Robert F Kennedy's granddaughter and great-grandson are missing after their canoe capsized.
Maryland's governor Larry Hogan confirmed that Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, and her eight-year-old son Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean were missing at a press conference on Friday.
The search for the pair started Thursday afternoon after Maryland's Natural Resources Police responded to a report of two people on a canoe in the Chesapeake Bay who appeared to be overtaken by strong winds.
A statement from the police, 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.
David McKean, Maeve's husband and father to Gideon, told The Washington Post the pair "popped" into a canoe to chase after a football that was kicked into the water.
"They just got farther out than they could handle and couldn’t get back in", he said
An overturned canoe matching the one used by the missing people was found on Thursday night, police said.
Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said "news of this tragedy hit me and my family hard this morning."
"We are holding Kathleen and her family in the light, and holding our own loved ones a little closer as we reflect on their pain and their loss," he said in a statement.
The Maryland State Police, U.S. Coast Guard, and local police and fire departments joined in the search, which was ongoing as of Friday afternoon.
