Angela Chao, the shipping company CEO and sister-in-law of outgoing US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was drunk when she drove her Tesla into a pond and drowned last month at a Texas ranch, according to the BBC. Ms Chao died on February 11 after a dinner with a group of friends at the estate near Johnson City. At the time, toxicology found that her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the state's legal limit.
Now, more than a month after the incident, the Blanco County Sheriff's Office released the findings of its investigation. According to the outlet, the report offers a harrowing account of the night of February 10, when Ms Chao mistakenly reversed into a lake and became trapped in her car.
The report states that the 50-year-old had invited seven friends to spend the weekend at the 900-acre ranch. There, the group attended a concert by rapper Pitbull in Austin the night before. Then, after dinner at the guest lodge on the night of her death she headed back to the main house, but during a three-point turn, she accidentally reversed the Model X SUV into a pond.
Ms Chao called her friends for help, and as the water level in the car grew higher and higher, "said her goodbyes." the report states. The friend tried but failed to get her out of the car in time, and emergency responders ultimately pulled her lifeless body from the car.
According to the report, Ms Chao was pronounced dead on 11 February. A toxicology test found she had a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.233 grams per 100 ml. The legal limit in Texas is 0.08 grams per 100 ml.
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Notably, Ms Chao, a Harvard graduate who lived in Austin, was chairwoman and chief executive of her family's shipping business, the Foremost Group. She was also the sister of Elaine Chao, the former Trump administration secretary of transportation who is married to Mitch McConnell. When Mr McConnell announced last month that he was stepping down as Senate minority leader, he suggested the tragedy's impact on his family was a factor in his decision.
"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," the Kentucky senator said on the floor of the chamber.
