SEATTLE_The Woodland, Wash., mother who was driving when an SUV carrying her wife and children plunged off a California cliff last month was drunk, officials said Friday.
Jen Hart had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit, said Olegario Marin, a public-information officer with the California Highway Patrol. Two children who were in the wreck and Jen's wife, Sarah, also had in their systems an allergy drug that can lead to drowsiness, he said.
Jen Hart had an alcohol level of 0.102, according to a news release from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, citing a preliminary toxicology report. California drivers are considered drunk with a level of 0.08 or higher. The office was still waiting on toxicology results from a third child.
Five Hart family members have been confirmed dead after the SUV carrying the mothers and at least three of their children plunged from a 150-foot cliff in Northern California onto the oceanside rocks below last month.
Mothers Sarah and Jen, both 38, died, as well as their children Markis, 19, Abigail, 14, and Jeremiah, 14. Authorities believe Devonte, 15, Hannah, 16, and Sierra, 12, may have been in the vehicle and were swept out to sea. The body of a young woman was found nearby about a week ago, but has not yet been identified.
Officials have said the crash may have been intentional, judging by software in the vehicle showing it stopped at a pull-off area before speeding off the cliff. Officials found no skid marks to indicate sudden acceleration or braking, according to a search-warrant affidavit.
Jen and Sarah Hart, both originally from South Dakota, were the adoptive mothers of their six children from Texas. The women had adopted two sets of siblings _ the first (Markis, Abigail and Hannah) in 2006 and the second (Devonte, Jeremiah and Sierra) in 2009. The multiracial Hart family lived together in three states, and officials investigated child-abuse allegations in each, including one that prompted an official from Washington's Child Protective Services to visit their Woodland house right before they drove off for California.
The Harts, who immersed their children in alternative culture, left many friends and acquaintances with the impression of a happy family that emphasized love, unity and music. But the family also kept distance from the outside world.
After Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault, she and Jen pulled their children from schools in Minnesota, in favor of homeschooling. They later left the state and never registered in local school districts in Oregon and Washington or notified authorities they planned to home-school the children.
The Harts moved last spring to Woodland, telling their real-estate broker "they needed a fresh start" after experiencing prejudice in Minnesota and too much media attention in Oregon after one child was pictured in a viral photo taken at a 2014 police-brutality protest.
Last August, soon after the Harts moved into their rural home, neighbors Bruce and Dana DeKalb said a child rang their doorbell, seeking sanctuary from abuse. Then, in March, one of the Hart children began asking the DeKalbs for food, and claimed his mothers were withholding food.
Late last month, the DeKalbs called Child Protective Services, CPS, with concerns. Soon after a CPS official visited the home, the Harts' SUV was gone. Days later, a tourist spotted the SUV at the bottom of the cliff.
