Saoirse Kennedy Hill was the victim of an abduction attempt when she was 10 years old: Report
The late Saoirse Kennedy Hill was the victim of an alleged abduction attempt outside the Kennedys' Cape Cod compound when she was just 10 years old, per a media report at the time.
According to Barnstable police, two men in a van approached Robert F. Kennedy's granddaughter when she was returning home from playing tennis in Hyannis Port in 2007.
The girl was walking towards the family's 6-acre waterfront compound when one of the men asked her if she wanted a ride. However, she felt scared and ran away from the scene, per an archived report from WCVB-TV of Boston.
“Two white males, approximately 50 years old according to the witness, were sitting in a white GMC van,” Barnstable police Sgt. Mark Mellyn said at the time. “As the girl walked by the van, the driver asked her if she needed a ride. The young girl responded, ‘no,’ and just did not feel right about the situation and ran home."
Saoirse had confided in a female friend of hers about the incident, who's mother subsequently alerted authorities.
“We are glad that they called and reported this,” Mellyn had added.
Saoirse tragically died of an apparent drug overdose at the Massachusetts home of her grandmother, 91-year-old Ethel Kennedy, RFK’s widow, on Thursday.
According to Hyannis News, the 22-year-old was already in cardiac arrest by the time paramedics responded to the scene at Marchant Avenue mansion at about 2:30 pm. She was later pronounced dead at the Cape Cod Hospital, spurring an investigation into the incident that is currently underway.
“Our hearts are shattered by the loss of our beloved Saoirse,” the family said in a statement. “Her life was filled with hope, promise, and love. She lit up our lives with her love, her peals of laughter and her generous spirit. We will love her and will miss her forever.”
The Boston College student went on to become a champion for the #MeToo movement and spoke publicly about her struggles with depression while studying at the institute, the New York Post reports.
“Many people are suffering, but because many people feel uncomfortable talking about it, no one is aware of the sufferers,” Saoirse wrote in a 2016 piece for the Deerfield Scroll, the school newspaper of Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. “This leaves people feeling even more alone.”
She later called on "all members of the Deerfield community to come forward and talk freely about mental health issues” so they wouldn’t suppress their emotions.
“We are all either struggling or know someone who is battling an illness,” she said. “Let’s come together to make our community more inclusive and comfortable.”