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Mendocino County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Office.
Months before she and her siblings were discovered dead at the bottom of a 100-foot cliff in California — Hannah Hart had run to her next-door neighbors’ home, “begging for help.”
But the image of one of them — Devonte Hart — photographed hugging a police officer at a protest march Portland, Ore., following the police shooting death of Mike Brown, belies the tragic death of the children who had been portrayed as living with two perfect adoptive parents.
A newly released trove of investigative documents have shed light on a series of troubling interactions between the Hart family and their neighbors lead up to that day in March when their mother drove them over the edge in the family’s SUV.
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That counters the wide coverage of Devonte hugging Portland Sgt. Bret Brennum after the policeman saw the boy holding a sign that read: “Free Hugs.” The photo and the story behind it went viral. The married couple that adopted him, Sarah and Jennifer Hart were widely lauded as loving parents who stood for social justice issues. But it hid the truth of the rampant abuse he and his siblings were said to be living in at their hands.
A 400-plus page document also includes an incident report from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office that describes how, in the summer of 2017, a distraught Hannah leapt from a second-story window at her family’s home in Woodlawn, Washington, then raced to their next-door neighbors, the DeKalbs, seeking refuge.
According to the sheriff’s report, which cites an interview with the neighbors, once safely inside, the 15-year-old ran up to the couple’s bedroom and pleaded with the DeKalbs to send her to Seattle.
Dana DeKalb recalled that Hannah appeared thin and “much younger” than she should have been for her age. She was also missing her two front teeth.
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“Hannah said her parents would whip her with a belt and withhold food as punishment,” she said. And within minutes, “they could hear the rest of the family outside calling for Hannah,” but the teen “hid behind the bed, asking Dana not to let her family come in.”
When Dana stepped outside to speak to Hannah’s parents, she was told Hannah had a “rough childhood” and “some mental health issues.” They then assured her that no abuse was going on inside their home.
“When they came down stairs together, Dana described Hannah as being a much calmer and was answering Jennifer’s questions with ‘yes, ma’ am,’ ” the report said.
The couple are believed to have fled the home after a case worker visited to investigate claims of alleged abuse. Authorities were beginning a probe into allegations that the couple starved and whipped their children, the Daily Mail reported.
Ten months later, on March 26, five of the eight members of their family – Jennifer and Sarah and three of their kids: Abigail, Markis and Jeremiah Hart, were discovered dead after their SUV was found upside-down at the bottom of a cliff off the Pacific Coast Highway in Northern California.
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Authorities believe all eight members of the family were in the vehicle at the time, though two of the kids — Hannah, now 16, and 15-year-old Devonte Hart — remain unaccounted for and are believed dead. The body of daughter Sierra (whose legal name is Ciera) was later pulled from the water in April.
In May human remains were found about a mile north of where the vehicle plunged off the cliff and forensics specialists were working to identify them, the Los Angeles Times reported.
An investigation led officials to believe the crash was intentional with Jennifer, who was intoxicated at the time, behind the wheel. But no motive has been confirmed.
“I can fairly say that several of the questions that have been asked today [will] never be answered,” Mendocino County, California, Sheriff Tom Allman told reporters in March. “It was un-witnessed. We don’t know what happened.”
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