Family leaves death riddle
SUV’s fatal plunge sparks probe
NOBODY answered the door when a child-welfare worker went to the Washington state home of the big, free-spirited Hart family to investigate a neighbour’s complaint that the youngsters were going hungry.
Three days later, the Harts’ crumpled SUV was found at the bottom of a 30m seaside cliff in Northern California, all eight family members presumed dead in a mysterious wreck.
Five bodies have been recovered, but three children are still missing.
“There are a lot of unknowns on this,” Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said.
Police have yet to determine the cause of the crash. But they said there were no skid marks or signs the driver braked as the GMC Yukon crossed a flat dirt pull-off area, about 20m wide, and went over the edge of the Pacific Coast Highway.
The case has thrown a spotlight on at least one previous run-in with the law by the Harts, along with neighbours’ repeated concerns about the way the home-schooled youngsters were being treated.
But some family friends still describe the parents, Sarah and Jennifer Hart, as a loving couple who promoted social justice and exposed their “remarkable” children to art, music and nature.
The brood was known as the Hart Tribe, a multiracial family of two women and six adopted children who grew their own food, took spontaneous road trips to camp and hike, and travelled to festivals and other events, offering free hugs and promoting unity.
But in 2011 Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to a domestic assault charge, telling authorities “she let her anger get out of control” while spanking her six-year-old adoptive daughter.
Last week neighbours of the Harts in Woodland, Washington, called state child protective services because 15-yearold Devonte had been coming over to their house almost every day for a week, asking for food.
Devonte said his parents were punishing the children by withholding food.
A state caseworker went to the house last week but didn’t find anyone home. The wreck of the family’s SUV was discovered by a passing motorist on Monday.