3 more children missing after family crash kills 5
Authorities identified three children as missing Wednesday after an SUV drove off an embankment on Highway 1 in Mendocino County, killing five members of a Washington state family whose bodies were recovered.
The five known victims were two married women and three of their adopted children, authorities said. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office identified the women as Jennifer Hart and Sarah Hart, of Woodland, Wash.
The three children killed in the crash on Monday afternoon were identified as Markis Hart, 19; Jeremiah Hart, 14; and Abigail Hart, 14. The three children were found outside the vehicle, said Officer Olegario Marin, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
After the wreck, police were unable to find the couple’s three other children at their Washington residence. The missing children are Devonte Hart, 15; Hannah Hart, 16; and Sierra Hart, 12.
Authorities do not know if they were in the car with their parents. Search and rescue efforts for the three missing children are ongoing, but water conditions have prevented the use of rescue and recovery divers in the area.
An anonymous complaint about the family was made to child protective services in Washington state’s Clark County, and a county sheriff’s deputy was sent to make a welfare check, spokesman Sgt. Brent Waddell said. A deputy arrived at the family’s home mid-morning Monday, Waddell said, but no one answered the door.
It’s not clear why, and when, the family got on the road, but the crash was reported at 3:38 p.m. Monday, just south of California’s Juan Creek in Mendocino County.
A 2003 GMC sport utility vehicle was found on its roof in a rocky shoreline area, about 20 miles north of Fort Bragg, Marin said.
A photo of one of the missing children, Devonte, drew widespread media attention in 2014. The image showed the boy crying as he hugged a Portland police officer during demonstrations related to the controversial police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Authorities said they believe the family moved away from the Portland area after intense media coverage of the viral photo.
County sheriff’s offices for Clark and Mendocino counties said the family’s most recent address was in Woodland, Wash., but they did not find the couple’s three other children there. Officials found pets and belongings in the home that suggested the family’s trip was supposed to be only temporary.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, Marin said.