Two members of the Kennedy family have gone missing after boating on Chesapeake Bay on Thursday evening, a family spokesperson confirmed.



Robert F Kennedy's granddaughter Maeve Kennedy McKean and her eight-year-old son, Gideon, were last seen after they took a canoe out on the water before they went missing.



"At this time our family asks for privacy and that everyone keep Maeve and Gideon in their prayers," a statement from a family spokesman read.



The mother-son duo were last seen floating just a few miles off the shore around 4.30pm on Thursday, according to a press release from the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. The release at the time did not disclose the two victims.



David McKean confirmed his wife and son's disappearance when speaking with the Washington Post. He said the family was playing outdoors when a ball got kicked into water. His wife and son “popped into a canoe to chase it down. They just got farther out than they could handle and couldn’t get back in," he told the newspaper.



A water rescue arrived shortly after a concerned citizen called in that they saw a pair drifting out in a small canoe near Columbia Beach pier in Shady Side, Maryland.



Even though Anne Arundel County Fire Department arrived within five minutes of the call, Captain Erik Kornmeyer they were unable to rescue the canoe due to fast water currents. "Currents were pretty fast, they moved out of sight pretty quickly," he said.



Crews on boats and in helicopters engaged in searches of the water into Thursday night and then resumed the search on Friday morning.