On the night of July 18–19, 1969, Ted Kennedy drove a car off an unmarked bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. His companion in the car, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, died. Kennedy pleaded guilty to the charge of leaving the scene of an accident; a grand jury declined to indict him on further charges. Kennedy’s career never completely recovered from the incident.