Mother and child lost in tragic Chesapeake Bay accident, possible connection to former Lt. Governor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My uncle drowned years ago in the Chesapeake on Easter weekend early April in a boating accident. He knew how to swim, but the water is just too cold that time of year. even with a lifejacket, the water is like a boa constrictor around your chest, every breath in and it squeezes, until you just cannot breath anymore. Then you either pass out and die of 1) drowning, or 2) hypothermia. Even if they had life jackets, they would not have survived whatsoever. My heart breaks for them.

My uncle's body washed on shore 4 days later. I hope their bodies are found so the family can have some closure.

I'm very sorry for your loss. However, I believe that you are probably wrong about what the outcome would have been in this case had they been wearing life jackets.

They were spotted struggling in their canoe and a call was placed to 911 at 4:49 PM. The Coast Guard responded promptly, and by 7:00 pm, their canoe was recovered.

No one knows exactly when they went into the water, but the temperature in the bay is now in the mid 40s. People survive 1 to 3 hours in 40 to 50 degree water. Life jackets would have kept their heads and a portion of their torsos out of the water and provided insulation, buying them additional time before hypothermia set in.

A total of 19 vessels and 5 aircraft participated in the search. With life vests, they would probably have held on to the canoe or drifted along with it. They would have been found within one to two hours of entering the water would most likely have survived, even if unconscious by then.

They drowned and sank to the bottom when their lungs filled with water. The vessels looking for them probably passed over them several times. In few days, once the process of decomposition fills their chest cavities with gas, they will float to the surface an be spotted or wash up on shore.

Thanks for this explanation. I’m really confused on timeline—were the other kids playing ball with them alone? If not, did those kids get an adult to call for help? I thought call for help was made around 4:00pm. Additional call placed by other homeowners who saw them struggling in their boat around 4:30.

Was the dad working there at the time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My uncle drowned years ago in the Chesapeake on Easter weekend early April in a boating accident. He knew how to swim, but the water is just too cold that time of year. even with a lifejacket, the water is like a boa constrictor around your chest, every breath in and it squeezes, until you just cannot breath anymore. Then you either pass out and die of 1) drowning, or 2) hypothermia. Even if they had life jackets, they would not have survived whatsoever. My heart breaks for them.

My uncle's body washed on shore 4 days later. I hope their bodies are found so the family can have some closure.

I'm very sorry for your loss. However, I believe that you are probably wrong about what the outcome would have been in this case had they been wearing life jackets.

They were spotted struggling in their canoe and a call was placed to 911 at 4:49 PM. The Coast Guard responded promptly, and by 7:00 pm, their canoe was recovered.

No one knows exactly when they went into the water, but the temperature in the bay is now in the mid 40s. People survive 1 to 3 hours in 40 to 50 degree water. Life jackets would have kept their heads and a portion of their torsos out of the water and provided insulation, buying them additional time before hypothermia set in.

A total of 19 vessels and 5 aircraft participated in the search. With life vests, they would probably have held on to the canoe or drifted along with it. They would have been found within one to two hours of entering the water would most likely have survived, even if unconscious by then.

They drowned and sank to the bottom when their lungs filled with water. The vessels looking for them probably passed over them several times. In few days, once the process of decomposition fills their chest cavities with gas, they will float to the surface an be spotted or wash up on shore.

I have so many questions. Who else was on the beach with them when this occurred? Were the other kids left alone on the beach while mother and son went out in the canoe? Why would she leave her other kids there alone? Why didn't someone immediately call for help? Why did it wait until a bystander saw them at 4:49 pm? Someone must have been with them on that beach or it wouldn't have been known they went into the water to get a ball. Why the heck didn't someone call for help sooner? So preventable and therefore tragic.

We posted similar questions at around same time — yes, I too, wonder what other adults were with them and why call made so late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two lives lost in pursuit of a ball. Chances are no life jackets and the Chesapeake is freezing in early April. What was the mother thinking? A completely unnecessary and avoidable tragedy. How does someone that intelligent and accomplished do something so stupid?

I thought the same thing....why even do that for a ball? Like...go onto Amazon and order another one. What made her think yes, let’s hop in this canoe with no life jackets to grab a BALL?

I'm sorry to say it, but this. Ball goes in the water, it's gone, end of story. I'm a reasonably experienced canoer (not kayaker though) and I wouldn't dream of hauling a canoe over spontaneously, sans lifeboat, to go get a ball. Much less doing it with an 8 year old child and leaving two other children possibly unattended behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My uncle drowned years ago in the Chesapeake on Easter weekend early April in a boating accident. He knew how to swim, but the water is just too cold that time of year. even with a lifejacket, the water is like a boa constrictor around your chest, every breath in and it squeezes, until you just cannot breath anymore. Then you either pass out and die of 1) drowning, or 2) hypothermia. Even if they had life jackets, they would not have survived whatsoever. My heart breaks for them.

My uncle's body washed on shore 4 days later. I hope their bodies are found so the family can have some closure.

I'm very sorry for your loss. However, I believe that you are probably wrong about what the outcome would have been in this case had they been wearing life jackets.

They were spotted struggling in their canoe and a call was placed to 911 at 4:49 PM. The Coast Guard responded promptly, and by 7:00 pm, their canoe was recovered.

No one knows exactly when they went into the water, but the temperature in the bay is now in the mid 40s. People survive 1 to 3 hours in 40 to 50 degree water. Life jackets would have kept their heads and a portion of their torsos out of the water and provided insulation, buying them additional time before hypothermia set in.

A total of 19 vessels and 5 aircraft participated in the search. With life vests, they would probably have held on to the canoe or drifted along with it. They would have been found within one to two hours of entering the water would most likely have survived, even if unconscious by then.

They drowned and sank to the bottom when their lungs filled with water. The vessels looking for them probably passed over them several times. In few days, once the process of decomposition fills their chest cavities with gas, they will float to the surface an be spotted or wash up on shore.

Thanks for this explanation. I’m really confused on timeline—were the other kids playing ball with them alone? If not, did those kids get an adult to call for help? I thought call for help was made around 4:00pm. Additional call placed by other homeowners who saw them struggling in their boat around 4:30.

Was the dad working there at the time?

I don't know any more about the chronology than is reported in the news:

Maryland DNR officials said the pair were reported missing around 4:49 p.m. Thursday near Herring Bay in Shady Side. According to officials, they had paddled out to retrieve a ball and were unable to paddle back to shore.

Watchstanders with the Coast Guard got word from the Maryland State Police that two people were seen struggling to return to shore in a canoe and they were not seen again. A man had called 911 from the Columbia Beach community pier where he saw the boaters drifting in the Bay.

At approximately 7:00 p.m., an overturned canoe, matching the approximate description of the one which the pair were in, and a paddle was located near Deale, Maryland, according to Anne Arundel County Fire.

Weather conditions were blustery Thursday with wind gusts between 30 to 35 mph. However, there weren’t any special warnings for boaters issued.

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/04/03/missing-boaters-maeve-kennedy-townsend-mckean-gideon-annapolis-chesapeake-bay/

McKean and her son were playing on a beach in a small, shallow cove behind the house at around 4 p.m. when one of them accidentally kicked a ball into the water. The two attempted to retrieve the ball by paddling a canoe into the protected cove, but ended up in the open bay where strong winds during the day had whipped up vicious currents.

“The cove is protected, with much calmer wind and water than in the greater Chesapeake,” David McKean wrote. “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, an onlooker called emergency services to report seeing the pair struggling to paddle to the shore. That was the last anyone saw of them. The Coast Guard recovered their capsized canoe miles away from the beach at 7 p.m. Friday.

The search ended for the night around 7:30 p.m. Thursday and began again Friday morning.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maeve-kennedy-mckeans-husband-posts-tribute-to-wife-and-son-after-maryland-drowning

[Anonymous]

I wonder who shallow the cove is right by the shore. It could be the ball was initially very close to shore and if the water was less than knee deep I can see jumping in the canoe just to avoid getting wet (vs wading to get the ball). I am not thinking in that moment that I am going canoeing - just that I am wading a few feet in my boat.

It is tragic. We make split second decisions all the time and 99.9% of the time they end up fine. We have all done dumb things that after we did them thought - that was a bit stupid. Especially people who are not risk adverse and live lives with adventure in them. People who travel and do sports etc accept a certain degree of risk in life and don't consciously factor it into every split second decision.

Rough time for the family left behind. Seven years old is a hard age to lose your mom and brother.

[Anonymous]

It also might have been the issue of mom paddling and boy intending to reach for the ball. Boy was never meant to be a paddler, just the ball retriever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder who shallow the cove is right by the shore. It could be the ball was initially very close to shore and if the water was less than knee deep I can see jumping in the canoe just to avoid getting wet (vs wading to get the ball). I am not thinking in that moment that I am going canoeing - just that I am wading a few feet in my boat.

It is tragic. We make split second decisions all the time and 99.9% of the time they end up fine. We have all done dumb things that after we did them thought - that was a bit stupid. Especially people who are not risk adverse and live lives with adventure in them. People who travel and do sports etc accept a certain degree of risk in life and don't consciously factor it into every split second decision.

Rough time for the family left behind. Seven years old is a hard age to lose your mom and brother.

This is true, but when dealing with water, fire, wilderness, and other forces of nature, people need to train themselves not to make split seconds decisions unless there truly is only one second to decide. Such is not the case for a ball in the water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My uncle drowned years ago in the Chesapeake on Easter weekend early April in a boating accident. He knew how to swim, but the water is just too cold that time of year. even with a lifejacket, the water is like a boa constrictor around your chest, every breath in and it squeezes, until you just cannot breath anymore. Then you either pass out and die of 1) drowning, or 2) hypothermia. Even if they had life jackets, they would not have survived whatsoever. My heart breaks for them.

My uncle's body washed on shore 4 days later. I hope their bodies are found so the family can have some closure.

I'm very sorry for your loss. However, I believe that you are probably wrong about what the outcome would have been in this case had they been wearing life jackets.

They were spotted struggling in their canoe and a call was placed to 911 at 4:49 PM. The Coast Guard responded promptly, and by 7:00 pm, their canoe was recovered.

No one knows exactly when they went into the water, but the temperature in the bay is now in the mid 40s. People survive 1 to 3 hours in 40 to 50 degree water. Life jackets would have kept their heads and a portion of their torsos out of the water and provided insulation, buying them additional time before hypothermia set in.

A total of 19 vessels and 5 aircraft participated in the search. With life vests, they would probably have held on to the canoe or drifted along with it. They would have been found within one to two hours of entering the water would most likely have survived, even if unconscious by then.

They drowned and sank to the bottom when their lungs filled with water. The vessels looking for them probably passed over them several times. In few days, once the process of decomposition fills their chest cavities with gas, they will float to the surface an be spotted or wash up on shore.

I have so many questions. Who else was on the beach with them when this occurred? Were the other kids left alone on the beach while mother and son went out in the canoe? Why would she leave her other kids there alone? Why didn't someone immediately call for help? Why did it wait until a bystander saw them at 4:49 pm? Someone must have been with them on that beach or it wouldn't have been known they went into the water to get a ball. Why the heck didn't someone call for help sooner? So preventable and therefore tragic.

We posted similar questions at around same time — yes, I too, wonder what other adults were with them and why call made so late.

Exactly. And if no one else was on the beach with them, how do we know they went in to get a ball? Very strange, IMO

[Anonymous]

While I hesitate to call that a cove, I would note on that day (and most days this week) the winds and waves have been coming from the NE, which means that small outcropping would have offered a small bit of protection, though nothing like had it been on the other side of Shady Side which is a more traditional calm cove. However, after a few yards out she would have been swept up by the waves and winds.

I think she was probably inexperienced in a canoe and the front end probably rode high with a young kid in front (or maybe by the mother) such that it acted a bit like a sail in those winds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public service announcement: If you are ever in a canoe or other boat that flips over throwing you into the water always, always, always hold onto the canoe or boat until helps comes.
It can be risky to attempt to swim to shore. You have a greater likelihood of being seen by searchers and found if you are holding onto the canoe or boat.

Yes but the problem is they should not have been on the water to begin with because it is too cold this time of year. My husbands parents live out there and their family is no boats till Memorial Day.

[Anonymous]

Another aspect to all this is that recreational boating is currently prohibited in Maryland. So there weren’t really any other boats around like there typically would be.
Just one more part of the tragic sequence of events.

[Anonymous]

Obviously no one in the house saw them given they didn't sound an alarm. I wonder how they knew they went after a ball? Is that just speculation as it seems like the only logical reason?

Seems like the neighbor sounded the alarm at 4:49. I don't think anyone can know exactly when they got in the canoe or why.

[Anonymous]

Are people suggesting that there may be more to the story? That things don’t add up? Seems plausible but foolish. I would think most people would say if the ball wasn’t close enough to reach from shore, getting in a canoe/kayak any time of year isn’t worth the effort.

[Anonymous]

I know this family and you are all terrible people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.google.com/maps/place/5313+Dennis+Point+Ln,+Shady+Side,+MD+20764/@38.82608,-76.4979282,1661m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b78aff2683edbd:0x14a033122bc542af!8m2!3d38.8261128!4d-76.497718

That's the house. There is a small cove but it is connected to the Bay directly. The next cove to the South is Columbia Beach, where they were spotted and someone called 911.

The canoe was found near Rockhold Creek which is in the town of Deale, 5 miles away as the crow flies.

I was bored.

The house is circled, X marks the next cove, arrows are the undercurrent taking them straight out to the Atlantic ocean.

Its not for nothing that the Chesapeake Bay is known as dangerous with a strong undercurrent.

https://wtop.com/anne-arundel-county/2018/08/rescuers-in-maryland-search-for-missing-12-year-old-around-sandy-point/

Thanks so much for this map. I envisioned a completely different cove. Would they have been playing ball on the beach based on pictures?

I was about to say the same thing - Anyone that knows the Chesapeake understands that it can get super dangerous.