Colin
Angela Chao, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s billionaire sister-in-law, spent her last minutes alive frantically calling her friends for help as her Tesla slowly sank in a pond on a remote Texas ranch, according to a report.
Chao, the billionaire former CEO of dry bulk shipping giant Foremost Group, tragically died at the age of 50 on Feb. 10 after accidentally backing her car into the pond while making a three-point turn.
The driving mishap was detailed in a report by The Wall Street Journal that shed light on the chaotic rescue efforts that ultimately came up short, turning what was supposed to be a celebratory weekend with friends into a nightmare.
Chao invited several of her girlfriends from Harvard Business School to spend the weekend on a gorgeous, sprawling 900-acre private property in Texas’ Hill Country, that included horse stables, a swimming pool and a 10-bedroom guesthouse, the Journal reported.
After eating dinner together and celebrating the Chinese New Year on Friday night, Chao left the guesthouse around 11:30 p.m. to head back to the main house, where her son was sleeping. It was cold out, so she decided to take her Tesla Model X SUV for the four-minute drive rather than walk.
But within minutes, she called one of her friends in a panic. While making a K-turn, she put the car in reverse instead of drive, she told them. While going backwards, the car went over an embankment and into a pond — and was sinking fast.
Her friends immediately ran to help and one woman jumped in the pond, the Journal reported. The property’s ranch manager and his wife came outside after hearing the commotion and somebody called 911.
Blanco County emergency units finally arrived at 12:28 a.m. — a full 24 minutes after they received the call, according to an incident report obtained by the paper. Due to the rugged terrain, a number of responders got out of their cars and walked to the scene.
One responder described the Tesla as completely submerged. Sheriff’s deputies even stood on top of it during the rescue efforts, trying to bust open a window.
According to the incident report, a dive team was needed but none were available.
A tow truck arrived to pull the car out of the pond but it didn’t have a cable long enough to reach the vehicle, which was much farther out in the pond than responders had anticipated.
A longer cable was finally retrieved. At least one tow truck driver, however, said he was afraid of being electrocuted by the electric vehicle, a person at the scene told the paper.
A two-man rescue crew eventually pulled Chao from the car around 12:56 a.m., police said. Hundreds of gallons of water gushed out from the car when the doors were open.
Chao was unresponsive, and EMS responders attempted to resuscitate her for 43 minutes to no avail, police said.
Details about the billionaire’s death had been scant. The Blanco County Sheriff’s Office last week called it “an unfortunate accident,” but said they were still conducting a criminal investigation.
“Although the preliminary investigation indicated this was an unfortunate accident, the Sheriff’s Office is still investigating this accident as a criminal matter until they have sufficient evidence to rule out criminal activity,” the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Thursday letter to state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“This incident was not a typical accident,” the agency added.
The ranch where Chao died is owned by a corporation connected to her husband, Jim Breyer — a venture capitalist and part-owner of the Boston Celtics with an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion
Chao’s sister Elaine Chao is married to McConnell and served as Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and Secretary of Transportation in President Donald Trump’s administration.
