Where Did Entire Family Die in Car Ocean Crash
Jennifer Hart drove her half dozen children to their deaths as her wife looked upward how much they would endure, a jury says
Updated 2102 GMT (0502 HKT) Apr 6, 2019
(CNN)As a boozer Jennifer Hart drove her six adopted children in their family unit SUV, her married woman, Sarah, sabbatum in the passenger seat looking up different means to end a life.
The SUV conveying the Hart family unit would drive off a 100-human foot Pacific declension cliff on that 24-hour interval in March terminal year -- a tragedy police say took all eight lives and sparked questions about abuse and homicide.
Every bit the car was in motion, Sarah was busy with the searches:
"How easily tin can I overdose on over the counter medications?"
"Can 500mg of Benadryl kill a 125lb adult female?"
"How long does it take to dice from hypothermia while drowning in a car?"
One of her last searches was for a no-kill dog shelter.
They intended to kill their 6 children, jury finds
The horrifying details emerged Thursday afterward a coroner's jury unanimously ruled that Jennifer and Sarah Hart intended to die forth with their half-dozen adopted children: Markis, 19, Jeremiah and Abigail, both 14, Devonte, 15, Hannah, xvi, 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 "dearest is always beautiful" signs.
In some photos, they had on matching T-shirts and broad grins.
As the national spotlight on the story grew, more details emerged that the children desperately sought aid from neighbors. Allegations surfaced that their parents abused and starved the half-dozen adopted children.
Driver got intoxicated to build her backbone
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. Simply while Jennifer and Sarah's were decorated, Slates said, the children's rooms were bare.
Investigators noted that their baggage was left behind, and the family unit did not take their toothbrushes earlier leaving for two days.
"In my opinion, Sarah and Jennifer succumbed to a lot of pressure," said Lt. Shannon Barney of the Mendocino Canton Sheriff's Office. "They got to the point where they made a conscious conclusion to end their lives and take their children with them."
As Jennifer drove down the U.s. 101 highway, she had five beers in her system, enough to make it hard for her to function, co-ordinate to Slates. Witnesses told law that Jennifer rarely drank.
The theory is that she drank to build up her backbone, Slates said.
"My feeling is based on talking to witnesses that they felt if they couldn't take those kids, no one was going to have those kids," Slates said.
Kids sought aid in the middle of the dark
Days before the family died in the crash, Kid Protective Services in Washington requested a welfare check on the family unit. Simply no one answered the door on March 26; the family unit was already gone.
Calls to the police began merely two years afterwards 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 in the arm, but the state closed the example claiming the child savage.
After another telephone call in 2011, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to domestic assail afterwards admitting to police she hobbling her child by spanking her over the edge of a bathtub.
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 nighttime.
According to a case written report, the children as well complained of racist behavior.
Witnesses told California Highway Patrol that the children were "extremely disciplined, virtually to the signal 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 bank check on the family. The next day, they packed up their SUV and began their drive from Washington to California.
Questions remain on corruption oversight
At first, only Jennifer, Sarah and iii 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 embankment north of the cliff two weeks after. Parts of a pes in a shoe were found on a embankment that May, but investigators could not identify the remains as a Hart kid until Jan this yr, when a Dna sample proved it was Hannah.
Devonte is withal missing and, while they believe he perished with his brothers and sisters, regime are hoping the public tin provide data to prove them incorrect.
Jennifer and Sarah cannot be questioned or stand up trial for what happened on that California cliff. The inquest is closed, and their death certificates now listing suicide while the children's list homicide.
What can change now, Mendocino Canton Sheriff-Coroner Thomas Allman told reporters, is the federal oversight of abuse. Five states were involved with the adoptions and abuse allegations of the children.
"Where are the systematic failures that mayhap could have prevented this?" Allman said. "We do not take a national database for kid abuse allegations."
This, Allman said, should be an "enlightening moment" for lawmakers.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/06/us/hart-family-crash-inquest-searches/index.html
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