Details Revealed In Case Of Washington Family Killed When SUV Plunged Off A California Cliff

Remember the mysterious case of the family found dead at the bottom of a California cliff? Well new details have emerged with answers regarding the background and death of the Hunt family.

 This pictured was etched in the hearts of America during a 2014 protest in Portland over the deadly police shooting of a black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Devonte Hart, drew national attention after the black youngster was photographed in tears, hugging a white police officer.  Devonte was holding a “Free Hugs” sign.

We understand today that the tears on Devonte’s face may have meant so much more. Just 4 years later, he, along with his siblings and parents were killed in a fatal car accident. It’s been a year since this tragedy and we have the court’s decision.

Reported by CNN, the SUV carrying the Hart family would drive off a 100-foot Pacific coast cliff on that day  in March last year  — a tragedy police say took all eight lives and sparked questions about abuse and homicide.

As Jennifer drove, Sarah was busy with the searches.  Here are some of the searches that have since been discovered on her personal device.

“How easily can I overdose on over the counter medications?”

“Can 500mg of Benadryl kill a 125lb woman?”

“How long does it take to die from hypothermia while drowning in a car?”

One of her last searches was for a no-kill dog shelter.

The jury confirmed that they intended to kill their 6 children.  The horrifying  details emerged Thursday after a coroner’s jury unanimously ruled that Jennifer and Sarah Hart intended to die along with their six adopted children:  Markis, 19, Jeremiah and Abigail, both 14, Devonte, 15, Hannah, 16, and Ciera, 12.

At first, it seemed unfathomable the parents would drive their children from their home in Woodland, Washington, to their deaths in Mendocino County, California. Their social media pages included photos of beaming children holding “love is always beautiful” signs.  In some photos, they even had on matching T-shirts and had wide grins.

As the national spotlight on the story grew, more details emerged that the children desperately sought help from neighbors. Allegations surfaced that their parents abused and starved the six adopted children.

It is suspected that the driver got intoxicated to build her courage for the horrific deed she and wifey had agreed to.  The coroner’s inquest gave more insight into what led Jennifer and Sarah to end the lives of all eight Harts.

When authorities entered the Hart home, it seemed neat, orderly and newly remodeled, said investigator Jake Slates from the California Highway Patrol.  But while Jennifer and Sarah’s room was decorated, Slates said, the children’s rooms were bare.

The first clue investigators noted was that their luggage was left behind, and the family did not take their toothbrushes before leaving for two days.

“In my opinion, Sarah and Jennifer succumbed to a lot of pressure,” said Lt. Shannon Barney of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. “They got to the point where they made a conscious decision to end their lives and take their children with them.”

As Jennifer drove down the US 101 highway, she had five beers in her system, enough to make it difficult for her to function, according to Slates. Witnesses told police that Jennifer rarely drank.  The theory is that she drank to build up her courage, Slates said.

“My feeling is based on talking to witnesses that they felt if they couldn’t have those kids, no one was going to have those kids,” Slates said.

It’s reported that the kids sought help in the middle of the night.  Days before the family died in the crash, Child Protective Services in Washington requested a welfare check on the family, but no one answered the door on March 26; the family was already gone.

Records show that calls to the police began just two years after the Harts became parents, while they were living in Minnesota. They were first called in 2008 when one child told an adult that Jennifer struck the child on the arm, but the state closed the case claiming the child fell.

After another call in 2011, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to domestic assault after admitting to police she bruised her child by spanking her over the edge of a bathtub.

Then after the family moved to Woodland, Washington, the children started going to their neighbor, Bruce DeKalb, for help and food in the middle of the night.

According to a case report, the children also complained of racist behavior.  Witnesses told California Highway Patrol that the children were “extremely disciplined, almost to the point of being robotic,” walking single-file to the bedroom and being told when to go to the bathroom, Slates said.

On March 23, DeKalb called CPS to check on the family.  The next day, they packed up their SUV and began their drive from Washington to California.

Initially, only Jennifer, Sarah and three children were identified. Jennifer was intoxicated, and Sarah and two of the children tested positive for diphenhydramine, an active ingredient in Benadryl.

Ciera’s body was found on a beach north of the cliff two weeks later. Parts of a foot in a shoe were found on a beach that May, but investigators could not identify the remains as a Hart child until January this year, when a DNA sample proved it was Hannah.

Devonte (the boy hugging the cop) is still missing and, while they believe he perished with his brothers and sisters, authorities are hoping the public can provide information to prove them wrong.  Unfortunately, Jennifer and Sarah cannot be questioned or stand trial for what happened on that California cliff. The inquest is closed, and their death certificates now list suicide while the children’s list homicide.  Tragic.

Let’s take a look at a few issues here.  Five different states were involved with the adoptions and abuse allegations of the children. What happened that a neighbor had to be the one to realize that something wasn’t quite right?  Is it because the children came to him in the middle of the night?  Or is it because professionals assumed that these parents were safe based on the outward appearances of things.

We have to be honest and ask ourselves where are the systematic failures that possibly could have prevented this?  “We do not have a national database for child abuse allegations,” Allman said. This should shake our lawmakers.

Some people would say that Jennifer and Sarah loved the kids so much that they didn’t want anyone else to have them. Others may say that love had nothing to do with it and that they were determined to not be penalized for the alleged abused and were too prideful to let their kids live with the memory of their choices.

This has got to be one of the saddest stories heard of. Imagine needing a home, you finally get one but you’re abused and starved. And then your life is taken away from you. Our lawmakers are hopefully putting things in place to prevent tragedies like this from happening again; not to make it hard on good parents but to quickly identify the dangerous ones.

What are your thoughts?