Human remains found on Mendocino Coast near Hart family crash site

Human remains were found Wednesday evening on the Mendocino Coast about a mile north of the spot where a mother of six drove her wife and children off a cliff in late March, authorities said.

A resident found a pair of jeans with a shoe near the mouth of Hardy Creek in Westport around ?7:15 p.m., the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Skeletal remains were found inside the shoe.

The bodies of two children, Devonte Hart, 15, and Hannah Hart, 16, of Woodland, Washington, have yet to be recovered. Investigators believe they were inside the SUV at the time of the crash.

The jeans were a girl’s size 10, and the shoe was a child’s large size 3½, which equates to a women’s size 5½, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The Sheriff’s Office plans to send the remains to a California Department of Justice laboratory in Richmond for DNA analysis, authorities said.

Jennifer Hart, 38, of Woodland, Washington, intentionally drove off a 100-foot cliff 20 miles north of Fort Bragg while intoxicated, authorities said.

The family’s 2003 GMC Yukon XL was spotted upside down on the rocky shoreline by a passerby March 26.

Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, were found dead inside the SUV, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The bodies of three children - Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14 - were recovered outside the vehicle.

The body of Ciera Hart, 12, was found in the surf by Juan Creek on April 7. DNA analysis confirmed her identity 10 days later.

You can reach Staff Writer Nick Rahaim at 707-521-5203 or nick.rahaim@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nrahaim.