Mary Jo Kopechne

Mary Jo Kopechne
1962 college yearbook portrait
Born(1940-07-26)July 26, 1940
DiedJuly 18 or 19, 1969 (aged 28)
Cause of deathSuffocation[1][2]
Burial placeLarksville, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCaldwell College
Occupation(s)Teacher, secretary, political campaign worker
Known forVictim of Chappaquiddick incident
Political partyDemocratic
Parent(s)Joseph and Gwen Kopechne

Mary Jo Kopechne (/kˈpɛkni/; July 26, 1940 – July 18 or 19, 1969) was an American secretary, and one of the campaign workers for U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, a close team known as the "Boiler Room Girls". In 1969, she asphyxiated when a car driven by U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy left a narrow road on Chappaquiddick Island and overturned into Poucha Pond after leaving a party. According to reports, Kennedy left the party at 11:15 p.m. Kopechne's body and the car were not reported until the next morning, approximately nine to ten hours later.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference upi-buried was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Legal ruling, but there was no autopsy. Fire rescue diver John Farrar testified he believed Kopechne died of suffocation, Inquest into the Death of Mary Jo Kopechne, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Edgartown District Court. New York: EVR Productions, 1970