The perfect family. A happy home. Eerie red flags and isolation
masked by a facade of the 'perfect family life.'
And Devonte Hart, still missing.
“We do everything as a family.” – Jennifer Hart
Devonte Hart, just 15-years old at the time, was one of six adopted children to Jennifer and Sarah Hart. His siblings, from oldest to youngest, Markis, Jeremiah, Abigail, Hannah and Sierra, hid behind a wall of isolation, while appearing to be part of the perfect family.
On March 26, 2018, an SUV once holding a family of eight was found mangled upside down on the rocks, halfway submerged in the Pacific Ocean, 100 feet below the road. Reports show that the SUV had intentionally been driven off of a cliff in Mendocino County in Northern California, and it was reported that Jennifer Hart’s blood-alcohol content was over the legal limit to drive. It was also reported that some of the children were sedated.
Both mothers, Jennifer and Sarah Hart, along with three of their six children, Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail Hart, were found dead in their SUV soon after the crash. The accident that killed three of the eight family members, left three children still missing. Hannah, Devonte and Sierra were not accounted for at the scene of the ‘accident.’
Some reports say April 4, 2018 and some say April 7, 2018, but the body of a young, black girl had been found in the surf not far from where the accident happened. It was later confirmed to be one of the missing Hart girls, Sierra (Ciera).
A month later, the foot of one of the Hart girls still in a girls shoe intertwined in ripped jeans, had been found a mile north from the crash site and later confirmed to be Hannah.
But Devonte, although technically presumed dead, remains missing.
The family wasn’t a stranger to news headlines. In 2014, a picture of Devonte hugging a police officer in Portland went viral and made headlines.
The Hart Family
A look at their eerie past of possible abuse, the Hart children begging for food and the involvement of Child Protective Services.
During the Hart family’s last days, there had been reports of abuse, specifically by Bruce DeKalb, a neighbor of the Hart family, who confirmed that he heard for himself the very allegations that were stated from the children; being denied food and general mistreatment.
Bruce also told reporters a devastating story of when, just a couple weeks before the family’s car crash, Devonte had asked him for food because his mothers were punishing the children- starving them. Bruce also said that at first, it was just once a day that Devonte would come by. It then quickly became a thrice-daily thing.
Bruce soon decided it was time to get some help from the professionals and on March 23, 2018, just days before the car crash, Child Protective Services went to the Hart house right after Jennifer came home from work, but nobody answered.
That next morning, the entire family left hastily from their home in Woodland, Washington, for California. On March 26th and 27th, Child Protective Services paid the family another visit, but would later find out that the family had already experienced the car crash.
On March 26, Sarah Hart’s friend called 911 to request a welfare check after receiving a text from Sarah that she was sick, later finding that her phone was dead and no one had seen her or her wife.
Isolation of the Hart Children to Mask the Abuse
In 2010, one of the Hart daughters told her teacher that her stomach and back hurt and were bruised after her mother hit her. Her teacher immediately alerted the police and social services, which lead to a criminal investigation soon after. Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to an assault charge six months later, being sentenced to probation.
Six weeks after, all six children were pulled from public school in Minnesota and home schooled. The family moved again.
When you see families that are going to great extremes to keep their kids out of view, that’s a red flag. -David Finkelhor,director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center.
For children who experience abuse or neglect at home, school is part of a safety net of protection against mistreatment. Teachers, principals and school personnel are required to report any cases of abuse to law enforcement, known as ‘mandatory reporters.’
Oregon and Washington school districts, both states that were considered home at different times to the Hart family, require notification when children are home-schooled; however, as you probably guessed, the Harts didn’t register their children in either state.
It’s important to note that while the children were still in public school, a school personnel noticed something amiss about one of the Hart daughters and that would be the second time that something wrong was noticed about a child from the Hart family.
Then there were food issues; some of the Hart children were stealing people’s food at school, eating out of garbage cans or eating food from the floor. It’s definitely evident that food was used as a ‘weapon’ or a control mechanism.
Abusive parents wield food as a weapon. Home-schooling allows them to do so with sometimes-deadly efficiency. -Rachel Coleman, executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education.
In another incident, shortly after moving to Woodland, Washington, another neighbor called 911 with a disturbing report. One of the Hart daughters jumped out of her second-story window onto the roof and then down to the ground, running to the neighbors daughter begging for help.
Devonte's biological aunt fought to gain custody of Devonte and three of his siblings, but was denied by a Texas appeals court. Devonte's paternal aunt, Priscilla Celestine, was also the aunt of Sierra and Jeremiah Hart. A fourth sibling, Dontay, was not adopted by Sarah and Jennifer. The four children lived with Celestine in Texas for five months in 2006, but was taken away from their mother by Child Protective Services.
If I'm a (domestic) batterer, I want to isolate you, I want to isolate you from the rest of the world. How can I isolate you? I can keep you home, I can control finances, I can control your food, I can control every aspect of your life. That's what batterers do, typically. Everything is about coercive control.
I think the mothers were scared of losing their children and left the day after Child Protective Services came to their door because of it. It's clear that the family had a lot of issues stemming from the parents and were afraid of facing a life in prison or losing everything that they had and known, most importantly their children. They seemed to love their children in public, but had an urge to control and abuse them in private, so losing their children and most likely never being able to have any other children would have been a devastation to those urges. It is widely believed by authorities and others that Devonte likely died in the car accident. I think this is definitely the case. Devonte could have died on impact and the tide had taken his body, like his two sisters that were later found in the surf. He is still considered missing, but presumed dead.
Let's discuss this case below. What do you think about the Hart family? Do you think that Child Protective Services should have done something sooner when the children were still in public school, especially if Sarah Hart had plead guilty to assault charges? I think that Child Protective Services should have kept a closer eye on the children after the first incident of a teacher reporting abuse of one of the Hart daughters. After the second report by a teacher, Child Protective Services should have intervened. If you don't already know, you do not have to let anyone in your house unless they have a warrant, even if it is in fact Child Protective Services knocking at your door. I encourage you to do your own research, as always.
Devonte was a kind, determined young boy who could have done so much good for this world. For the sake of those who knew and loved the Hart children, I could only hope for Devonte's body to be found for closure.
Sources
Devonte Hart Adoptive Mother Intoxicated, Children Drugged https://www.essence.com/news/details-devonte-hart-family-tragedy-intoxication-drugged/
Devonte Hart's mother: tracing her life from the Midwest to her drive off the California cliff https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/04/_devonte_harts_mother_tracing_her_life_from_the_midwest_to_her_drive_off_the_california_cliff.html
Devonte Hart https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/tag/devonte-hart/
Hart family crash: Remains found on nearby beach identified as daughter Hannah https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-remains-identified-missing-girl-20190109-story.html