Shipping CEO Angela Chao, Mitch McConnell’s sister-in-law, was intoxicated when she drove into lake, sheriff’s office says

By Sarah Dewberry, CNN

(CNN) — Angela Chao, the shipping company CEO and sister-in-law of outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was intoxicated when she drove her Tesla into a lake at a Texas ranch in a fatal crash last month, according to the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office.

A 62-page incident report offers a harrowing account of the night of February 10, when, after partying with friends, Chao mistakenly reversed into a lake and became trapped in her car.

She called her friend for help and, as the water level in the car grew higher and higher, “said her good byes,” the report states. The friends frantically tried but failed to get her out of the car in time, and emergency responders ultimately pulled her lifeless body from the car.

Toxicology found that Chao’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.233, or about three times more than the legal limit. The Cleveland Clinic says a level of between 0.15 to 0.3 could cause someone to “experience confusion, vomiting and drowsiness.”

The report determined her death was an “unfortunate accident.”

Chao’s death has taken on particular significance given her proximity to power. She was the CEO of shipping company Foremost Group and the sister of Elaine Chao, the former Trump administration secretary of transportation who is married to McConnell. The Republican senator, 82, noted his sister-in-law’s death last month when he announced his plan to step down as GOP leader.

“As some of you may know, this has been a particularly difficult time for my family. We tragically lost Elaine’s younger sister, Angela, just a few weeks ago,” he said. “When you lose a loved one, particularly at a young age, there’s a certain introspection that accompanies the grieving process. Perhaps it is God’s way of reminding you of your own life’s journey to reprioritize the impact of the world that we will all inevitably leave behind.”

From a Pitbull concert to a tragic death

Chao, a Harvard graduate who lived in Austin, gathered with a group of friends for the weekend and attended a Pitbull concert on Friday, February 9, according to the report. The next day, the group spent the day touring her family ranch in Johnson City, the report states.

The group had dinner and drinks at the guest lodge, and at around 11:30 p.m., everyone began returning to their bedrooms or going home.

A video of the exterior of the south side camera captures Chao at 11:37 p.m. walking “unsteadily to her vehicle while continuing to hold her cellular phone in her right hand,” according to the report.

Chao is later seen entering her Tesla. The report stated that the camera then captured the car lurching toward a wooden barrier, reversing, turning to the left without stopping, and over the top of the limestone block wall. Afterward, the vehicle entered the water. A minute later, the vehicle’s lights were no longer visible.

While inside, Chao called a friend for help, and others came to try to rescue her.

At 11:42 p.m., a friend received a call from Chao telling her that “she had driven her vehicle into the pond,” the report states. The friend told Chao to leave the car, but she said she couldn’t, the friend later told law enforcement.

The friend stayed on the phone with Chao for eight minutes, as she described water coming into the vehicle, officials said in the report. The friend also got into a kayak and paddled toward the vehicle, and another friend swam to the car, climbing on top of it and trying to reach Chao, officials stated in the report.

Just after midnight, deputies arrived at the ranch.

The ranch manager told the deputies that the back door of the Tesla was open, after which they “attempted multiple times to locate the occupant of the vehicle through the back passenger door but were unable to.”

They unsuccessfully attempted to break the front windshield, and eventually broke the driver-side window, the report said.

Once the window was broken, the deputy stated they swam down and felt a hand, and with a medic helped pulled Chao out of the submerged vehicle. The vehicle had been in the water for approximately 21 minutes.

“The medics then swam back to the shore with the body and started performing CPR,” according to the report.

The report said first responders pronounced Chao dead at 1:40 a.m. An autopsy was not performed due to the family citing religious reasons.

CNN’s Rebekah Riess and Eric Levenson contributed to this story.

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