Carrie Elizabeth Romney, the sister-in-law of former presidential nominee and former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, was found dead Friday evening on a street in Valencia, California, according to officials and media reports.
Romney, 64, was discovered near a shopping mall parking garage around 8:30 p.m., TMZ reported.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office confirmed that an investigation is underway. The cause and manner of death have not yet been determined.
It’s “unknown at the moment” if Carrie “jumped or fell” from the multi-story parking garage or a nearby building, Los Angeles County Deputy Brenda Serna wrote in an email to the New York Post.
Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican, ran against former President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, mounting a competitive campaign that ultimately fell short. He had previously sought the Republican nomination in 2008 but lost the primary race to the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
During his tenure in the Senate, Romney was the only Republican to vote to convict President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial in 2020, The Post noted.
He cast the same vote during Trump’s second impeachment trial the following year.
Romney has long been a vocal critic of the former president. In 2019, he published an op-ed pledging to oppose what he described as Trump’s “destructive statements” made under the authority of the White House.
Romney used his farewell address to the U.S. Senate in December of last year to urge other lawmakers to put unity first in the face of stubborn partisanship.
“My life’s work has been a group affair,” Romney, who also served as governor of Massachusetts, said in his address.
“I will leave this chamber with a sense of achievement. But in truth, I will also leave with the recognition that I did not achieve everything I had hoped,” he said.
“Among other things, the scourge of partisan politics has frustrated repeated efforts to stabilize our national debt. Without the burden of the interest on that debt, we would be able to spend three times as much as we do on military procurement,” he continued.
“Three times as many aircraft, three times as many ships, three times as many drones, spacecraft, cyber defenses. Or alternatively, we could spend double the amount we spend on Social Security benefits every month. Our national credit card is almost maxed out, and America risks becoming debt poor,” Romney added.
Romney said his “biggest surprise in the Senate has been how much I enjoy the other senators on both sides of the aisle” but acknowledged he won’t miss “the myriad meaningless votes” or “10-minute votes that last an hour.”
As he prepared to leave the chamber, where he has served as one of Trump’s most vocal Republican critics, Romney also appeared to toss a few veiled shots at the then-president-elect.
“There are some today who would tear at our unity, who would replace love with hate, who deride our foundation of virtue, or who debase the values upon which the blessings of heaven depend,” he said on the floor.
“Now, I’ve been in public service for 25 years. I have learned that politics alone cannot measure up to the challenges we face,” Romney stated.
“It has also been an honor to represent the people of Utah, the state of my family heritage. What sets Utah apart is not just its beauty and vibrant economy, it is the admirable character of its people,” Romney continued.
“Now, it is customary to end remarks like these with the words: ‘God Bless America.’ That has never seemed jarring or out of place to me because Americans have always been fundamentally good. From our earliest days, we have rushed to help neighbors in need, as De Tocqueville noted. We welcomed the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. We have respected different faiths, as our first president confirmed to Muslims and Jews,” he went on.
“United We Stand is a fitting refrain,” Romney said.