SUV crash possibly intentional

Vehicle drove off cliff into Pacific; five killed, three missing

MENDOCINO, Calif. — The cliffside plunge that killed a Washington state family in an SUV might have been intentional, California Highway Patrol officials said Sunday night.

Information from the SUV’S software shows the vehicle was stopped at a pull-off area before it accelerated straight off the cliff, said Capt. Greg Baarts with the CHP Northern Division.

Baarts said the electronic information, with the lack of skid marks or signs the driver braked, led authorities to believe it was intentional.

Authorities don’t know when the wreck occurred. A driver discovered the wreck Monday, three days after social service authorities opened an investigation apparently prompted by a neighbor’s complaint that the children were being deprived of food.

Five members of the Hart family were found dead. The search continued for three more children believed to have been in the vehicle when it went over a scenic coastal overlook and landed on rocks in the Pacific Ocean below. The missing children might have been washed out to sea.

“This specific location is very difficult to search because the ocean currents and tides are strong, it’s unpredictable, and the murkiness of the water makes it difficult to see,” said Capt. Greg Van Patten of the Mendocino County Sheriff ’s Office.

The family of two married women — Sarah and Jennifer Hart — and six adopted children took spontaneous road trips to camp and hike and traveled to festivals and other events, offering hugs and promoting unity.

Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota, telling authorities “she let her anger get out of control” while spanking her 6-year-old adoptive daughter, court records show.

The two women, both 38, were found dead inside the SUV, while three of their children — Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14 — were discovered outside the vehicle. Searchers were looking for Hannah Hart, 16; Sierra Hart, 12; and Devonte Hart.

Devonte 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.