New court documents in the case of a Woodland, Washington family’s deadly car crash reveal that their SUV was travelling at about 90 mph when it went off the road.
Sarah and Jennifer Hart were driving in Northern California on Monday with at least three of their adopted children. The other three were believed to be in the car with them, though they have not been located since the accident. A search warrant affidavit was issued in Clark County so that police could investigate the trip, according to Fox 12. The family’s 2003 GMC SUV went off of a cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway and fell 100 feet, landing upside down in a grizzly crash.
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Now, the latest court documents in the case question whether the crash was accidental. “It was noted the speedometer was ‘pinned’ at 90 miles per hour,” read the filings. Police found no marks on the road from skidding brakes, and the pinned speedometer can sometimes mean that the vehicle was travelling at that speed when it crashed.
California Highway Patrol investigators found no “acceleration marks, tire friction marks or braking furrow marks” at the scene, according to the court documents
Police searched the Hart family home on Thursday, reportedly looking for a travel itinerary, bank records, cell phone records, credit card billing statements, bank receipts, notes, journals and even possibly suicide notes. The Harts bought the Washington home in May of 2017 after moving from West Linn.
“Based upon the California Highway Patrol investigation, it is their belief ‘a felony has been committed,’” according to court documents.
The Harts have been under scrutiny for their treatment of their adopted children before.
Last year, their 15-year-old son Devonte Hart went viral online after a photo circulated showing him hugging a police officer at a protest. However, neighbors told Fox 12 that they had once called Child Protective Services after the teenager came to their door begging for food for himself and his siblings.
The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services confirmed that the case was still open in a statement on Wednesday, saying “the now-deceased children were identified as potential victims of alleged abuse or neglect.”
