, thus the full parameters. Obviously, they would search outside the parameters as a caution.
Canoe Recovery
The canoe alleged to have been recovered (matching the description) is a more curious piece of data due to the issues of where it was found. There are some conflicts, yet as Wikipedia provides, as does in the below illustration by Martin Schwartz, the canoe looks to have been found (wiki) “near Rockhold Creek in Deale” – that is ‘in’ Deale and not East of Deale, which has also been reported.
Here is Peoples.com full map as provided by Martin Schwartz (photo), so note the location of where the canoe was found. It’s odd, did Schwartz and others make an error? In order for a canoe to enter the waterway, there are two rock jetty structures built out into Herring Bay – see photo below the illustration by Schwartz:
This second photo is of the mouth of Rock Creek Harbor:
For a canoe to have entered to be found “near Rockhold Creek in Deale”, that is akin to threading a needle through the rock piers.
Here is a more detailed look at the area map of Rock Creek Harbor where the canoe was said to be found.
I took the liberty of adding some annotations to the map according to Schwartz’s (my rough guess):
Here it was stated they "popped into a canoe to chase it down [the ball]. They just got farther out than they could handle and couldn't get back in." Further from same, “Police believe the two individuals onboard the canoe "appeared to be overtaken by the strong winds."’
BBC reported “The 40-year-old and her eight-year-old son were last seen on Thursday evening riding in a canoe off Chesapeake Bay.
After an extensive search operation, police said on Monday that her body had been found in water about 2.5 miles (4km) south of where they had set off.”
CBC said “The body was found almost eight metres below the surface after a days-long search that involved aviation and underwater imaging sonar technology.”
CBS Baltimore said of young Gideon, the “Authorities said he was found about 2,000 feet from where his mother’s body was found on Monday.”
Notice CBC (and others) mentioning being found in 8 meters of water (close to 30 ft), and other articles mention 25 ft for Gideon who was found 2,000 ft away from his mother. Below is another map that adds more clarity as to the navigable water depths, and you can see that (if recorded accurately) they would have been some distance off shore – you can see the depth break (3 meters +/-) change to 5 + meters which corresponds more accurately to the depth of where they were found (each in about 25 ft.) – that would be to the right of the two *stars added to the map near the 5.9 meter contour. The tides may have pulled them out.
Environmental Data
For the time period in question, here are the Tide Charts (highlighted is the time window):
Chesapeake Beach, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Tide Chart
Requested time: 2020-04-02 Thu 12:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake Beach, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
38.7000° N, 76.5333° W
2020-04-02 Thu 3:24 AM EDT Moonset
2020-04-02 Thu 4:41 AM EDT 0.2 feet Low Tide
2020-04-02 Thu 6:48 AM EDT Sunrise
2020-04-02 Thu 11:33 AM EDT 1.3 feet High Tide 2020-04-02 Thu 1:11 PM EDT Moonrise
2020-04-02 Thu 6:39 PM EDT 0.4 feet Low Tide
2020-04-02 Thu 7:31 PM EDT Sunset
2020-04-03 Fri 12:03 AM EDT 0.9 feet High Tide
2020-04-03 Fri 4:13 AM EDT Moonset
Recall the conditions that day at that time: “The water was frigid and the winds whipped at 15-to-20 mph, with gusts of more than 30 mph and whitecapped waves of two-to-three feet.”
What is difficult to know is the orientation of winds and how that would affect a canoe heading in its direction – where it finally came to rest as a capsized canoe. In this, it was never stated, although there is a chance it was a cross wind (i.e. angled towards shore) which would have made canoeing extremely slow and difficult. With ‘two-to-three’ foot waves (depending on orientation with the direction of travel) this would severely impede stability and speed (likely Gideon himself was not paddling – they only found one paddle, which is remarkable itself being it was a capsized canoe).
Here is a chart of winds against the coast (reorientation of directions is also possible). Note the cross wind potentials:
Canoeing
From the canoes launch at the house, there does not appear to be a wharf, thus the canoe would have needed to be physically put into the water over-top the built rock wall that can be seen (below photo), assuming it was by Maeve alone. A canoe is never generally tethered in the water waiting, it is put in. The canoe itself travailed around 5 miles to at least Herring Bay at the jetty. It was either recovered there or it was, as has been mapped out and told by quote, further up the river at in Deale. The canoe was capsized somewhere beyond the last sighting by the onlooker, which was said to be miles south of the onlooker (as shown on the map), and moreover the canoe would have been like a log in the water to then drift the rest of the way to Herring Bay, or further. This seemed an incredible leap of math to me in a 2.5 hour timeline from start to recovery. The recovery of the 'alleged' canoe itself, imo, needed much more data then was reported, and obviously there were multi-agencies with eyes. Somewhere in the official investigation these points should be clearly defined, so until that can be assessed, it remains a rather large question.
This appears to be the House as shown in Peoples.com (note the canoe under the deck, if the same one - and a visible color at that):
Canoeing Further
A couple of things to note here. On March 30th, 2020, Gov. Larry Hogan had an executive order for the area that included boating restrictions. Recreational boating was not allowed (so they were in berths). Canoe, paddle boards et cetera for exercise were allowed. On April 2st, 2020 (same day of the drowning), those restrictions were clarified as there was much confusion.
...United States Coast Guard approved life jacket for each person on board. Each life jacket must be in good condition, be the proper size for the intended wearer and, very importantly, be readily accessible. Readily accessible means you must be able to put the life jacket on in a reasonable amount of time in an emergency. Life jackets should not be stowed in plastic bags or in locked or closed compartments, and they should not have other gear stowed on top of them. Preferably, they should be WORN by the intended wearer – They float, you don’t!
[...]
Cold water is extremely dangerous {it was April and it was "frigid"} and many boaters do not realize that cold water immersion can occur in water as warm as 77 degrees Fahrenheit!
Law - Where no state laws exist, federal law requires that children under the age of 13 wear a life jacket on a recreational boat, unless the child is below deck, in an enclosed cabin, or if the boat is not under way. Since most paddlecraft don’t have decks below or cabins, this means all the time when in use.
As said, have done enough canoeing in life (and have done so in some pretty tough winds and swells), and as a general rule here are some of the speeds in km/hr. (note that it is for a solo paddler as was likely the case):
Age and experience is a pretty obvious influence. If we have young children or novice paddlers in our group, we have to be realistic and scale back the paddling distance we are doing to suit those paddlers.
[…]
To some extent, you'll have to rely on judgment to calculate paddling time and distance. It only takes a few trips to begin to form that judgment. As you paddle more and more, you'll also get to know what your particular group's tolerance for paddling time.
A couple of things to consider, though...
Bad weather, or a stiff headwind will slow down even experienced and strong paddlers to a crawl. Less experienced paddlers may simply have to get off the water and wait out the storm.
[…]
The distances above are basedon typical flatwater routes.
Example of a solo paddler (wind and swells are not defined):
I am slowly getting a little better at paddling my solo/tandem canoe. I’ve probably been out about 8-10 times and am just learning the j stroke. I took my GPS with me today to see how fast I was paddling and I found that with some wind at my back or quarter I was paddling at about 3 mph. With the wind at my side more like 2.7, and with the wind in my face around 1.7-2.0.
From experience, given the wind direction and speed (> 30 mph) and swells of 2-3 feet, it indeed can feel like a crawl, and that is with two strong paddlers.
These are the last maps for further reference - Satellite Maps:
Summary
To end, the established narrative of what happened is summarized as:
At about 16:00 hours on April 2nd at the house of Maeve Fahey Kennedy's mother, both Mrs. KcKean and her son Gideon were playing kickball.
The ball rolls into the water and both Maeve and Gideon ‘popped’ into the canoe to retrieve it. This initially does not seem to have been observed, although someone later was said to have observed them getting into the canoe.
The canoe would have been launched from sore into the water.
Under legal law, life jackets were required, and the son, Gideon, was required to wear one.
Somehow, their canoe got pushed out into the open water of the bay.
At 16:30 an unnamed onlooker spots a woman and a boy from a pier at Columbia Beach who were far away struggling to get back to shore. The onlooker calls 911.
Search and rescue arrive at the pier and either directly observed them with the onlooker, or they did not.
No search of the water takes place until 18:30 once the canoe is found overturned.
The canoe is found approximately 5 miles away from its departure.
The coroner deems both Maeve and Gideon lost as an accidental drowning. The search is called off on the evening of the 3rd (presumed dead was listed then).
Mr. McKean releases a statement on Facebook on April 3rd.
The incident is reported widely – globally.
The bodies of Maeve and her son were recovered 4 and 6 days after the incident.
Both were found in 25 ft of water and around 2,000 feet from each other.
A service for mother and child is held on April 12th and the press winds down their reporting.
There is to date no official investigation released (unless found), and thus any collaborating investigative data in not contained here. As said up front, their unfortunate deaths may well be as reported and any points made here are a result of perceived gaps, and points seemingly being out of place.
Thanks for reading and any input/correction.
To change gears, from the Global Health Initiative where Maeve McKean worked, words of remembrance where written here.
Prior to joining ICAR, David led the Asia Program at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights from 2014-2019, working with a wide range of civil society activists and human rights defenders throughout the region, and overseeing legal and advocacy efforts related to combatting closing civic space, including restrictions to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. Prior to joining Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, David practiced civil rights law from 2009 – 2013 at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), an organization dedicated to advancing the rights of LGBT members of the United States military. In his capacity as Legal Director of the organization he worked extensively on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act by the United States Supreme Court.
David is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the American University, Washington College of Law. During law school he was elected to be the Executive Editor of the American University International Law Review. He is a member of the New York bar.
I’ve combed through both David and his late wife, Maeve’s careers (cross referencing some), and of course there is RFKjr. to consider, along with his anti-vaccine stance. Now just prior to the death of Maeve and Gideon, RFKjr. was exposing Dr. Fauci and COVID-19 Priorities and after, including the day before the memorial service, RFKjr. released work on Gates, followed up with Dr. Judy Mikovits piece by April 14th.
Referencing to different details now (and did so further looking to cross reference), here is how the tragedy was framed in Wikipedia. Wiki starts with starts off with:
(née Townsend; November 1, 1979 – April 2, 2020) was an American public health official, human rights attorney, and academic. She served as the Executive Director of the Global Health Initiative at Georgetown University. During the Obama Administration, McKean was the first-ever Senior Advisor for Human Rights in the United States Department of State's global AIDS program and the Office of Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She disappeared with her eldest son Gideon in the Chesapeake Bay on April 2, 2020. Maryland law enforcement officials declared that she and her son were presumed dead on April 3, 2020. Her body was found in the Chesapeake Bay on April 6 and Gideon's was found on April 8.
[…]
She also worked for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein in California and in Washington, D.C
[…] Disappearance and death
On April 2, 2020, McKean and her eight-year-old son, Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean, went missing while paddling in a canoe near McKean's mother's waterfront residence in Shady Side, Maryland. McKean had taken her family to Maryland to stay in quarantine during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Reports from the Maryland Natural Resources Police say they were attempting to retrieve a kickball that had landed in the water. Due to high winds, they were swept further out into the Chesapeake Bay. Fire officials from Anne Arundel County received an emergency call at 4:30 PM that day from a man who reported seeing a woman and her son, presumably the McKeans, in a small canoe near the community pier at Columbia Beach. McKean and her son were last sighted ten miles south of Annapolis, near Herring Bay. Marine units from the Queen Anne's County Police Department, Anne Arundel County Police Department, Maryland State Police, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, as well as the United States Coast Guard, searched the Chesapeake by boat and helicopter. Natural Resources Police reported that an overturned canoe was found around 7:00 PM on April 3, 2020, near Rockhold Creek in Deale. Later that night, after twenty-six hours, the Coast Guard suspended its search. At 7:30 PM, Maryland officials called off the search due to darkness. As of April 3, 2020, she and her son were presumed dead. On April 4, 2020, the search was resumed by Maryland police.
McKean and her son's disappearance has been referred to in the media as part of the "Kennedy curse", a series of deaths, accidents, and other calamities involving the family.[36][37]
McKean's body was found on April 6, 2020, and her son's body was found on April 8, 2020. On April 8, 2020, the medical examiner reported McKean accidentally drowned in the turbulent and chilly water of the Chesapeake Bay.
Wiki does not get the date correctly for the finding of the canoe (they had April 3rd), and the onlooker here actually sees, according to wiki, that it is a ‘woman and her son’ – this from miles south of the onlooker, who might have had binoculars. Wiki does not state the time of 16:00 when they were alleged to have gotten into the canoe.
Also, on wiki when originally looking, and in reality one happened just prior to Maeve and her son's death, and the other a year earlier - this latter mention was directed personally to R:
On May 8, 2019 she spoke out against her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and his non-profit health organization, Children's Health Defense, for spreading false information about vaccines. In March 2020 she signed a letter, along with hundreds of other public health officials, urging U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to follow scientific recommendations and provide adequate funding in response to COVID-19.
Here is the joint Kathleen and Maeve 2019 May article:
By KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND, JOSEPH P. KENNEDY II and MAEVE KENNEDY MCKEAN
May 08, 2019
...These tragic numbers are caused by the growing fear and mistrust of vaccines—amplified by internet doomsayers. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—Joe and Kathleen’s brother and Maeve’s uncle—is part of this campaign to attack the institutions committed to reducing the tragedy of preventable infectious diseases. He has helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media and is complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines.
We love Bobby. He is one of the great champions of the environment. His work to clean up the Hudson River and his tireless advocacy against multinational organizations who have polluted our waterways and endangered families has positively affected the lives of countless Americans. We stand behind him in his ongoing fight to protect our environment. However, on vaccines he is wrong.
And his and others’ work against vaccines is having heartbreaking consequences. The challenge for public health officials right now is that many people are more afraid of the vaccines than the diseases, because they've been lucky enough to have never seen the diseases and their devastating impact. But that’s not luck; it’s the result of concerted vaccination efforts over many years. We don’t need measles outbreaks to remind us of the value of vaccination.
{it follows then follows mush of what people hear being said and then launches in on John's 1962 Vaccination Assistance Act and brings up Ted's work and ends:}
Those who delay or refuse vaccinations, or encourage others to do so, put themselves and others, especially children, at risk. It is in all our interests to make sure that immunizations reach every child on the globe through safe, effective and affordable vaccines. Everyone must communicate the benefits and safety of vaccines, and advocate for the respect and confidence of the institutions which make them possible. To do otherwise risks even further erosion of one of public health’s greatest achievements.
The next reference is March 2, 2020 (pdf) signed by 815 individuals or groups to Mike Pence, with Maeve among them focused on Covid. Starts and ends with the following (remember this is the early reactionary days of March 2nd, and it was obviously written up well before and sent out to 815 people for agreement):
{start} Achieving A Fair and Effective COVID-19 Response: An Open Letter to Vice-President Mike Pence, and Other Federal, State and Local Leaders from Public Health and Legal Experts in the United States
Sustained human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus in the United States (US) appears today inevitable. The extent and impact of the outbreak in the US is difficult to predict and will depend crucially on how policymakers and leaders react. It will depend particularly on whether there is adequate funding and support for the response; fair and effective management of surging health care demand; careful and evidence-based mitigation of public fear; and necessary support and resources for fair and effective infection control.
{end}
The COVID-19 outbreak is unprecedented in recent American history, and there is no playbook for an epidemiological event of this scope and magnitude. To mitigate its impact, you must act swiftly, fairly, and effectively. We urge you to take these recommendations seriously and act urgently so that we are best protected from the damage of this unprecedented microbial threat and the possible harms of an uninformed or poorly conceived response.
* * *[We thank Hanna Ehrlich, Rita Gilles, Mary Petrone and Kayoko Shioda, students at Yale School of Health and Yale Law School, for their assistance in the research and writing of this document.]
Voyageur, you may find this interesting. I watched it with an open mind, did some more research on the guy who produced it and watched a whole lot of his other videos. Piqued my interest!
Reminds me of former CIA head William Colby's mysterious and publicized canoe-related death in 1996, which occurred in that region of the US. In the excellent remake of the The Manchurian Candidate (2004) there's a scene of an assassination that depicts a politician canoeing and being forcibly drowned by the mind-controlled character of the story. Some think that the scene was a direct reference to Colby's death.
More significantly though, there was a fair amount of suspicion around the Colby case because so many parts of the story simply didn't add up:
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