- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Body recovered near site of vehicle crash that killed Washington family
Lt. Shannon Barney said the body of a black female was found in the surf of the Pacific Ocean at Juan Creek and Highway 1 in Westport on Saturday afternoon.
Barney said that location is in the immediate vicinity where, on March 26, the bodies of Jennifer Jean Hart and Sarah Margaret Hart, both age 38, and three of their children, Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14, all of Woodland, Wash., were found along with their GMC Yukon SUV at the bottom of a 100-foot cliff at the edge of a dirt turnout along Highway 1, as Lake County News has reported.
The bodies of the two women were inside the SUV while the three children were found nearby, two of them on the rocky shoreline and one in the water, authorities said.
None of the family members were belted in and there were no signs of brake or skidmarks, leading authorities to suspect that the crash may have been intentional.
When the wreck was discovered, there was no sign of the family’s three other children – Devonte Hart, 15, Hannah Hart, 16, and Sierra Hart, 12 – who were believed to have been on the trip.
Searches for the children have continued along the coastline up through Friday, but they were called off temporarily for the weekend due to the storms which have brought heavy rains and winds to the Mendocino Coast over the past few days, according to Mendocino County Sheriff’s Capt. Greg Van Patten.
Then, just before 2 p.m. on Saturday, Barney said the California Highway Patrol received a call regarding the discovery of the body in the surf.
Barney said the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office responded to the location to conduct a coroner's investigation and learned that a couple, vacationing along the coast, observed a possible body floating in the surf near Juan Creek.
The Westport Fire Department had patrolled the area an hour prior but did not see anything, Barney said.
However, Barney said the body was pulled from the surf, onto the beach, by a third bystander where it was later recovered by Westport Fire.
The recovered body appears to be that of a black female but the age and a positive identity could not be determined, Barney said.
That raises the possibility that the body could be one of the missing Hart children, all of whom were black. The couple, who were white, had reportedly adopted all six children.
Barney said there were no signs of the other missing Hart children.
An autopsy will be conducted on Tuesday and the cause of death is unknown, Barney said.
Barney said the sheriff's office is investigating the possibility that the body may be one of the two missing Hart girls but identification will most likely be done through DNA analysis, a process that can take several weeks.
It is not uncommon after a significant storm, such as the one passing through the North State currently, to bring items to the surface or wash onto the beach, Barney said.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is monitoring the ocean conditions to see when further searches might be safely conducted. Barney said this evaluation includes the possible use of divers if conditions permit.
Authorities are continuing to gather information about the family’s whereabouts in the days before the fatal wreck.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the CHP’s Ukiah Area office at 707-467-4000 or the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office at 707-234-2100 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
040518 Hart children missing persons flier by LakeCoNews on Scribd