Friend: Hart sent 3 a.m. text days before SUV cliff crash

By: The Associated Press

Thursday, April 12, 2018 12:05 AM

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) One of the mothers who died when an SUV plunged off a Northern California cliff sent a text two days before the wreckage was discovered, saying she was so sick she might have to go to a hospital, according to 911 call records from Washington state.

Cheryl Hart of Vancouver, Washington, said she received the alarming message from Sarah Hart at 3 a.m. March 24, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Wednesday. Cheryl Hart shares the same last name but said she's not related to the family.

On March 26, Cheryl Hart called a Clark County emergency dispatcher to report that she had not heard back from her friend in two days.

"Nobody has been able to get ahold of her, talk to her or seen her since ... or her wife, which is Jen," she told the dispatcher at 1:15 p.m. on March 26. She also said she had checked hospitals, but none said they had a record of treating Sarah.

Several hours after she called authorities, the family's SUV was discovered at the bottom of a scenic Mendocino County cliff.

Authorities found the bodies of Sarah and Jennifer Hart and three of their adopted children, Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail. Three other children, Hannah, Sierra and Devote, are still missing. On Saturday, a body was pulled from the surf in that area and authorities are working to determine whether it belongs to one of the children.

Other records released to The Oregonian/OregonLive this week from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services show Child Protective Services initially tried to contact the Harts on March 23 after abuse allegations were made against them.

An official went to the family's home, knocked and rang the doorbell and left her card in the front door, records said. Two officials returned March 26 the day the Harts' SUV was found and the card from the Friday before had been removed. One of the officials left another card and called law enforcement and requested a welfare check.

A deputy went the same day to the home in rural Woodland, and no one appeared to be home, records said.

Authorities returned the next day, and no one appeared to be home again.

Authorities said previously that data from the vehicle's software suggested the crash was deliberate. They said the SUV had stopped at a coastal highway overlook before speeding straight off the cliff and plummeting 100 feet (31 meters) into the rocky Pacific Ocean below.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday said deputies will keep searching the county coastline for the missing children as calls for service allow and that search and rescue divers are readying to be deployed to the crash site area once ocean conditions improve.

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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com

Friend: Hart sent 3 a.m. text days before SUV cliff crash

FILE - This March 20, 2016, file photo shows Hart family of Woodland, Wash., at a Bernie Sanders rally in Vancouver, Wash. A body was recovered Saturday, April 7, 2018, in the vicinity where an SUV plunged off a Northern California cliff last month, killing the family of eight in what authorities suspect may have been an intentional crash. (Tristan Fortsch/KATU News via AP, File)

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File - In this March 29, 2018, file photo, Deputy Bill Holcomb looks down the cliff near the crash site near Mendocino, Calif., as search and rescue volunteers scour the area behind him looking for three children, still missing after their parent's SUV plunged into the ocean. The Mendocino County Sheriff's office says a team will search the area where an SUV plunged off a Northern California cliff, killing a family of eight last month. The office said Monday, April 9, 2018, in a statement that searchers will take advantage of a low tide and go out around 11 a.m. to try to locate the missing children and any physical evidence. The California Highway Patrol will search the area by helicopter. (Kale Williams/The Oregonian via AP, File)

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FILE - This March 29, 2018, file photo, shows ruts cut into the clifftop where the SUV of Jennifer and Sarah Hart that went off the cliff was hauled up and over by a tow truck off the Pacific Coast Highway near Westport, Calif. A body was recovered Saturday, April 7, 2018, in the vicinity where the SUV plunged off a Northern California cliff last month, killing the family of eight in what authorities suspect may have been an intentional crash. (Kale Williams/The Oregonian via AP, File)

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FILE - This June, 2014, file photo shows some of the Hart family at the annual celebration of "The Goonies" movie in Astoria, Ore. A body was recovered Saturday, April 7, 2018, in the vicinity where an SUV plunged off a Northern California cliff last month, killing the family of eight in what authorities suspect may have been an intentional crash. (Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian via AP, File)

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This March 25, 2018, Safeway surveillance photo provided by the California Highway Patrol shows Jennifer Hart, right, at a Safeway store in Fort Bragg, Calif. Sarah and Jennifer Hart, of Woodland, Wash., were found dead at a crash scene March 26, 2018, along with three of their children where the SUV they were traveling in plunged off a coastal cliff near Mendocino, Calif. (Courtesy of California Highway Patrol via AP)

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FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2014, file photo provided by Johnny Nguyen, Portland police Sgt. Bret Barnum, left, and Devonte Hart, 12, hug at a rally in Portland, Ore., where people had gathered in support of the protests in Ferguson, Mo. The SUV carrying the Hart family, from Woodland, Wash., that plunged off a coastal cliff near Mendocino, Calif., recently, killing all passengers, accelerated straight off the cliff and authorities said the deadly wreck may have been intentional. (Johnny Huu Nguyen via AP, File)

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