The Kennedy family is once again struck by tragedy as authorities call off the search for Maeve Kennedy Townsend, 40, and her 8-year-old son, Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean, after they were involved in a canoeing accident on Thursday.

The US Coast Guard announced on Friday evening that it was suspending the search after officials conducted an extensive 26-hour-search, covering more than 3,600 square miles of air, sea, and land since the pair went missing.

David McKean, Maeve's husband, said he, his wife, and their child gathered at her mother's home in Maryland on Thursday, the day of the accident. The children were playing with a ball that, at one point, fell into the water. Maeve and Gideon volunteered to retrieve it with a canoe.

Authorities were alerted by a call from a concerned citizen at 4:30 in the afternoon. The caller reported seeing a small craft drifting in the bay on Thursday afternoon. A preliminary investigation revealed the pair were struggling to paddle back to shore. Further investigation showed the weather in the bay was windy, and the waters were significantly rough.

The mission turned from "search-and-rescue" to "recovery" after authorities found their canoe miles from where they were last seen in the Chesapeake Bay.

David McKean, who is a human rights lawyer, announced the suspension on Facebook.

Maeve McKean was the daughter of lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and the grandniece of former President John F. Kennedy.

The Kennedy Curse

Numerous tragedies have marred the Kennedy family over the years. In 2019, 22-year-old Saoirse Kennedy Hill died of an apparent overdose at the Kennedy compound in Massachusetts.

Authorities responded to a call about an unresponsive female at 3 PM on August 1, 2019. The female, who was later identified as Saoirse, was taken to Cape Cod Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead.

In August 1944, Robert and John Kennedy lost their brother, Joseph F. Kennedy Jr., after the naval pilot's plane crashed. Joseph was serving with the US Navy in World War II when he died just off the coast of Normandy, France.

In 1963, police arrested Harvey Lee Oswald after shooting and killing the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, who was the first Catholic president elected to the office and was known for jump-starting man's mission to go to the moon.

In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy, who had just won California's presidential primary, was gunned down and killed in Los Angeles. The civil rights advocate started as a Senate aide to Joe McCarthy before serving as attorney general in JFK's administration.

Michael Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, died in a skiing accident in 1998. The 39-year-old was reportedly playing football on skis in Aspen when he crashed into a tree.

The collision caused a major injury to the head. Despite repeated efforts to stabilize him at the scene, he was pronounced dead an hour and a half after the accident.

Michael was one of Robert and Ethel Kennedy's eleven children.