Hart family didn’t feed son “for days” prior to car plunge
A lesbian couple who plunged to their death with three of their children are reported to have not fed one of their children “for days” prior to the crash.
Sarah and Jennifer Hart, who mothered six children in Newport, Oregon, reportedly starved at least one of their children before they drove their car off a cliff in California with their children inside.
A neighbour of the Hart family reported them to Child Protective Services when son Devonte, 15, said that his mothers had not fed him “for days,” reports The Oregonian.
The son, who is still missing, said to the neighbour that his parents “sometimes” abused him.
He is the only child that has not been found after the crash, and his whereabouts are unknown.
It was after Child Protective Services contacted the family on March 23 and posted a note through their door that the family were piled into the car.
Sarah sent an “alarming” 3am text to her friend after Washington child protective services first visited the family’s home, reported the Daily Mail.
The friend tried to reach out to the family at 8am, but did not receive a reply.
The Hart family
Although the incident was initially regarded as an accident, the fact that none of the family were wearing seatbelts, the lack of skidmarks and the fact that speedometer was pinned at 90 mph when the car plunged has led police to treat the incident as a crime, reports The Oregonian.
“I’m to the point where I’m no longer calling this an accident, I’m calling it a crime,” Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman told HLN.
A series of alleged abuses have come to light since the tragic incident.
The Harts
Sarah Hart had been previously convicted of a domestic abuse charge against her daughter Abigail.
She pleaded guilty to abusing the 14-year-old and was sentenced to a year of probation for misdemeanour domestic assault, court records have shown.
Daughter Hannah Hart was said to have fled the family home out of her bedroom window in 2017 to tell a neighbour that her parents were racist and had been abusing her, The Oregonian reports.
The complaints were dismissed by authorities as an “isolated incident.”
She also had two teeth missing prior to the crash, with her mother saying that she did not need replacement teeth.
The children were home-schooled and kept hidden, reports The Oregonian.
Devonte Hart, 15, remains missing
Sarah and Jennifer Hart, both aged 38, were killed, and their children Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14, also died in the plunge.
Sierra Hart, 12, has also been found dead.
