Angela A. Chao hosts The New York City Opera Pre-Gala Celebration at a private residence in New York City on Oct. 21, 2010.
Patrick McMullan | Getty Images
The death earlier this month of Foremost Group CEO Angela Chao — the sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — is currently under “criminal investigation,” a Texas sheriff’s office said Thursday.
Chao, 50, was found dead shortly after midnight on Feb. 11 after being pulled out of a car that had gone into a pond on a private ranch in Johnson City, Texas, about 40 miles from Austin.
“This incident was not a typical accident,” the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday.
“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 letter said.
Because Chao’s death remained the subject of a criminal probe, the Blanco County Sheriff’s public information officer told the attorney general that reports, 911 logs, audio and video evidence, and other material should not yet be released to media outlets that requested them, including CNBC.
“Releasing the reports, videos and other information prior to the completion of the investigation would interfere with the investigation and possible prosecution of this matter,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
The letter did not say that there was evidence that Chao died as the result of a crime.
But the statement that Chao’s death was not “a typical accident” and the prospect raised in the letter of a prosecution marked a shift from an initial statement released days after Chao’s death.
The sheriff’s office in that Feb. 16 statement had said, “EMS attempted emergency measures on Ms. Chao but she succumbed from being under the water.”
“Our preliminary investigation has determined this to be an unfortunate accident. The investigation is ongoing at this…
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