Angela Chao, the sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and a CEO in the shipping industry, was intoxicated when she drove into a pond in Texas last month, according to a law enforcement assessment released on Wednesday. Chao’s death was deemed to be a “unfortunate accident” by the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office, which also found that her blood alcohol content was around three times greater than the state’s legal limit.
50-year-old Chao died suddenly on the evening of February 10th, after dinner with a large group at a ranch west of Austin, close to Johnson City. According to the post, Chao unintentionally reversed her Tesla into the pond next to the property’s guest house, which resulted in a chaotic scene as friends and police officers struggled to free her.
Chao’s companion Amber Keenan told investigators that she spoke with Chao at 11:42 p.m. and that she was unable to flee because the vehicle was buried in water. The conversation continued for eight minutes while the car lowered itself. According to the report, Chao told Keinan that the water level was rising and that she would soon pass away. She also said that she loved him. “Chao then said goodbye to Keinan.”
The story goes that one buddy paddled out in a kayak while the others swam in the automobile. At 11:55 p.m., a different person called 911 and remained connected for 11 minutes. The report states that as soon as police enforcement and firemen arrived, they dove into the water and attempted to gain entry to the Tesla car. A law enforcement officer located Chao’s hand by using their sense of touch after the perpetrators damaged the side glass where the driver sits.
At 1:40 a.m. on February 11, emergency personnel rescued her from the car and brought her to the beach, where they pronounced her dead. According to the results of the toxicological test, Chao had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.233 grams per 100 milliliters, above the 0.08 grams per 100 milliliters legal limit in Texas. In addition to serving as president of her father’s nonprofit organization, the Foremost Foundation, Chao was also the chair and CEO of her family’s shipping company, the Foremost Group. Her home was in Austin, which is around 80 kilometers (or 50 miles) east of Blanco County.
There were five elder sisters, Chao being the youngest. In the late 1950s, their parents left China to move to the US. The eldest of her siblings, Elaine Chao, is married to McConnell and served as labor secretary under President George W. Bush and secretary of transportation under President Donald Trump.
Angela’s father, James S.C. Chao, said in a family statement after her death that her name phonetically resembled the letters for peace and prosperity in Chinese. “The Asian-American community as a whole feels empty because of her absence in addition to our own feelings.” Her father was named chairman of Foremost Group after her death. The former president, Michael Lee, took over as leader of state.
Those that survived Chao were her father, her husband, and her four sisters. Authorities claim that Mitch McConnell’s sister-in-law, Angela Chao, was inebriated when she drove her car into a pond.
