Angela Chao, the CEO of delivery firm Foremost Group and sister-in-law of Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), died final month after by accident reversing her Tesla right into a pond at a Texas ranch, in accordance with a Friday report in The Wall Road Journal.
Chao, 50, was the youthful sister of McConnell’s spouse, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
Although Angela Chao’s Feb. 11 demise was reported on the time, The Wall Road Journal’s story sheds new mild on the deadly incident.
Chao had been having fun with a night with mates and was making ready to drive again to a residence on the ranch shortly earlier than midnight when she by accident reversed her Tesla Mannequin X SUV, the outlet reported.
The car went over an embankment and right into a pond after she tried a three-point flip.
Chao then made a panicked name to a buddy as her electrical automobile grew to become additional submerged into the Austin-area pond.
Chao’s mates reportedly tried to rescue her, with at the least one leaping into the water.
Emergency staff arrived on the scene about 24 minutes after being known as, however needed to stroll to the pond’s location earlier than trying to rescue Chao “as a result of terrain and accessibility of the placement,” in accordance with a Blanco County incident report obtained by the Austin American-Statesman.
Tommaso Boddi by way of Getty Photographs
“The 2 deputies who had been within the water standing on the submerged car requested instruments to interrupt the window of the car to carry out a potential rescue,” the incident report mentioned, including that “a number of instruments had been used to aim entry to the sufferer.”
A dive staff was additionally sought however none was accessible on the time of the incident, in accordance with the doc.
In the meantime, a tow truck arrived to help, however was unable to succeed in Chao’s car as a result of brief size of a cable. An extended cable was later retrieved, and the automobile was pulled from the pond, The Wall Road Journal reported.
Chao was then discovered unresponsive and pronounced lifeless on the scene after unsuccessful makes an attempt to resuscitate her, the outlet mentioned.
Blanco County fireplace division and emergency providers didn’t instantly reply to JHB’s requests for extra details about the accident.
Shortly after her demise, the Blanco County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned in an announcement that Chao “succumbed from being underneath the water.”
Later, in a letter to state Legal professional Normal Ken Paxton, a Blanco County official mentioned that an investigation into Chao’s demise was ongoing, noting that it was “not a typical accident.”
“Though the preliminary investigation indicated that this was an unlucky accident, the Sheriff’s Workplace continues to be investigating this accident as a felony matter till they’ve enough proof to rule out felony exercise,” said the letter, which was obtained by the American-Statesman.
McConnell, the Senate’s longest-serving get together chief, introduced quickly after Chao’s demise that he would step down from his place.
“As a few of you might know, this has been a very troublesome time for my household. We tragically misplaced Elaine’s youthful sister Angela just some weeks in the past,” he mentioned Feb. 28.
“If you lose a cherished one, significantly at a younger age, there’s a sure introspection that accompanies the grieving course of. Maybe it’s God’s manner of reminding you of your personal life’s journey to reprioritize the influence of the world that we are going to all inevitably go away behind,” McConnell added.