Angela Chao, a shipping industry CEO and sister-in-law to US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was intoxicated when she drove into a pond and died last month in Texas, according to a law enforcement report released on Wednesday.
The investigation by the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office concluded that Chao’s death was an “unfortunate accident” and her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the state’s legal limit.
Chao, 50, died the night of February 10 after having dinner with a large group at a ranch near Johnson City, west of Austin. The report describes a frantic scene as friends and deputies tried to pull Chao from her Tesla after she backed it into the pond near a guest lodge on the property.
A friend, Amber Keinan, told detectives that Chao called her at 11.42pm and said the car was in the water and she was trapped inside. The conversation lasted eight minutes as the car slowly sank.
US CEO Angela Chao may have died after ‘mistakenly putting her car in reverse’
US CEO Angela Chao may have died after ‘mistakenly putting her car in reverse’
“Chao told Keinan the water was rising and she was going to die and said ‘I love you,’” the report says. “Chao then said her good byes to Keinan.”
Friends swam to the car while another paddled out with a kayak, according to the report. Someone else called emergency services at 11.55pm and remained on the phone for 11 minutes.
When law enforcement officials and firefighters arrived, they went into the water and attempted to enter the Tesla, the report said. They broke the window on the driver’s side, and a deputy felt around until he located Chao’s hand.
Emergency crews pulled her out of the car and brought her to shore, where she was pronounced dead at 1.40am on February 11.
A toxicology test determined that Chao had a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.233 grams per 100 millilitres, above the legal limit in Texas of .08, the report says.
Chao was the chair and CEO of her family’s shipping business, the Foremost Group, and the president of her father’s philanthropic organisation, the Foremost Foundation. She lived in Austin, which is about 80km (50 miles) east of Blanco County.
Chao was the youngest of six sisters to immigrant parents who moved to the US from China in the late 1950s. Her eldest sibling, Elaine Chao, is married to McConnell and served as transport secretary under President Donald Trump and labour secretary under President George W. Bush.
“Angela’s name in Chinese sounds like the characters for peace and prosperity,” her father, James S.C. Chao, said in a family statement shortly after her death. “Her absence leaves a void not only in our hearts, but in the Asian-American community.”
Her father was named chairman of Foremost Group following her death. Michael Lee, a former president, became president. Chao is survived by her husband, father and four sisters.