Doubts remain about deaths of family after SUV plunges off cliff
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 now under investigation. 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. ‘‘Several of the questions that have been asked today will never be answered.’’
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the crash, and have said there is no reason so far to believe it was intentional. But they also said there were no skid marks or signs the driver braked as the GMC Yukon crossed a flat dirt pull-off area, about 25m wide, and went over the edge of the Pacific Coast Highway.
The case has thrown a spotlight
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on at least one previous run-in with the law by the Harts, along with neighbours’ repeated concerns about the way the homeschooled youngsters were being treated.
Some family friends, though, say that doesn’t track with their knowledge of 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.
One of the children, Devonte Hart, drew national attention after the black youngster was photographed in tears, hugging a white police officer during a 2014 protest in Portland, Oregon over the deadly police shooting of a black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Devonte was holding a ‘‘Free Hugs’’ sign.
But well before the wreck, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Douglas County, Minnesota, telling authorities ‘‘she let her anger get out of control’’ while spanking her 6-year-old adoptive daughter, court records show.
Then, last week, Bruce and Dana DeKalb, the next-door neighbours of the Harts in Woodland, Washington, called state child protective services on Saturday because Devonte, now 15, had been coming over to their house almost every day for a week, asking for food.
Dana DeKalb said Devonte told her his parents were ‘‘punishing them by withholding food’’.
The boy asked her to leave food in a box by the fence for him, she said.
Social service authorities opened an investigation, and a state case worker went to the house last Saturday but didn’t find anyone home, state officials said. The agency had no prior history with the family, said Norah West, a spokeswoman with the Department of Social and Health Services.
By Sunday, the family’s SUV was gone from the driveway, said Bruce DeKalb.
The wreck was discovered by a passing motorist on Tuesday. The women, both 38, were found dead inside the SUV, while the bodies of three of their children – Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14 – were discovered outside the vehicle.
A team searched the rugged coastline yesterday for the three other children, also believed to have been in the SUV: Hannah Hart, 16, Sierra Hart, 12, and Devonte.
The same day, authorities in Washington state combed through the family’s home for information. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were looking for bills, receipts or anything else to shed light on why the family left and other circumstances related to the trip, KGW-TV reported. –AP