SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Human remains found on a Northern California beach belong to one of the six adopted children killed along with their parents when their mother intentionally drove their SUV off a cliff, authorities said Wednesday.
The Mendocino County sheriff’s department had trouble identifying the remains found shortly after the March 26 crash until the biological mother of 16-year-old Hannah Hart called from Alabama. She was responding to a request from investigators for family members to come forward and help with the identification process.
The sheriff’s department said Jennifer Hart, 38, was drunk when she intentionally drove her vehicle over a cliff into the ocean about 155 miles north of San Francisco. Investigators are still trying to determine a motive.
Toxicology results showed that Hart’s wife Sarah Hart and several of the children ages 12 through 19 had large amounts of a drug that can cause drowsiness in their systems.
The crash happened just days after authorities here in Washington, where the family lived, opened an investigation following allegations the children were being neglected.