Photo: Twitter
Three of the children are still missing.
By Sarah Gangraw — Written on Apr 04, 2018
A surveillance video may provide insight as to whether or not all six of the adopted children of Sarah and Jennifer Hart plunged off a California cliff March 26.
The bodies of Sarah and Jen, both 38, were found inside their SUV at the crash scene near Westport, Calif., and three of their six kids were discovered dead outside of the vehicle. The other three remain missing.
Devonte Hart, 15, Hannah Hart, 16, and Sierra Hart, 12, were reported missing but presumed dead, Fox News reports. They were nowhere to be found after the tragic crash. Markis, 19, Abigail, 14, and Jeremiah, 14, were discovered dead near the SUV.
“The most probable thing is that they are with their parents,” Lt. Barney said to Oregon Live about the three children who have not been found. “I will say there’s a possibility because we can’t rule it out.”
In the surveillance footage, Jennifer can be seen buying bananas in a Safeway store in Fort Bragg at 8:05 a.m. Sunday.
It is “very grainy,” Lt. Barney told The Oregonian. “It looks like Jen.”
Police are using the video to determine whether or not all six of the Hart children were in the car when it accelerated off the cliff on Highway 1.
Authorities have been tracing the Hart family's route for days using “cellphone pings” trying to figure out where the other three children are, Fox News reports.
“It is believed they continued south along US 101 until they reached State Route 1 in Legget, California. The family traveled south along State Route 1 until they reached the Fort Bragg area in Mendocino County around 8:00 pm on Saturday evening, March 24, 2018,” a news release said.
Lt. Barney said that six California counties will begin working together with the Coast Guard Wednesday in a widespread search effort to find the Hart children. The 71-member team will focus on the beaches from the Noyo Harbor to the MacKerricher State Park but will also include a helicopter and a boat, Oregon Live reports.
"The search for the additional three children belonging to the family continues both at the scene, through water rescue and recovery, and other locations including routes of travel," the California Highway Patrol said in a Monday news release, according to Oregon Live.
Authorities searched for items including a travel itinerary, bank records, cell phone records, suicide notes, and mail but were unable to locate the children through these means.
"If the vehicle was there for a long period of time during a high tide cycle a lot of the stuff may have been carried out to sea,” Lt. Barney said.
According to police, preliminary evidence does not show the crash was intentional but they are looking further into the possibility of homicide. There were no skid marks at the scene.
The vehicle’s onboard computer indicates that the SUV was at a complete stop 70 ft. from the cliff when it accelerated and flew off the cliff.
"We will consider all those angles," Lt. Barney said, "anything from a terrible accident to a homicide is on the table."
Lt. Barney also said that the official cause of death of the five victims has not yet been released as it may take a while for the toxicology and autopsy reports to be finished.