SAN DIEGO (AP) — Melissa Bonney Ratcliff, a one-time aide to former Vice President Al Gore, has been killed by an elderly motorist’s out-of-control car in San Diego.

The coroner’s office says the 45-year-old Ratcliff was struck Tuesday afternoon as she got out of her vehicle in the La Jolla (HOY’-uh) area and was pronounced dead at a hospital.

From 1999 to 2000, Ratcliff was deputy director of communications for Gore. She was also a press secretary for the Democratic National Committee.

U-T San Diego reports (http://bit.ly/1vNXsEz) that Gore issued a statement saying Ratcliff was an integral part of the White House team.

Ratcliff, a mother of three children, was currently an executive with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

A San Diego police spokesman tells the newspaper the accident is under investigation.

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Information from: U-T San Diego, http://www.utsandiego.com

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