Angela Chao, the billionaire former CEO of dry bulk shipping giant Foremost Group and sister-in-law of Sen. Mitch McConnell, spent her last moments alive frantically calling friends for help as her Tesla slowly sank in a pond on a remote Texas ranch, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Chao, 50, tragically died on Feb. 10 after accidentally backing her Tesla Model X SUV into the pond while attempting a three-point turn. The driving mishap occurred during a celebratory weekend with friends from Harvard Business School on a sprawling 900-acre private property in Texas' Hill Country.
According to the Journal's account, Chao left the guesthouse around 11:30 p.m. to drive back to the main house, where her son was sleeping. Within minutes of her departure, she called one of her friends in a panic, explaining that while making a K-turn, she had put the car in reverse instead of drive - a mistake she had made before - causing the vehicle to go over an embankment and into the pond.
Her friends immediately ran to help, with one woman jumping into the pond. The property's ranch manager and his wife also came outside after hearing the commotion, and someone called 911. However, due to the rugged terrain, a number of responders had to get out of their cars and walk to the scene, delaying the rescue efforts.
Blanco County emergency units arrived at 12:28 a.m., a full 24 minutes after receiving the call, according to an incident report obtained by the Journal. One responder described the Tesla as completely submerged, with sheriff's deputies even standing on top of it during the rescue attempts, trying to bust open a window.
The incident report revealed that a dive team was needed but none were available. A tow truck arrived to pull the car out of the pond, but its cable was not long enough to reach the vehicle, which was much farther out in the pond than anticipated. Additionally, at least one tow truck driver expressed fear 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 opened. Chao was unresponsive, and EMS responders attempted to resuscitate her for 43 minutes to no avail.
The Blanco County Sheriff's Office initially called the incident "an unfortunate accident" but stated that they were still conducting a criminal investigation. In a letter to state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the agency wrote, "This incident was not a typical accident," adding that they would continue investigating the matter as a criminal case until sufficient evidence was obtained to rule out criminal activity.
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 Sen. Mitch McConnell and served as Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and Secretary of Transportation in President Donald Trump's administration.
Some people, including prominent hedge fund manager J. Kyle Bass, have questioned whether the Tesla was hacked, prompting concerns about the technical capacity of the Blanco County Sheriff's Office to investigate the vehicle's logs and determine if any tampering or hacking occurred.
As the investigation into Angela Chao's tragic death continues, the remote location and terrain of the ranch have been cited as factors that hampered the rescue efforts. The billionaire's frantic final call and the circumstances surrounding her fatal accident have shed light on the challenges faced by emergency responders in such situations and raised questions about the safety of electric vehicles in remote areas.
