Angela Chao, the CEO of Foremost Group and the sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, died after her car went into a pond on a private ranch about 40 miles west of Austin, Texas, authorities said Friday.
Chao’s family on Wednesday announced she died in a car accident Sunday, but did not disclose details of the incident at that time.
On Friday, the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that on Saturday it “responded to a possible water rescue on a private ranch located in Blanco County, TX.”
“On arrival Blanco County deputies along with Blanco County EMS and Fire recovered the body of Angela Chao from a pond on the ranch,” the statement said.
“EMS attempted emergency measures on Ms. Chao but she succumbed from being under the water,” the statement said.
“Our preliminary investigation has determined this to be an unfortunate accident. The investigation is ongoing at this time,” the statement said.
The name of the ranch, which is located in Johnson City, was not disclosed by the sheriff’s office.
Chao, a double Harvard graduate who became CEO of the dry bulk shipping company Foremost in 2018, was married to Jim Breyer, a venture capitalist from Austin who is part owner of the Boston Celtics.
Chao previously served on the board of the Bank of China and as a director of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
She is a sister of Elaine Chao, who is married to McConnell, R-Ky. Chao served as Secretary of Transportation in former President Donald Trump’s administration and as Secretary of Labor in the administration of former President George W. Bush.
Blanco County County EMS Chief Ben Oakley told CNBC in a prior interview that emergency personnel were called just after midnight Sunday to respond to a “water rescue” at a private property in Johnson City.
Oakley did not use the name of the victim of that rescue, citing privacy laws.
An ambulance arrived at 12:12 a.m. at the scene, where a car containing one person was…
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