Search continues for three children missing since Mendocino Coast crash that killed family

CHP aircraft will return to the skies over the northern Mendocino Coast today to continue the search for three Washington state children missing since their family SUV plunged over the side of a cliff and into the rising surf below, killing their parents and three siblings early this week.

Despite having found no additional remains so far, authorities say the fact the trio has not been accounted for elsewhere makes it increasingly likely that they perished with the rest of their family in the crash discovered Monday afternoon.

Sarah Margaret Hart, her wife, Jennifer Jean Hart, and their six kids, ages 12 to 19, were known to keep to themselves and recently lived rather reclusively in the Portland suburb of Woodland, Washington.

“At this point what we know from the investigation, from talking to family and friends, is it is highly unlikely that the family would not all be together,” Mendocino County Sheriff's Capt. Greg Van Patten said Friday. “But then again, we don't have anything specific that's 100 percent saying that they were.”

A passing motorist who had stopped at a wide turnout on Highway 1 north of the town of Westport discovered the gruesome crash site around 3:40 p.m. Monday. The family's 2003 GMC Yukon XL, which carries nine passengers, had plummeted about 100 feet down to the rocky shoreline and overturned, the wreckage pressed into the rocks, first responders said.

The parents, both 38, were found in the crushed vehicle. Three of the adopted siblings - Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, also 14 - were found outside the car, apparently not having worn seat belts.

It wasn't until the next day that authorities realized there were three other siblings not accounted for. They are Devonte Hart, 15, Hannah Hart, 16, and Cierra Hart, 12.

Authorities aren't yet sure when or how the crash occurred and said there were no obvious brake or skid marks on the large gravel pullout that would indicate if the car rolled or launched off the cliff.

CHP investigators, in coordination with sheriff's personnel in Mendocino County and Clark County, Washington, are trying to trace the family's movements over the 24 hours before the wrecked car was found, and seeking cellphone and bank records to see if there might be markers that would help plot their path to that deadly cliff.

The effort is complicated by the fact that the family had come under scrutiny by Child Protective Services in Clark County on March 23, when the next-door neighbor called to report signs of child abuse and neglect.

Neighbor Bruce DeKalb has detailed troubling events that included one of the sons, Devonte Hart, coming over repeatedly in the previous week looking for food that he and his siblings might share. Last summer, a few months after the Harts moved into their home, one of the girls, Hannah Hart, asked her neighbors for help in the middle of the night, saying she was being abused and was running away, DeKalb said.

A CPS worker visited the house several hours after DeKalb finally reported the family, and no one answered the door, though DeKalb said he had just seen a car driven by Jennifer Hart pull into the driveway.

By the next morning, the family had picked up and gone, he said.

Authorities had hoped to hear from someone who might have seen the family during what would have been at least a 550-mile trip, but the few reports they have received did not check out, officials said.

Meanwhile, eight or 10 search and rescue personnel on foot and in vehicles continued to comb the shoreline Friday for property or evidence of the three missing siblings washed up onshore or in the water, focusing the search south of the crash site, in the direction of ocean currents, Sheriff's Sgt. Shannon Barney said. He said a backpack had been found in the area two days earlier. Barney had no information on its contents.

Van Patten said authorities would assess day by day how much longer to continue the search, depending on available resources and the likelihood it can be productive.

He said rising speculation that the crash may have been intentional is just that: speculation.

Despite the dearth of signposts, he said he believed investigators would eventually be able to put the piece together and explain what happened

“I can tell you there's a dedication to pushing as hard and as fast as we can to uncover as much information to get us to a point where we can, ourselves, know the truth behind what happened and report that,” Van Patten said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB. You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.