Three missing children of a suicidal lesbian couple may not have washed out to sea after their SUV plunged 100-feet off a cliff near Mendicino, California.
Authorities are retracing the 550-mile route driven by Sarah and Jennifer Hart after a Child Protective Services worker made a visit to their Woodland, Washington home on Friday, March 23.
The wrecked Yukon was found by a passing motorist on a rocky coastline 100-feet down a cliff near the Pacific Coast Highway on Monday, March 26.
The Harts were found in the front seats of the mangled vehicle. The bodies of three children — Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14 — were found outside the vehicle. Still missing are Hannah Hart, 16, Sierra Hart, 12; and Devonte Hart, 15.
California Highway Patrol determined the accident was an intentional act after examining the vehicle’s on-board computer software. The software shows the SUV stopped on the gravel turnout then accelerated off the cliff.
SEE ALSO: Police: SUV that plunged off cliff at 90 mph was intentional act
Water rescue officers spent the week trawling the ocean searching for the missing children. The ocean currents flow south, so officials focused their search efforts along the coast south of the crash site.
Investigators are now retracing the family’s route under the assumption that the missing children may have been dumped somewhere along the highway from Washington to California.
Investigators are examining “red flags” in the family’s past after child welfare workers in 3 states — Minnesota, Oregon and Washington — investigated reports of child abuse and neglect.
The Harts’ next-door neighbors say two of the children came to their home saying they were being abused by their adoptive mothers.
Sarah and Jennifer Hart reportedly moved with the children to a new state after each investigation by child welfare officials.
Oregon CPS workers called the CPS agency in Washington after the Harts moved there last year.
In 2011, Sarah plead guilty to child abuse after her then-6-year-old daughter was found with bruises on her abdomen and back.
Devonte Hart drew national attention when he was photographed embracing a Portland cop with tears in his eyes during a rally for slain Ferguson resident Michael Brown in 2015.
