2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018
Many ‘unknowns’ in SUV cliff plunge that killed family of 8
Family lived
in Woodland
By PAUL ELIAS
and PHUONG LE
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO —
Nobody answered the door
when a child-welfare worker
went to the Washington state
home of the big, free-spir-
ited Hart family to investigate
a neighbor’s complaint that
the youngsters were going
hungry.
Three days later, the Harts’
crumpled SUV was found at
the bottom of a 100-foot sea-
side cliff in Northern Cali-
fornia, all eight family mem-
bers presumed dead in a
mysterious wreck now under
investigation.
“There are a lot of
unknowns on this,” Men-
docino County Sheriff Tom
Allman said. “Several of the
questions that have been asked
today will never be answered.”
Investigators have yet to
determine the cause of the
crash and said there is no rea-
son so far to believe it was
intentional. But they also said
there were no skid marks or
signs the driver braked as the
GMC Yukon crossed a flat dirt
Tristan Fortsch/KATU News
Johnny Huu Nguyen
The Hart family of Woodland, Wash., at a Bernie Sanders
rally in Vancouver, Wash., in 2016.
Portland police Sgt. Bret Barnum, left, and Devonte Hart,
12, hug at a rally in Portland in 2014 where people had
gathered in support of the protests in Ferguson, Mo.
pull-off area, about 75 feet
wide, and went over the edge
of the Pacific Coast Highway.
The case has thrown a
spotlight on at least one pre-
vious run-in with the law by
the Harts, along with neigh-
bors’ repeated concerns about
the way the home-schooled
youngsters were being treated.
Some family friends,
though, say that doesn’t track
with their knowledge of the
parents, Sarah and Jennifer
Hart, as a loving couple who
promoted social justice and
exposed their “remarkable”
children to art, music and
nature.
The brood was known as
the Hart Tribe, a multiracial
family of two women and six
adopted children who grew
their own food, took sponta-
neous road trips to camp and
hike, and traveled to festivals
and other events, offering free
hugs and promoting unity.
One of the children,
Devonte Hart, drew national
attention after the black
youngster was photographed
in tears, hugging a white
police officer during a 2014
protest in Portland over the
deadly police shooting of a
black man in Ferguson, Mis-
souri. Devonte was holding a
“Free Hugs” sign.
But well before the wreck,
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
54
39
39
Partly cloudy
ALMANAC
Mostly cloudy with a
little rain
53
42
Cool with intervals of
clouds and sunshine
Tillamook
42/57
Mainly cloudy
Last
Newport
42/54
Apr 8
Coos Bay
44/59
First
Apr 15
Ontario
46/64
Bend
39/60
Burns
35/59
ON THE RECORD
Klamath Falls
36/65
Lakeview
32/62
Ashland
45/70
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
8:18 a.m.
8:33 p.m.
Low
0.2 ft.
0.1 ft.
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
64
63
65
59
51
67
71
60
54
57
Today
Lo
34
39
49
41
41
36
43
44
42
44
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
c
c
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Hi
57
60
65
63
52
65
72
63
54
58
Sat.
Lo
31
36
45
36
41
34
42
38
39
41
W
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pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
57
64
59
67
61
52
55
62
58
66
Today
Lo
37
40
44
45
44
40
33
42
43
37
W
c
pc
c
pc
c
c
pc
pc
c
pc
Hi
60
57
65
69
65
54
51
64
63
64
Sat.
Lo
36
39
41
41
38
39
34
38
39
36
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
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TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Lo
42
38
38
33
42
33
55
11
70
35
46
61
57
45
69
41
57
38
50
37
41
49
53
43
38
State Sen. Betsy Johnson and state Rep.
Deborah Boone will host a town hall meeting
Saturday in Seaside.
W
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Hi
69
54
52
57
46
50
85
31
82
54
56
87
77
71
81
70
75
58
72
58
59
70
69
60
60
Sat.
Lo
47
41
22
27
22
27
58
24
71
29
26
64
58
52
71
49
57
43
36
44
30
48
53
41
48
The meeting will be from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at
Seaside City Hall at 989 Broadway.
The state lawmakers are expected to dis-
cuss the last legislative session and public-pol-
icy issues.
Burglary
• On Wednesday, Joshua Henry Marshall,
33, was arrested by Astoria police at 18th Street
and Franklin Avenue for second-degree bur-
glary. Deputy Police Chief Eric Halvorson said
police received a report around 9 p.m. of Mar-
shall breaking into the cafeteria at Columbia
Memorial Hospital.
REGIONAL CITIES
Tonight's Sky: After 10 p.m., Jupiter is emerging
from the eastern horizon.
Hi
66
61
50
63
54
48
83
32
83
51
55
82
80
61
83
60
75
62
65
65
54
69
75
57
68
John Day
42/58
Baker
34/57
Roseburg
45/69
Brookings
49/66
UNDER THE SKY
High
9.1 ft.
8.8 ft.
Prineville
39/62
Lebanon
44/64
Medford
43/72
Apr 22
Johnson, Boone to appear at Seaside town hall
La Grande
37/55
The Daily Astorian
Salem
44/65
Eugene
41/63
New
Pendleton
40/57
The Dalles
44/65
Portland
44/65
Sunset tonight ........................... 7:41 p.m.
Sunrise Saturday ........................ 6:58 a.m.
Moonrise today .......................... 7:00 p.m.
Moonset today ............................ 6:58 a.m.
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
51
37
of Social and Health Services.
By Saturday, the family’s
SUV was gone from the drive-
way, said Bruce DeKalb.
The wreck was discovered
by a passing motorist Monday
afternoon. The women, both
38, were found dead inside the
SUV, while three of their chil-
dren — Markis Hart, 19, Jer-
emiah Hart, 14, and Abigail
Hart, 14 — were discovered
outside the vehicle.
A team on Thursday con-
tinued to search the rugged
coastline for the three other
children, also believed to have
been in the SUV: Hannah
Hart, 16, Sierra Hart, 12, and
Devonte.
The
DeKalbs
also
recounted that three months
after the Harts moved into
their house on 2 acres with a
fenced pasture last May, one
of the girls rang the DeKalbs’
doorbell at 1:30 a.m.
She “was at our door in a
blanket saying we needed to
protect her,” Bruce DeKalb
said. “She said that they were
abusing her.” The entire fam-
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
39/54
SUN AND MOON
Time
2:04 a.m.
2:17 p.m.
TUESDAY
REGIONAL WEATHER
Precipitation
Thursday .......................................... 0.00"
Month to date ................................... 4.62"
Normal month to date ....................... 7.01"
Year to date .................................... 23.23"
Normal year to date ........................ 24.40"
Mar 31
49
38
Times of sun and clouds
Astoria through Thursday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 54°/37°
Normal high/low ........................... 55°/40°
Record high ............................ 73° in 1964
Record low ............................. 28° in 1938
Full
MONDAY
Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in
2011 to a domestic assault
charge in Douglas County,
Minnesota, telling authorities
“she let her anger get out of
control” while spanking her
6-year-old adoptive daughter,
court records show.
Then, last week, Bruce
and Dana DeKalb, next-door
neighbors of the Harts in
Woodland, Washington, called
state child protective services
on Friday because Devonte,
now 15, had been coming over
to their house almost every day
for a week, asking for food.
Dana DeKalb said Devonte
told her his parents were “pun-
ishing them by withhold-
ing food.” The boy asked her
to leave food in a box by the
fence for him, she said.
Social service authorities
opened an investigation, and
a state caseworker went to the
house last Friday but didn’t
find anyone home, state offi-
cials said. The agency had no
prior history with the family,
said Norah West, a spokes-
woman with the Department
ily came over to their house
the next morning to apologize
and explain it was a bad week,
Dana DeKalb said.
The sheriff said investiga-
tors don’t know exactly when
or how the SUV went over the
cliff, situated alongside a spot
commonly used by motor-
ists to walk their pets. Allman
appealed to anyone who might
have seen the family to come
forward.
Accident-reconstruction
experts said investigators will
look at such factors as the
weather, road conditions and
the possibility of brake fail-
ure, a blown tire or some other
malfunction.
That model of Yukon was
also presumably equipped
with a black box recorder that
would show its speed and use
of the brakes, said Marcus
Mazza, an engineer and acci-
dent-reconstruction
expert
with Lancaster, Pennsylva-
nia-based Robson Forensic.
Family friend Max Rib-
ner took issue with the notion
it was something other than
a tragic accident. The couple
adopted the six children, many
of whom came from “hard
backgrounds,” he said. “They
transformed these kids’ lives.”
“This is a tragic accident
of a magnitude that cannot be
measured,” said Zippy Lomax,
a photographer who knew
the Harts. “They were really
radiant, warm, adventurous,
inspiring people. They were
always on some grand adven-
ture, and the kids were living
this life that was kind of like
this dream.”
Le reported from Seattle.
Associated Press writer Tom
James contributed from West
Linn.
MEMORIAL
Saturday, April 7, 2018
HOIKKA, Michael W. — A service celebrating Hoikka’s life will be held at 1 p.m. at Hood
River Alliance Church, 2650 Montello Ave., Hood River. Hoikka is formerly of Astoria.
DEATH
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
March 27, 2018
HILLARD, Lanie Rae, 27, of Warrenton, died in Warrenton.
W
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PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
LOTTERIES
Thursday’s Lucky Lines: 01-
08-12-16-FREE-20-23-25-31
Estimated jackpot: $20,000
OREGON
Thursday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 4-1-3-2
4 p.m.: 1-5-8-2
7 p.m.: 4-8-9-5
10 p.m.: 8-7-4-4
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
WASHINGTON
Thursday’s Daily Game:
5-9-5
Thursday’s Keno: 05-06-11-
14-17-18-32-35-36-37-39-47-
51-52-62-64-69-73-77-79
Thursday’s Match 4: 05-08-
15-17
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