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Less than 24 hours after the shocking death of star athlete Diogo Joto in a car accident, news hit the internet that Sophia Hutchins, died while riding an ATV. The woman was just 29 years old, and best known for being Caitlyn Jenner's longtime friend and manager.
Hutchins was near Caitlyn's home in Malibu when the accident occurred after 11:30 am local time. According to TMZ, Hutchins was riding the ATV on the road when she hit the bumper of a moving vehicle. The ATV went over the shoulder and plummeted 350 feet down into a ravine. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The outlet reports that the two people in the car she hit were not injured.
However, Daily Mail notes that other sources claim that a pick-up truck actually hit the ATV, which is what caused the collision. The outlet reported Friday that investigators told KCAL the truck driver did not appear to be impaired or intoxicated, and his identity has not yet been released.
In gruesome pictures of the crash, the blue ATV can be seen on top of an old rusted car that seemed to have had a similar fate. Given that it fell in the same location, it may say something about the 4200 block of Decker Canyon Road.
Caitlyn has not shared a statement about the incident, and TMZ reports that it's unclear if the 75-year-old was home or witnessed the incident.
Also a transgender woman, Hutchins said Caitlyn's 2015 and 20/20 interview inspired her to transition in college. She “made it so much more real for [him], like normal and successful people do this and people are OK when they do it," Hutchins said, per a 2016 Pepperdine article.
Hutchins and Caitlyn met in 2015 following her divorce from Kris Jenner, and she replaced Kris as her manager. They met through their mutual hairstylist and makeup artist. “He was doing my hair one day and he said, ‘I’m going to a photoshoot right after this and Caitlyn is going to be there and Caitlyn would like to meet you,'” Hutchins said on the “Juicy Scoop” podcast in 2020.
They would be each other's pillar of support, and Hutchins appeared in several episodes of the E! docuseries "I Am Cait." Their close bond even had people speculating that they were a couple, but in 2019, Hutchins told The New York Times that they were “never romantically involved.”
Caitlyn always raved about her friend, telling The New York Times that same year, she “has been my best friend, family, and confidant. She is one of the top minds in her field. Her value in my life is undeniable. The sky is the limit with her entrepreneurial spirit.”
She was also close to the rest of the family and posed for Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS in 2020. “I’m on good terms with all the family, but I'm closest with Kris, Kim, Kylie, and Kendall,” Hutchins said in the past. As noted by the Daily Mail, the sisters even gave her a diamond necklace one year for Christmas.