CA CA - Hannah, 16, Devonte, 15, & Sierra Hart, 12, Mendocino County, 26 Mar 2018 #4

[DexterMorgan]

From the article:

Investigators couldn’t figure out where the children slept in the Woodland, Washington home, the new records from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office show.

The parents had a double bed. Another bedroom contained two foam loveseats and a padded mat where police believed some of the children may have slept. The third bedroom held the twin bed.
—————
The family’s living situation didn’t always match what Jennifer Hart wrote about in prolific posts on Facebook. She regularly discussed the family’s vegetarian lifestyle, once posting a photo of Sierra smiling as she held a bunch of kale bigger than her head.

Clark County investigators in March found the family’s fridge stocked with hot dogs, ham, large packs of chicken breasts and a large roll of ground beef. The freezer held corn dogs, frozen tilapia and pizza snack rolls.
—————-
Jennifer Hart’s social media posts portrayed a family that spurned television and kept children largely away from electronic screens in favor of camping, gardening, reading books and caring for animals. “Traded in the television for the best big screen available. Planet Earth,” she wrote in May 2013, shortly after the family moved to Oregon.

Police found a large screen TV in the family’s common space and a tablet and a laptop in the home. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office has not yet said what the content of the electronics revealed.
——————-
Much more at link, including details of money received for the children. Read this and weep.

Inside the Hart family home, police search reveals debts, contradictions

Why did the couple take on so many kids?

Were they just thinking that they will pay off their mortgage quicker but became mad when that wasn't happening?

They could have done straight foster care and sent the kids back if it didn't work out.

 

[KaaBoom]

Why did the couple take on so many kids?

Were they just thinking that they will pay off their mortgage quicker but became mad when that wasn't happening?

They could have done straight foster care and sent the kids back if it didn't work out.

As I recall they did do foster care and they did send at least one kid back.

Story of Harts’ foster child is one of heartbreak, though not the way some might expect

 

[human]

I thought they even claimed to be vegan. But even odder than the meat to me is the junk food aspect of it: corn dogs? I would have expected all-organic, no GMO etc, even for meat. Was it all a lie for the cameras? Or was the stocking up all for show?

The children must not have gotten much of it. Bizarre fake people

 

[Breezie]

Two White Moms. Six Black Kids. One Unthinkable Tragedy. A Look Inside the ‘Perfect’ Hart Family.

This new article includes some of Jen’s fb posts and info from friends.

 

[Jinkasaurus]

Two White Moms. Six Black Kids. One Unthinkable Tragedy. A Look Inside the ‘Perfect’ Hart Family.

This new article includes some of Jen’s fb posts and info from friends.

Good article- very thorough.

 

[2Hope4]

I wonder if that food wasn't bought because they KNEW what they were going to do, and were setting a stage? But then, if you're going to be dead, why bother? I don't understand either of these women. The kids were starving. So that food wasn't being given to them. Maybe it was used as torture? See those corndogs? You could have eaten them if you weren't such blah blah blah. I don't know.

And no sleeping place?!?! Even if they didn't have actual beds, there's no mattresses, no cots, no pull out sofas, nowhere for them to sleep! How can you have 6 kids in a house, and yet there be such small evidence showing they even lived there? There wasn't collection of rocks, or dolls, or sports stuff, etc that many kids have in their room. There was books,, and a few games. But these kids didn't have a good life at all.

 

[Gardener1850]

I wonder if perhaps the food was bought for the benefit of the social workers they knew were going to come by. It could have been so they could point to the full fridge and say "See, the kids have plenty of food and all they want to eat". Then they could blame the incident of the kids going to the the neighbors begging for food on RAD or something else. But maybe at the last minute they also realized there were other things they couldn't afford to fix up to look acceptable-- not enough beds would have been an issue, for example. Perhaps the decision to murder everyone with a drive off a cliff was plan B. JMO.

 

[Jinkasaurus]

As for the bedding situation... wonder if they slept in sleeping bags..and took those with them when they left.

/random speculation

 

[human]

So bizarre. A little kingdom where Jen was the ruler.

 

[msphilosopher]

"Another detective wrote in an incident report that it was difficult to distinguish which rooms belonged to the children.

“None of the rooms were personalized for the children or showed the supporting elements that children lived in the residence,” Det. Lindsay Schultz explained. "

This was hard to read.

New docs in Hart family case: toothbrushes, suitcases left behind

 

[RickshawFan]

The pictures are heartbreaking.
From the OregonLive article: "Police photos of the Hart family home displayed few signs of the family's size. Six wooden chairs sat around the dining room table for the family of eight."

Only 6 chairs and the lack of beds, suggest at least 2 of the kids at any one time weren't getting fed, and others were required to sleep on the floor. Is there any evidence even of blankets or sleeping bags?

 

[RickshawFan]

I thought they even claimed to be vegan. But even odder than the meat to me is the junk food aspect of it: corn dogs? I would have expected all-organic, no GMO etc, even for meat. Was it all a lie for the cameras? Or was the stocking up all for show?

All a lie. All the photos are staged. All of the folks who knew them, evidently, were hoodwinked by appearances.

 

[RickshawFan]

I wonder if perhaps the food was bought for the benefit of the social workers they knew were going to come by. It could have been so they could point to the full fridge and say "See, the kids have plenty of food and all they want to eat". Then they could blame the incident of the kids going to the the neighbors begging for food on RAD or something else. But maybe at the last minute they also realized there were other things they couldn't afford to fix up to look acceptable-- not enough beds would have been an issue, for example. Perhaps the decision to murder everyone with a drive off a cliff was plan B. JMO.

You're so right about the likelihood that all the food was bought to convince social workers the kids had plenty.
The fridge looks so staged! Whose fridge looks like that? Vegetables are put in the drawers as though in store windows, showcased. Eggs a-plenty, some in boxes, some heaped delightfully into a bowl.
Overflowing with abundance, attractive colors, beautifully arranged... Blech.
And those apples! Do they make anyone else want to gag? They look hard and unappetizing, plastic almost.
That's still not enough food in that fridge for 8 people.... For all they said they were vegan, there's not a whole lot of vegetables in there.
"Vegan" was probably just an excuse to starve the kids in public. I bet the moms weren't vegan, and the meats were for them (that's not enough chicken for 8 people). No bread, no milk (except one small box of almond milk), no leftover spaghetti, no peanut butter

 

[Cascadia Mount]

Has anyone heard yet if the DNA came back on that foot that was found about a mile from the crash??

It was not conclusive.

 

[Cascadia Mount]

This article is a bit misleading... they say it's only true that there's no DNA to test hers against IF the medical examiner didn't keep samples from her siblings. I know it seems like this case isn't high priority, but would they really release Markis and Abigail's bodies for cremation without at least recording their DNA?!?

Doubtful. I think part of the problem is that the children may have had different fathers. So the percentage of matching DNA goes way down.

 

[Cascadia Mount]

Did these children a funeral? Were their remains laid to rest? By whom?

There is an active Facebook group about this case and as far as we know there has not been a funeral.

 

[Cascadia Mount]

Is anyone else curious about why it was canceled? Backlash?

I’m still sad that the aunt in TX couldn’t apparently get her family’s remains. In my nonlegal opinion, that should happen automatically if adoptive parents kill the children and birth family can be found.

There was a lot of backlash. There were people who wanted to honor the children but not Jen and Sarah Hart.

 

[Cascadia Mount]

Agreed.
Have been checking around the web and can find nothing except older articles explaining what was found. Frustrating. [/QU

You're so right about the likelihood that all the food was bought to convince social workers the kids had plenty.
The fridge looks so staged! Whose fridge looks like that? Vegetables are put in the drawers as though in store windows, showcased. Eggs a-plenty, some in boxes, some heaped delightfully into a bowl.
Overflowing with abundance, attractive colors, beautifully arranged... Blech.
And those apples! Do they make anyone else want to gag? They look hard and unappetizing, plastic almost.
That's still not enough food in that fridge for 8 people.... For all they said they were vegan, there's not a whole lot of vegetables in there.
"Vegan" was probably just an excuse to starve the kids in public. I bet the moms weren't vegan, and the meats were for them (that's not enough chicken for 8 people). No bread, no milk (except one small box of almond milk), no leftover spaghetti, no peanut butter

So true. It looks like a realtor staged the house, not like a family lived there.

 

[dancinunderthemoon]

You know, pardon for this comparison but when homeless ANIMALS are adopted out, there are many guidelines to ensure the pets safety, like fenced yards for one, also vaccination records of your own pets are "background checked" sts, and if you arent up to date on your own pets you wont be able to adopt from one of the homeless shelters......and the adoptive parents of pets have to PAY FOR THE ANIMAL and when I have ever sold pets, i want to also make sure the pet is going to a good home........

Adoptions in America apparently SUCK, they dont follow up, they are like DESPERATWE to find homes for them, of course, cant put a human down like they do the animals but good lord, it might have been more humane than this crap.................Im sorry, so angry about these children's welfare and the states sorriness in folowing up on this..........I say make sure the parents have good sources of income and college degrees, if they want it bad enough, they will adopt, of course, the adoptions will go down further becasue , LIKE THIS, PEOPLE DO IT FOR MONEY......I can certainly understand homing children in fosters and the state paying for the childrens continued welfare until a final adoption is made..........

I NEVER EVER KNEW that adopted children were a source of income basically......for the adopters

SICK AND SAD, Im sure this is an extreme case but one that absolutely screams that the states should STEP UP THEIR GAME and people of the communities get involved as well, in this case, it didnt even help but had the state been doing their jobs, this could hae been stopped

I dont know much about racial crap, I know it exists, but wonder if the states thought they'd never find a home for 6 black children much less keep them together.......so any factors, i know its gotta be a tough job but doesnt seem like anyone did their job in this case

RIP sweet children

The OregonLive article has a lot of detail in the source/amounts received for the kids:

"But the investigation found that money was tight and the adopted children were money-makers. According to records found at the scene, two of the children yielded the family payments of about $11,000 a year from a man who identifies as the stepfather in their birth family. "

"...The couple also appeared to bring in as much as $41,000 in a typical year from payments intended for the children’s well-being, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive's analysis."
[...]
"The children were an important source of income. Texas paid the family roughly $30,000 a year in adoption assistance payments, according to records obtained from the Texas comptroller’s office. Those payments decreased by about $550 a month in August 2016, the month after Markis turned 18. The final payment to the family was $1,900 on March 2."

 

[dancinunderthemoon]

Anyone know who the heirs were? Wonder if they even had a will

Whoever their heirs are technically owns their stuff, at least typically. But when I had to clean up/sell my dad's hoarded house, I communicated with someone who dealt with fast sales such as during divorces, who made me an offer that included them doing all the cleanup and dealing with the contents.

Since the Hart's house wasn't a hoarded mess, it might be even easier to find someone to buy the contents. An estate sale company or even a consignment store would jump at the opportunity even without the notoriety of the case.

NB: I didn't take the offer, cleaned up the house myself, and it then sold for almost exactly twice what he had offered. Glad I didn't need to take his offer!