Jaylen Tatum
Superstar
Authorities in California are searching for three children missing after an SUV drove off a Pacific Coast Highway cliff, where police found two Northwest women and three children dead.
The victims plunged to their deaths when their 2003 GMC veered off Route 1 north of Mendocino and fell 100 feet, eventually landing on its roof on a large rock at the shoreline.
The women and their six children, who were initially identified as being from West Linn, left their Woodland, Washington, home Friday shortly after not answering the door to a visit by Cowlitz County Child Protective Services, according to the Clark County Sheriff's Office and a news report.
Authorities on Wednesday identified the two adults as Jennifer Jean Hart and Sarah Margaret Hart, both 39.
One of the couple's children is Devonte Hart, who garnered national attention in 2014 after he was photographed hugging a Portland police officer during a "Black Lives Matter" demonstration.
The crash occurred Monday along California's northern coast. The children weren't using safety equipment and "came out" of the vehicle at some point, the highway patrol said. The women were found inside.
Investigators are now scouring the crash scene, including the ocean, in search of three additional children who were also possibly traveling in the vehicle, law enforcement officials said.
Initial police reports said the women were from West Linn, but the couple had recently moved north to Woodland, Sgt. Brent Waddell, a Clark County sheriff's spokesman, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Neighbors in Woodland told KOIN (6) the couple had six children and suspected they may have been abused.
A Clark County deputy had accompanied Cowlitz County Child Protective Services to the family's home Friday but nobody answered the door, Waddell said.
The women left in a hurry with all six kids shortly after the visit by CPS, a neighbor told KOIN.
Sarah Hart was convicted of domestic assault in Minnesota in 2011, according to KOIN.
Investigators continue to investigate the cause of the crash, said Officer Olegario Marin, a California Highway Patrol spokesman. Alcohol or drugs aren't considered factors in the incident.
Child in viral Portland police hug photo missing, 5 family members dead after California cliff crash
More info:
The children who are missing are 15-year-old Devonte, 16-year-old Hannah and 12-year-old Sierra Hart. Nineteen-year-old Markis, 14-year-old Jeremiah and 14-year-old Abigal Hart were confirmed dead Wednesday.
The couple, Sarah and Jennifer Hart, have a total of 6 adopted children and recently moved to Woodland, Washington. The Clark County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Cowlitz County Child Protective Services went to the house on Monday after two people called them and expressed concern about the children.
CPS had tried going to the home twice before Monday.
Neighbors in Woodland told KOIN 6 News they suspected abuse. One neighbor said he saw the family leave quickly on Friday with all 6 kids after CPS arrived and left because no one answered the door.
California Highway Patrol called CCSO on Tuesday and asked them to go to the house to look for signs of the 3 kids missing. Authorities found farm animals and a cat at the home and called animal control. They also went inside the home and said things looked normal and there was food in the fridge.
It's unclear where Devonte, Hannah and Sierra are.
RIP TO THEM KIDS
........At the Title... What A Legacy, Homie ain't Live Long Enough To Redeem himself
