8. Kennedy Walked Back to the Party and Only Asked Two Friends for Help
Rather than alerting anyone at the no fewer than four homes he passed, or even his own group of party-goers at his rented cabin, Senator Kennedy quietly pulled aside two of his closest and most trusted friends to share news of what he had done and to ask for aid. The first was his cousin, Joseph Gargan, who had been raised as a Kennedy and was extremely close to the family. It was Gargan who planned the party, hoping to uplift Kennedy’s spirits after a hard year that included the assassination of his older brother, Robert. The second, Paul F. Markham was a school friend of Kennedy’s who had served as the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts until earlier that year, when he resigned to go into private practice.
Both Gargan and Markham rushed with Kennedy back to the site of the accident and attempted to find Kopechne. After their efforts failed, Kennedy stated that they drove him to the ferry landing. All three men were lawyers and reportedly conferred on how to proceed regarding the incident around a public phone booth at the ferry landing. Gargan and Markham both encouraged Kennedy to immediately report the incident to the authorities, which he reportedly stated he would do before jumping into the water to swim back to his hotel in Edgartown.