Caitlyn Jenner’s longtime confidante and manager, Sophia Hutchins, died tragically on the morning of Wednesday, July 2 after an ATV crash in Malibu.
According to Daily Mail, which spoke with Sgt. Eduardo Saucedo of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the 29-year-old rear-ended a sedan on a winding stretch of Decker Canyon Road, lost control, and veered off the side of a cliff, plunging more than 350 feet into a ravine. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The morning after the accident, Jenner, 75, was photographed outside a Starbucks. When asked for comment, she told reporters she was going through “tough times” and added, “I don’t want to talk.”
Saucedo told the outlet that “It looks like [Hutchins] may have been speeding” at the time of the crash. The impact of the collision caused her ATV to veer off the road and fall down the canyon. The two people inside the Mazda were uninjured, per TMZ.
Authorities believe Hutchins may have tried to swerve around the vehicle at the last second but was traveling too fast. A toxicology report is pending, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Following the fatal crash, a local Los Angeles news outlet aired footage from the scene, revealing that the same stretch of road has been the site of multiple wrecks.
In the video, Hutchins’ ATV appears to have landed directly on top of an overturned car that was already lying in the ravine.
The former Olympic gold medalist and Hutchins had a long and close relationship that began shortly after Jenner’s transition in 2015.
During an appearance on the Juicy Scoop podcast in 2020, Hutchins revealed the two “met through our mutual hairstylists” and quickly developed a strong bond, with Hutchins eventually stepping in as Jenner’s manager and becoming CEO of the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation.
Over the years, their connection sparked rumors of a romantic relationship, which Hutchins repeatedly denied.
“Caitlyn is a parent to me. I’ve said that a million times,” she said in a June 2021 statement, clarifying that their bond was “a parental, familial relationship.”