The body of Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, was found on Monday after a five day search for Kennedy and her 8-year-old son, Gideon. 

Authorities have reported that the body has been found by divers under 25 feet of water, about 2.5 miles from her mother’s residence.

The family was self-quarantining at McKean’s mother’s home on the Chesapeake Bay, away from their home in Washington D.C. 

According to McKean’s husband, David, she and her son were playing a game and accidentally kicked their ball into the water. 

“They got into a canoe, intending simply to retrieve the ball, and somehow got pushed by wind or tide into the open bay,” he wrote on his Facebook. 

https://www.facebook.com/830415486/posts/10163553754455487/

Authorities claim that the canoe used, “appeared to be overtaken by the strong winds” and “the pair were unable to paddle back to shore.” 

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Joseph P. Kennedy III, McKean’s cousin, shared a video on his Twitter account as a tribute. 

“Maeve was my cousin closest in age who I looked up to. The person that convinced me to go into the Peace Corps.” 

Maeve Kennedy was a public health and human rights lawyer and executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative. 

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