CA CA - Hannah, 16, Devonte, 15, & Sierra Hart, 12, Mendocino County, 26 March 2018 #1

[KooshBall]

I can't get over that none of the kids were wearing seatbelts. The turn out is large, I don't see how it could be an accident unless the driver was tired and put her foot on the gas instead of the break?

 

[StrangeOne]

Could the kids have taken off the belts to get out of the car?

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[LietKynes]

Could the kids have taken off the belts to get out of the car?

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RSBM

That is scary to think... god knows what was going on with those children.

 

[katydid23]

But there were 6 kids. Are there enough seatbelt for all of them in the back?

 

[LietKynes]

NM

Sad that some of the kids had to ask NEIGHBORS for food. Terrible for any child to go hungry.
Was lucky enough to never experience it for myself while growing up.
Sheesh ! :cry:

 

[KooshBall]

One of the articles said they left a pet and chickens behind. I wonder if that was normal for them when going out of town.

 

[LotsaLatte]

Ugghhh this has been on my mind all day. They live "local" to me but I don't know them. I am just sick over this....those poor kids...breaks my heart

 

[fraudqueen]

Such sad news this morning, those poor children, they never stood a chance in life with those two adults

 

[K_Z]

Family famed for protest photo die when SUV goes off cliff

A family that gained attention for an emotional photograph of an African-American boy hugging a white police officer at a 2014 protest were killed when their SUV plunged off a scenic California highway, authorities said Wednesday as they asked for help figuring out what happened.

"We have every indication to believe that all six children were in there," Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allmon said, appealing for tips to retrace where the siblings and two parents had been before the vehicle was found Monday in rocky ocean. "We know that an entire family vanished and perished during this tragedy."

Some friends described married couple Jennifer and Sarah Hart as good parents who took their adopted kids to Bernie Sanders rallies, while some neighbors said they called child welfare officials in their rural Washington state community over concerns about possible abuse or had noticed red flags.

The California Highway Patrol has not determined why the vehicle went off an ocean overlook on a rugged part of coastline. A specialized team of accident investigators was trying to figure that out, Allmon said.

"There were no skid marks, there were no brake marks" at the turnout on the Pacific Coast Highway where the vehicle went over, the sheriff said. Investigators have no reason to believe the crash was intentional, he said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/f...when-suv-goes-off-cliff/ar-BBKMJ2k?li=BBnb7Kz

Neighbors express concern about home situation of children who died in California crash

Neighbors called Child Protective Services to visit the Woodland home where two married women who died in a California crash lived with their six adopted children.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services confirmed to KGW that Child Protective Services opened an investigation on March 23, which identified the children as "potential victims of alleged abuse or neglect."

CPS tried to make contact with the family on three separate occasions in the past week, but were unable to reach them.

Three of the children who lived in the home died in Monday's crash when the SUV driven by Jennifer Hart navigated onto a dirt turnout on Highway 1 in California and then didn't stop, falling over the cliff and plunging about 100 feet. Jennifer and Sarah Hart, who were in the front seats, both died.

Three children, 19-year-old Markis Hart, 14-year-old Jeremiah Hart and 14-year-old Abigail Hart, were found dead after the crash.

An ocean search effort is underway for the couple's other three children, 12-year-old Sierra Hart, 16-year-old Hannah Hart and 15-year-old Devonte Hart. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said Wednesday afternoon that investigators "have every indication to believe" that all six children were in the SUV during the crash.

http://www.kgw.com/article/news/loc...en-who-died-in-california-crash/283-532961241

The Latest: Neighbors reported family before cliff crash

A Washington state couple who lived next door to a family whose SUV plunged off a California cliff say they called authorities because they were concerned that one of the children was going hungry.

Bruce and Dana DeKalb said Wednesday that they called child welfare officials Friday after becoming concerned that one of the children, Devonte Hart, had been coming to their house too often in the past week asking for food.

Devonte gained widespread attention when he was photographed hugging a white officer during a 2014 protest over a fatal police shooting of a black man.

Property records show married couple Jennifer and Sarah Hart and their children bought the two-story home in Woodland, Washington, on two acres with a fenced pasture in May 2017.

The DeKalbs recounted a night three months after the family moved in when one of the girls rang their doorbell at 1:30 a.m.

Bruce DeKalb says she "was at our door in a blanket saying we needed to protect her. She said that they were abusing her."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-kids-sought-cliff-crash-kills-family-54080395

2 Women and 3 Children Die After Plunging 100 Feet Over California Cliff in Horrific Car Crash

http://people.com/human-interest/women-children-crash-california-cliff/

Jennifer & Sarah Hart: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

n an unspeakable tragedy, Jennifer and Sarah Hart — the parents of Devonte Hart — died, along with three of their six children, after their car plunged off a cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway. Jen Hart, 38, was driving and her wife, Sarah Hart, 38, was in the passenger seat, according to official reports. The horrific crash happened on a cliff overlooking an ocean in Mendocino County, northern California. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the crash and what happened to their other three children, including Devonte. Officials have said that the entire family might have been in the car when it drove off a cliff. Searchers have been using boats, aircraft, and drones to scan the ocean and beach in their search for the last three children, but the Mendocino Sheriff’s office has said that the three missing children are presumed dead.

https://heavy.com/news/2018/03/jennifer-sarah-hart-six-children-drove-off-cliff-cause-crash/

Friends, neighbors paint uneven picture of the Harts

http://www.koin.com/news/washington/friends-neighbors-paint-uneven-picture-of-the-harts/1086124457

Sarah was originally from Alexandria, MN. The kids apparently were in public school until about 2010-11, when one of the kids reported abuse, which was substantiated. Sarah pled guilty to domestic assault. Court documents imaged in the Heavy article above. At some point, it appears the Harts pulled the kids out of school, moved to Oregon (bought current home in 2017), and began homeschooling. Yet, many of their friends revere them as devoted, loving, attentive parents who adopted children with difficult backgrounds. They are also known for involving their kids in environmental causes, political demonstrations and political activism.

This story is very puzzling and disturbing because of the circumstances-- no skid marks or brake marks, site of the cliff accident is pretty far from the road across gravel, etc. Police not sure if SUV rolled off, or sped off. Three of the kids were ejected in the crash, yet both mothers were strapped into seat belts in the crashed car. Three of the siblings have vanished-- no trace of them has been found despite an extensive land and sea search. The family left the dog behind without care/ sitter when they left on what appears to be at least an overnight trip. The trip appears to have been hastily undertaken, right after CPS came to do a welfare check. No one answered the door, but articles do not indicate if CPS workers thought someone was home.

Just way too many confusing parts to the accident picture, when one factors in the backstory of the family.

Was it murder/ suicide? Or a tragic accident?

Where are the 3 missing kids? Why would 3 kids be thrown from the vehicle, 3 missing, and 2 adults remain strapped in seat belts?

**Error above-- the family is from WA state, not Oregon. I'm unable to edit, so perhaps a mod can fix.

 

[K_Z]

Neighbors told police they saw the couple and their six adopted children leave the home in a hurry shortly after not answering the door to the child services worker.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sh-killed-parents-siblings.html#ixzz5B8jRZidQ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I thought it was an SUV-- this article has a picture of a similar vehicle. It's a pickup truck, with a full back seat and separate door.

Police said the family of six were driving a five-seater 2003 GMC Sierra truck at the time

6 teens and 2 adults in a cab that size?? All 6 kids in the back seat?? They'd be smashed in there. That may explain why the kids apparently weren't wearing seat belts. Did the family usually travel this way?? All of them in this vehicle? So strange.

It really does look very suspicious for murder/ suicide, IMO.

This article also has good pics of the accident area, the turn out on the highway (looks like a scenic overlook), and the cliffs and rocky shore.

 

[Ibiz]

Very disturbing news article.

 

[K_Z]

I wonder if suitcases were recovered? Had the family stayed in a hotel/ motel/ campground since leaving Woodland, WA?

Does anyone know the distance from Woodland, WA to the accident scene? Was this a few hour drive, or a lengthy, multi-day distance from Woodland?

*I did a distance query from Woodland to "northern California" and the accident site could be anywhere from 500-650 miles from Woodland, WA. That's quite a distance for a quick "day" trip.

 

[Aescwynn]

I was going to speculate, based on news reports that one of the Hart women had earlier faced a charge of "malicious punishment of a child", that perhaps they were withholding food as a method of discipline, among other things. Guess there's no need to speculate now--

New York Times article

A neighbor of the Harts in Woodland, Wash., Dana DeKalb, told the NBC affiliate KGW that Devonte, the child from the 2014 photograph, had recently begun venturing over to her home to ask for food, sometimes several times a day.
According to Ms. DeKalb, Devonte said his mothers sometimes withheld food from the children as punishment and disallowed them from going outside.
Ms. DeKalb said she was the one who brought the family to the attention of Child Protective Services. She told KGW that when an employee from the children’s agency visited on Friday, the Harts refused to answer the door, and that the family left only hours later. Ms. DeKalb did not immediately respond to a telephone message on Wednesday night.

 

[mom2four717]

Why is CPS confirming an open case.
That seems way inappropriate at this point.

 

[Trident]

For some reason, I don't believe the older 3 were even in that car. I could be wrong, but. . .

 

[liltexans]

Devonte Hart and his sisters, Hannah, 16, and Sierra, 12, have yet to be found since the wreckage was discovered Monday by a passer-by off Route 1 near Westport, California. The crash killed Jennifer Hart and Sarah Hart, both 38, and their children, Markis Hart, 19; Abigail Hart, 14; and Jeremiah Hart, 14.

[...]

March 23, 2018: The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services opens a Child Protective Services investigation in which the Hart children are "identified as potential victims of alleged abuse or neglect."

March 23, 2018: The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services attempts without success to make contact with the Hart family.

March 26, 2018: The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services again unsuccessfully attempts to make contact with the Hart family.

March 26, 2018: A passer-by along Highway 1 in Westport, California, calls 911 after looking down a 100-foot embankment and seeing an SUV upside down on the rocky shoreline. Five people are found dead: three children outside the SUV and two women inside.

March 27, 2018: The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services makes a third unsuccessful attempt to contact the Hart family.

March 28, 2018: The women are identified by the Mendocino County's Sheriff's Office as Jennifer and Sarah Hart and their children as Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail. Three of their other children: Devonte, Hannah and Sierra, remain missing. Sheriff Tom Allman said it's likely the family of eight were all in the SUV when it crashed, and said a search is ongoing for the remaining three children.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-n...f/2018/03/hart_family_deadly_crash_a_tim.html

 

[spiritseeker31]

Are we basing the idea that they were going hungry by one child going to the neighbors house to get food multiple times one week?
This non biological family is a collection of children, probably all from different backgrounds. IMO some or all may have some trauma or mental issues that stemmed before being adopted.This may be reasons for strange visits to the neighbors.
It was also stated that they didn't eat sugar and grew their own veggies. Could this one child gone over and received food once and thought "wow this is great" and decided to return to get more of the food they didn't have access to at home?
These, of course, are just other views from the outside looking in. It doesn't explain the hurried exit after CSB visited.

I do find it strange that the children didn't have seat belts on but the parents did...usually its the other way around.

* didnt see the NYT article until after I posted.

 

[interestedincases]

If it was dark, I'm wondering if the kids had their seatbelts off because they were sleeping? Maybe they unbuckled and were laying on the seat/floors napping? I would NEVER let my kids do that, they always had to figure out a way to lean over on a pillow but stay buckled in. That would make the most sense to me though on why mom's had seatbelts on but kids didn't Growing up in the 80's, my dad always had a van and we always played/slept in the back and were never buckled in on road trips :/ This is sooooooooo sad!!!

Looking at the pull-off, it seems to be a huge area to run off the road. I need to go back and read, was it dark? If yes, then I can absolutely see them thinking they were making a turn onto a road and not realizing they were actually driving off of it. We had local case (Ben & Cody) who took a turn and drove right into the lake when it was dark. It happens in unfamiliar areas.

 

[Sassygerl]

In the first article of this thread it says the mothers were wearing seat belts but the kids were not

 

[italianangel2411]

This is so sad and tragic. In my opinion all the kids were with them and are deceased but they have not yet been located. They could not search the ocean due to conditions, its likely that the children went flying upon impact out of the car and that is why they are missing. I wonder if the windshield was broken to show this. I think they were all together in the car. It could be that it was an intentional driving off the cliff or it was dark and they thought it was road and it happened accidentally. Regardless it is so incredibly sad.