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 Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, and her eight-year-old son Gideon, are now feared dead after police spent the night searching the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland.

23 Gideon (left) and Maeve (left center) went missing yesterday Credit: Instagram

23 Maeve is pictured with her family Credit: Facebook

23 Maeve (middle) and Gideon (bottom right) are feared dead in a boating accident Credit: Getty Images - Getty

23 Officials continued to search around the Chesapeake Bay area on Friday Credit: Cbs local

Maeve's mother, Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, shared the grim news that the operation had switched from rescue to recovery.

“With profound sadness, I share the news that the search for my beloved daughter Maeve and grandson Gideon has turned from rescue to recovery,” said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in a statement.

A Maryland Natural Resources Police spokeswoman said authorities suspended the search Friday night but would resume Saturday morning.

Maeve and Gideon were kicking a ball near the water, when it went into the water, her husband David McKean said.

23

The duo went out in a canoe to retrieve it, but "got farther out then they could handle, and couldn’t get back in," McKean told The Washington Post.

A statement from Maryland's Department of Natural Resources Police shared by Hogan's spokesperson said police responded just before 5 p.m. to a call of two people who "appeared to have be overtaken by the strong winds" in the Chesapeake Bay.

"The preliminary investigation revealed that the pair may have been paddling the canoe from a residence in Shady Side, MD out into the Bay to retrieve a ball and were unable to paddle back to shore," the statement said.

David would not confirm to the Washington Post whether the canoe was found.

Maryland's DNR Police on Friday that a canoe matching the description of the one the mother and son used had been found, however.

23 Kathleen Townsend's home, where the family was quarantining Credit: Google Earth

"At approximately 7:00 p.m., an overturned canoe, matching the approximate description of the one which the pair were in, was located," a statement said.

The boat reportedly washed up in Rockhold Creek.

The tragedy is the latest to befall the prominent family – with some believing they are the victims of a 'Kennedy curse."

As the closest thing America has to a royal family, the Kennedy's have been faced with decades of tragedy – leading

Edward Kennedy, John and Robert's brother, to himself debate if there is a family 'curse.'

Maeve and Gideon's disappearance comes just months after the Kennedy Family mourned the death of 22-year-old Saoirse Kennedy Hill, who died of a suspected drug overdose.

23 Officials search for the mother and son in the Chesapeake Bay Credit: Cbs local

23 The Kennedys are pictured at a family gathering Credit: Instagram

23 A pier at Columbia Beach. A person at this pier reported seeing Maeve and her son around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday Credit: AFP - Getty

23 Water washes on shore in Calvert Cliffs State Park in the Chesapeake Bay, around where authorities are searching for Maeve and her son Credit: AFP - Getty

23 Maeve smiles in a picture with her kids Credit: Facebook

The 'Kennedy curse' led four of Edward's eight siblings – half of Joseph and Rose Kennedy's kids – to suffer violent deaths.

The most famous was the assassination of John F. Kennedy during his presidency.

"JFK" died when he was just 46 on November 22, 1963 during a visit to Dallas, Texas, after he was shot in his back while riding alongside his wife, Jackie in a convertible.

Joseph Jr, was killed while serving as a pilot bomber in August 1944, during World War II.

Then in 1948, their second eldest daughter, Kathleen, died in a plane crash in the south of France, aged just 28.

Robert 'Bobby' Kennedy, died in 1968 when he too, was assassinated during his campaign to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

When he was just 38, John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash.

John Jr.'s wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren tragically died in the accident with him.

Edward's brother David Kennedy died when he was 28 of a drug overdose in 1984.

23 The Kennedy family was the closest thing America ever had to having its very own Royal Family Credit: Getty - Contributor

23 President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963 Credit: Alamy

23 Robert Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968 Credit: Getty - Contributor

23 Joseph Kennedy Jr. was killed in a plane crash while serving with the US Navy in World War II Credit: Corbis - Getty

23 A frogman attempts to raise Edward Kennedy's car eight hours after it plunged into pond Credit: Corbis - Getty

23 David (seen here on his mum's lap) died of a drug overdose in a hotel aged 28 Credit: Time Life Pictures

23 Family members carry the coffin of Michael Kennedy who was killed in a New Year’s Eve skiing accident Credit: Allan Tannenbaum

23 Saoirse Kennedy Hill, 22, is the latest member of the clan to fall victim to the 'curse' Credit: Facebook

Michael, David's son, died nearly a decade later in the mountains of Aspen, Colorado while playing football in his skis.

Kara, Edward's daughter, died of a heart attack at age 51 in 2011.

Saorsie, Joseph and Rose's Granddaughter, died this past August, just eight months ago.

Maeve shared a sweet picture of Gideon listening to an interview with Steph Curry and Coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci just last week.

"@StephenCurry30 and Dr. Fauci's very informative interview was part of my 8-year old son's homeschooling today!" Maeve tweeted, with a happy Gideon smiling and holding a phone.

Maeve – who worked as the executive director of Georgetown University’s Global Health Initiative – penned an open letter published in Politico last year, denouncing her uncle Robert F. Kennedy's anti-vaccination crusade.

She wrote the letter alongside her mother Kathleen, who is the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, and her cousin Joseph P. Kennedy.

"We love Bobby. He is one of the great champions of the environment," the letter said.

23 Maeve shared this picture of Gideon just last week Credit: Twitter

23 Maeve (left) was still missing as of Friday Credit: Instagram

23 Maeve is the executive director of Georgetown University's Global Health Initiatives Credit: Georgetown University

23 Ethel Kennedy, Maeve, and Kathleen Kennedy laughing at a symposium on RFK at the Kennedy Library Credit: Getty Images - Getty

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"We stand behind him in his ongoing fight to protect our environment. However, on vaccines he is wrong," the letter continued.

The letter added: "He has helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media and is complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines."

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