JOHNSON CITY, Texas — Angela Chao, a shipping industry CEO and sister-in-law to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, died on a Texas ranch last month after her car went into a pond and became submerged in water for an extended period of time,Chao, 50, died Feb. 11 in the Texas Hill Country. A family statement at the time did not disclose details about her death and authorities in Blanco County have not released additional information, citing an ongoing investigation.
Deputies requested devices to break the window of the vehicle, a Tesla, and an emergency services worker and firefighter entered the water with rescue tools. Chao was the chair and CEO of her family’s shipping business, the Foremost Group, and the president of her father’s philanthropic organization, the Foremost Foundation. A spokesperson for the family and company declined to comment Monday on the report.
Chao was the youngest of six sisters to immigrant parents who moved to the U.S. from China in the late 1950s. Her eldest sibling, Elaine Chao, is married to McConnell and served as transportation secretary under President Donald Trump and labor secretary under President George W. Bush.