Angela Chao, Foremost Group CEO and youthful sister of former US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, might have unintentionally put her Tesla in reverse whereas making a three-point flip, The Wall Avenue Journal reported.
Chao died on February 11 after her car was discovered submerged in a pond positioned by her sprawling, 900-acre personal ranch in Blanco County, Texas, about 12 miles exterior Austin. She was 50.
Blanco County Sheriffs instructed Austin American-Statesman that Chao might have “succumbed from being beneath the water.”
However particulars of how Chao’s Tesla ended up within the pond haven’t but been divulged by authorities, main some individuals, together with J. Kyle Bass, a outstanding hedge fund supervisor and founding father of Texas-based Hayman Capital Administration, to query if the Tesla was hacked.
“Does the Blanco County Sheriff have the technical capability to research the Tesla logs to find out if the automobile was tampered with and even hacked?” Bass wrote on X. “This case continues to change into an increasing number of suspicious.”
In a letter to Texas Legal professional Basic Ken Paxton dated February 29, which was obtained by Enterprise Insider, a Blanco County public data officer wrote that, whereas the preliminary investigation indicated that the incident was an “unlucky accident … the Sherriff’s Workplace continues to be investigating this accident as a legal matter till they’ve ample proof to rule out legal exercise.”
A spokesman for the Blanco County sheriffs didn’t reply to a request for remark despatched exterior working hours.
Based mostly on interviews with individuals near Chao, county officers, and critiques of legislation enforcement paperwork, the Journal reported that the incident might have occurred whereas the Foremost CEO was making a four-minute drive again to her ranch.
After a Friday night celebrating Lunar New 12 months with shut pals, Chao determined to drive again to the principle home on the ranch round 11:30 p.m., the Journal reported.
Solely minutes after saying goodbye, Chao referred to as one in all her pals, saying that her car, a Tesla Mannequin X SUV, wound up in a pond after making an attempt to make a three-point flip.
In response to the Journal’s account, Chao instructed her buddy that she had put her automobile in reverse as an alternative of drive — a mistake she had made earlier than — main her to again over an embankment and into the pond.
A spokesperson for Tesla didn’t reply to a request for remark despatched exterior common working hours.
Specialists beforehand instructed Enterprise Insider that drivers solely have a few minute to get out of a sinking car.
The Journal reported that some pals and a property ranch supervisor got here exterior shortly after the decision. Because of the distant location and terrain of the ranch, some emergency responders needed to get out of their automobiles and stroll to the positioning of the incident, based on the report.
By the point the car was towed out of the water, Chao was taken out of the car and located unresponsive, The Journal reported.
