CHP sees signs crash was intentional
Mom of 6 appears to have accelerated off cliff
CHP believes mother drove SUV off cliff on purpose, killing family.
Stopped on a dirt pull-off along California’s picturesque Mendocino coastline, Jennifer Hart pointed her sport utility vehicle toward the sprawling Pacific Ocean and pressed her foot on the accelerator, officials said a preliminary investigation shows.
Moments after Hart punched the gas, authorities said, the 2003 GMC Yukon containing Hart’s wife and their six adopted children — three of whom have yet to be found — sped forward and continued accelerating as it pitched over a 100-foot cliff, sending everyone inside to their deaths.
The California Highway Patrol released the grim details this week as the investigation continues into the fatal crash that ended the lives of the multiracial family known as the Hart Tribe. The troubling episode has captured national attention and confounded authorities and friends of the family alike.
But for the first time since the SUV was found at the water’s edge on March 26, investigators said they believe the incident may not have been an accident.
“At this point we think a felony was committed,” Officer Olegario Marin, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol’s Ukiah office, said Monday. “We’re investigating all aspects of the incident and believe it was possibly an intentional act.”
Investigators over the past week have pored over evidence at the crash scene while authorities in Woodland, Wash., executed a search war-
rant at the family’s home, hoping to find answers about the mysterious crash — and now possibly a motive.
The SUV’s speedometer was stuck at 90 mph, indicating its speed upon impact, officials said. Additionally, the vehicle’s airbag control module — a small computer that stores important impact information — shows the SUV never stopped accelerating from when it started moving 70 feet from the ledge until it hit the craggy rocks below, the CHP said.
Investigators are still trying to piece together the family’s final moments and the days leading up to them. They don’t know why the family came to California or where they might have stopped along the way.
“There’s a lot of unknowns,” Marin said. “Every day there’s more information that’s coming to light. It can take months to get all the (crash) data and process everything.”
A passerby discovered the wreckage last week and called 911. The crash, though, could have happened hours or even days before, the CHP said.
Authorities found the bodies of Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, still strapped in the vehicle. The bodies of three of their children — Markis, 19, and Jeremiah and Abigail, both 14 — were found outside the vehicle.
Still missing are Sierra, 12, Hannah, 16, and 15-year-old Devonte, all of whom authorities believe may have been pulled out to sea by strong Northern California ocean currents. Those currents, along with the rugged terrain and remote location, are making search efforts for the missing children difficult.
National interest in the tragedy, meanwhile, continues to increase, after it was revealed last week that Devonte was the boy in a 2014 viral picture that shows him crying while hugging a police officer in Portland.
The wayfaring mothers and their brood of adopted and homeschooled children were known to travel around the Northwest and participate in protests and political events where they would often hold signs reading “Free Hugs.” It was at such a protest that Devonte, tears streaming down his face, was immortalized in an embrace with Portland police Sgt. Bret Barnum.
The children had troubled pasts, friends said, but they found comfort in the evergrowing family that frequently took camping trips to explore the outdoors.
Since the crash, new details about the seemingly idyllic family have begun to emerge, including troubling accounts from their neighbors, who said Devonte had told them his parents weren’t feeding him and his siblings.
The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services had attempted to contact the family three days before the wreckage was discovered to follow up on a report of abuse or neglect. Department officials said they had no prior contact with the family and have not made any findings about the report.
Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota for abusing her 6-year-old adoptive daughter, according to court records. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky