All language subtitles for Broken.Harts.2021

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[dramatic music playing]

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[911 operator speaking]

[man speaking]

[911 operator speaking]

[man speaking]

[dramatic music playing]

[woman] I have reported
a vehicle accident

near Juan Creek on Highway 1.

[woman] What caused a family
to drive over a cliff

to their death?
That's the question

multiple agencies
are investigating.

[woman] Jen and Sarah really
were the kind of parents

that I think the world
desperately needs.

[woman] I honestly don't know

at what point it turned,

there were no red flags at all.

[woman] You never can reconcile

this picture-perfect family

with these incredible details
on the other side.

[man] I knew that
this couldn't be

the first moment of tragedy.

This couldn't be
the first moment

of violence.

I was trying to help them
and protect them

and this is the result.

[woman] How can they be so close

to something so awful

and not even know?

[dramatic music playing]

[waves crashing]

[Sheriff Tom] March 26th, 2018,

I heard a report on the radio.

They dispatched the deputy

to the northern part
of Highway 1

to perform coroner duties

at a multiple fatality
traffic accident.

I knew exactly where it was
because I've been there

so many times.

It's a big dirt turn out...

with a 75, maybe 80-foot
drop off...

no guardrails whatsoever,
no protection.

[dramatic music playing]

[helicopter blades whirring]

[Sheriff Tom]
When I pulled up the scene...

fire engines there,

ambulance was standing by,

highway patrol helicopter.

I saw one of our deputies

and I went to him and said,

"You know, what do we have?"

And he said, "We have
a car that went over."

[waves crashing]

[Sheriff Tom] I walked
to the edge of the bluff.

[camera shutter clicks]

[Sheriff Tom] And I saw
a crumpled SUV.

The waves were coming in
and going out,

and you saw this car
rocking back and forth.

This was not a normal
traffic accident

from the very onset.

And it continued to be

anything other than normal.

[dramatic music playing]

[Cynthia] So that morning,
I get into work.

I was told that they had located

two female adults

within the passenger compartment

of the vehicle,

and they had located

two male juveniles,

and a female juvenile outside

on the rocks.

[It. Shannon] Some
of the fire crew as they're

examining the scene
on the beach locate

a Minnesota State
driver's license

in the name of Sarah Hart.

We did some Google research

and located a photo
of the Hart Family

and a story that had gone viral.

Yeah, someone around here
said today

what the world needs now
might just be

what we see in this photo.

[Cynthia] I was Googling
Hart Family,

Devonte Hart,

the first picture
that popped up is Devonte

hugging the Portland
police officer.

[news reporter] Born
to a drug-addictive mother

and into a violent life,
he and his two siblings

were adopted
into a loving family

and Devonte was at that rally
with a message of peace

and holding a sign
offering free hugs.

[Cynthia] And then, when you
start really bringing up

Hart Family, we get,
you know, a lot of pictures

of smiling and laughing,

and videos of them singing.

The moms looked happy
and loving.

And there's beautiful
six children

that looked like
they were having a time

of their life.

[dramatic music playing]

[Irene] Before I actually met
the Harts,

I heard about these kids

that would come
to these festivals

that I attended.

People mentioning like,
"Oh, you know,

the Hart kids,
they give free hugs."

[indistinct chatter]

[Irene] I heard, oh,
these two brave

lesbian women
went against all odds

and adopted numerous children

and are giving them

this unprecedented life really,

that no child
is so lucky to have.

These kids were just pure joy.

All they could do is just smile

from ear to ear.

They were always like,
propped up

on people's shoulders,

dancing in the crowd.

And memories of that
are so sweet.

They were a unit.

[Drew] It wasn't difficult
to just...

really enjoy
getting to know Jen.

She had a great sense of humor

and she was just so social

and frankly just fun to talk to.

[dramatic music playing]

[Niema] Sarah was,
from what I could tell

like very reserved, very quiet.

She seemed sweet but...

not really conversational.

Jen was a little bit more
of the like outgoing

and connecting with people on.

Jen and I did become
Facebook friends.

She was pretty active
in posting and I would see

pretty regular posts of them,

you know, the six of them.

They always seem kind of calm
and happy like even serene.

Jen's photos
were incredibly beautiful.

They could've been
in a magazine,

the way they were framed
and how the kids...

Like the colors
the kids were wearing

and whatever exposure
or lighting she was using.

And they would be having like,

really the foster kid's dream.

[Drew] Jen seemed to be leading

the most exceptional life.

This supermom,

this champion
of racial reconciliation,

willing to sacrifice herself

for the greater good
of these beautiful children,

we all felt like
we were along for the ride.

[tense music playing]

[Sheriff Tom]
To know that we had

possibly six children...

[waves crashing]

[Sheriff Tom] ...two adults,

I don't think I know

it was on everybody's mind of...

this is what we're dealing with.

[It. Shannon] By mid-morning,

we had one person
positively identified

that being Sarah Hart.

We suspected
the other adult female

was Jennifer Hart,
her married partner.

And two deceased children.

And one that was believed
to be a child

but was late teens,
so we weren't really sure.

[Cynthia]
We were pretty positive

we had this family,

but we only have three kids.

So we're missing three children.

[Sheriff Tom]
We had a vehicle out of state

with possibly eight fatalities.

We knew that these two mothers

had adopted these kids

and they were from, I believe,
it was Woodland, Washington.

So we had lots of questions.

What's between Mendocino County

and Woodland, Washington?

How long would it take 'em
to get here?

Why did this happen?

[tense music playing]

[Cheryl] My name is Cheryl
and I knew Sarah Hart.

We worked together
at Kohl's Department Store.

She was the assistant
store manager.

[dramatic music playing]

[Cheryl] Saturday, March 24th,

I had gone into the store

and when I came in I realized

that it was a different manager

when it was supposed
to be Sarah.

And so I, kind of,
looked at her and was like,

"What are you doing here?"
And she said that,

Sarah had sent a text message

at like 3:00 in the morning
that she was sick.

"I possibly needed
to go to the hospital."

We both just thought
it was kind of weird

because she had just worked
the day before

and she seemed totally fine.

But on Sunday evening,

they still hadn't heard
from her.

She was a dependable person.

If she said
she was gonna be there,

she was gonna be there.

I sent a text message
and told her,

"Can you let us know
what's going on?

You're kind of freaking
everybody out."

But there was nothing.

Just radio silence.

[dramatic music playing]

[Cheryl]
Everybody came in Monday

and we kind of kept waiting
to see

if Sarah was gonna come in.

And, you know, we gave her
till about 9:30, 10:00,

and she still hadn't showed.

I decided to call 911.

[tense music playing]

[911 operator speaking]

[Cheryl speaking]

[911 operator speaking]

[Cheryl speaking]

[911 operator speaking]

[Cheryl speaking]

[911 operator speaking]

[Cheryl speaking]

[dramatic music playing]

And about 10 minutes later...

[cell phone vibrating]

[Cheryl] My phone rang,
and it was an officer,

and I explained
the situation to him,

and he says, "Well,

how many children
does she have?"

And I said she has six.

He asked if I knew
anything about her

not feeding her children?

And that kind of threw me
for a loop

and I said I don't...

I don't know
anything about that.

We just needed somebody
to go out to her house

and make sure she's okay.

And he said that
he didn't need to go up there

because he had already
been up there once that day

because of a call from DSHS,

the Department of Health
and Social Services.

And he said that
they have packed their stuff

and split.

And he says that it appears
that they're on the run.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Adam] On March 27th, 2018,

Mendocino County reached out
to Clark County for assistance

to do a welfare check
at the Hart Family residence.

[dramatic music playing]

[It. Shannon]
We had, at that point

eight known family members.

Five established and recovered

in the County of Mendocino

but I don't know where

these other three children
might be.

[Det. Adam]
Upon getting that call,

the Sheriff's Office
was able to look back

and see that the day
prior on the 26th

there had been
two welfare check requests

at the same house.

One from a coworker of Sarah's

concerned that
she had missed work

and also a call
from a CPS worker

who had made previous attempts
to go out

and contact the family.

[dramatic music playing]

[911 operator speaking]

[CPS speaking]

[911 operator speaking]

[CPS speaking]

[911 operator speaking]

[CPS speaking]

[It. Shannon]
I talked to a deputy

and he went out
with one of his sergeants.

They were able to make entry,

but...

there was no sign of trouble,

nothing out of place.

They basically said
the house was neat

and in good order.

[Det. Adam] There was food
out on the table.

Food in the fridge.

It all seemed open
and accessible to anybody

who would've wanted it.

We did know that the CPS worker

had left a card
a few days earlier,

and so, it was unknown
if they were fleeing

that investigation

if they was at a short trip

or if they were leaving
for good,

we just didn't know.

There are a lot of families
that have CPS involvement.

It doesn't always amount
to neglect, abuse,

or any kind of criminal case

but I talked
to Child Protective Service

and we started to learn
a little bit more

about the Hart background

and it also involved additional

allegations of abuse
in other areas

that they had lived in.

And over the next several days,

we had started looking at
those kind of things as well.

[dramatic music playing]

[It. Shannon] We were able
to track several relatives

down to the South Dakota area.

[all] Happy birthday to you.

[Cynthia]
Jen's aunt relate to us

that she had seen the children

within the last couple of years

and had the most contact
with the children family-wise.

We ultimately
were able to send her

some photos via email

and she was able
to positively identify

who we had in our possession
at that point.

Markis was the easiest.

He had a very distinct jawline.

And you could see that
in all of his photos.

When we were looking
at Jeremiah and Devonte,

their faces
were very, very similar.

And the aunt informed us
of a mole

that Jeremiah had

and we made the identification
of it being Jeremiah.

When we got to the female,

we were wavering between
Hannah and Abigail.

The aunt gave us information

of Hannah missing
two front teeth.

We were able to positively
identify

Jennifer,

Sarah,

Jeremiah,

Markis,

and Abigail

as the deceased folks
that we had.

[ominous music playing]

[Sheriff Tom]
I'm Sheriff Tom Allman,

Mendocino County Sheriff.

Certainly, this is a tragic day

for Mendocino County
tragic week.

There may be many questions
about what caused the accident

and no new information
has been developed.

There's a lot of unknowns
on this.

The detective sergeant
and I said

we need to open up
active missing persons report

on the three kids
that weren't found.

People may wonder why do you do

a missing person case if,
you know,

they were killed
in a traffic accident.

But in this case,
the bodies were missing.

We have every indication
to believe that

all six kids were in the SUV.

However, only three bodies
have been recovered.

Sierra is still missing,

Hannah is still missing,

and Devonte is still missing.

When we put out a press release

asking for information,

we wanna know
where they came from,

where they've been.

All we wanna do
is get some media coverage.

We're looking for these kids,
can you tell us anything?

[dramatic music playing]

[birds chirping]

[Jackie]
Wednesday, March 28th, 2018,

our newsroom received word
from California

that there was an Oregon SUV
that had gone over

a steep embankment on the coast.

[news reporter]
What caused the family

to drive over a cliff
to their death?

That's the question
multiple agencies

from California to Washington
are investigating.

[Jackie] Anytime a whole family

is killed in a crash
it's a huge news story.

But then the photographer
that I worked with

back in 2016

ran into the newsroom and said,

"Jackie, we interviewed them
at the Bernie Sanders rally."

They've been standing in line
for hours to Feel the Bern.

In the crowd,
the boy who started

the free hug revolution.

We could not believe it.

They're such
a well-known family,

he's such an adorable boy,
they all were.

Hart and his family
are all smiles

with what they call Hart Bern.

He's planting the seeds
of a revolution.

It's not...
It's not a fake thing.

It's not just
a young people thing.

A lot of my friends and family,

this is what
we've been waiting for.

It was stunning.

And we knew that this was
going to be a story

that we'd be following.

So we immediately
started Googling

where they could've gone off.

And the more
we zoomed in we're, like,

"How do you go off
the edge like that?

How does that happen?"

[dramatic music playing]

[Jackie] So the newsroom sent
my colleague

Bob High to the house.

And he immediately saw
the CPS card

in the door.

[Bob] A business card from

a Washington State Child
Protective Services worker

was still in the front door

of the Hart family's
home Wednesday.

[Jackie] So Bob went
to the neighbors

and they were the ones
who revealed

that they called CPS.

[Bob] One of the Hart's
adopted children

started asking neighbors Dana

and Bruce Dekalb
for food every day.

[Dana]
Non-perishable food items.

And was asking
that we not tell his mom

and to, you know, hide it
and put it by the fence

so he could get to it

and that they were withholding
food from him

as punishment.

[Jackie] Devonte, he was saying,

"Our moms, they're punishing us.

They're depriving us of food.
We're starving."

Looking at their
social media posts,

they were living this seemingly

perfect life online.

They created this persona,

this family living in harmony.

But it was completely different

from what was actually emerging

and what was happening
behind those closed doors.

We knew that there was just
so much more to the story

and we had really just hit
the tip of the iceberg

at that point.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Irene] I was driving in my car

on the way to the gym

and my phone rang
and a dear friend of mine

who did not know the Harts

but knew that
I was friends with them.

"She said, "I think
you need to pull over

and look at the news right now."

We just learned from

the Mendocino County
Sheriff's office

that they believe
the entire Hart family,

all eight of them,
were likely in this SUV

when it plunged 100-feet
over a cliff

on the California coast.

[Irene] I went on my phone

and I looked at the news.

And I fell to pieces.

To some, a very vibrant family,

a model of what love looks like.

Others though say
there were signs of trouble

prompting
Child Protective Services

to start an investigation.

As the news continue to develop

and the truth about the story
started to be revealed,

it became so much
more difficult to process.

[Jackie]
The minute the news broke,

the social media mob really,
like, took off.

I was getting bombarded
with messages and they were,

like, "You're not reporting
the full story."

Or, "They probably dropped
the kids off."

Or, "Devonte may be
being human-trafficked."

I mean, it was unbelievable.

Then we'd have the people coming

to their defense,
"These were amazing moms."

We weren't duped,
that love wasn't fake.

They love their children.

They weren't White Supremacist.

They just were isolated.

They were in pain.

I had massive questions.

The biggest one was,

"How do you just drive-off
a cliff

with a whole car
full of people?"

[dramatic music playing]

[Jackie]
Our newsroom was working

to put this timeline together.

We knew CPS had visited
the house on Friday,

the SUV was in the driveway
and no one answered the door.

They go back on Monday,
the SUV was gone.

We knew that the Hart's
clearly had left

and they left in a hurry.

[waves crashing]

[Jackie]
But why did they do that?

When did they leave?
Where did they go?

There's got to be a forensic way

to put this together.

[dramatic music playing]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Shannon] So the actual
accident investigation

falls under the jurisdiction

of the California
Highway Patrol.

They have highly-trained
accident investigators

to kind of piece this
all back together.

[Sheriff Tom]
They can find out the speed

it was going,

they can find out
if bulbs were working,

if brakes were applied.

They will do as much
of a forensic investigation

on that vehicle

as some pathologist

would do a forensic
investigation on a body.

[Shannon]
Initially, we're thinking

this unsuspecting family
is driving down Highway 1

which is a two-lane
narrow highway

possibly at night

and they accidentally leave
the roadway

and go across
this very large turnout.

Normally,
you would've expected...

skid marks.

You know, where they applied
massive braking

but there were
no skid marks at all.

Also, according
to the Highway Patrol,

there was no indication
of seatbelt use,

which is odd
because some of the friends

of the family indicated
that Jennifer

was adamant about the use
of safety belts

when they're driving.

But the investigation indicated

no safety belts
were worn at all.

Eventually,
the California Highway Patrol

were able to download
some information

from the vehicle's computer

and it was determined that
there was no braking

and the speedometer
was pegged and locked

at around 90 miles an hour.

Those are indications
that the vehicle

was involved
in rapid acceleration.

[news reporter]
Electronic data pulled

from the Hart's SUV indicates
Jennifer Hart

pulled off Highway 1
at a dirt turnaround.

Investigators say
the SUV stopped 70 feet

from the cliff edge
and then accelerated

plunging the entire family
to their death.

[Sheriff Tom] When you start
putting the totality

of everything together
you would be a village idiot

if you didn't think that,

you know,
something was rotten here.

[ominous music playing]

[Sheriff Tom]
If on day one I had said,

"Gosh, this was
an intentional act"

then it was homicide.

Oh, can you imagine?"
People would've said,

"Who are you to make
that determination?"

You know?
Who would kill six kids?

I'm a dad.
Who would kill six kids?

But if this is not an accident,

that means one thing,

it means it was a crime.

If it's a crime, it's murder.

[news reporter]
And we begin tonight

with new information.

Investigators are shedding
new light on why

they believed
a Washington family's

deadly crash off a cliff
in California

was intentional.

[Sheriff Tom]
At the very beginning,

when I said
I have no reason to believe

this was anything
but an accident,

I believed it.

But that changed.

When things started developing,

from a traffic accident
to a homicide investigation,

that's not a baby step,
that's a big leap

but it is what it is.

[news reported]
With me, Shane Cavanaugh,

staff writer for the Oregonian.

Mendocino County Sheriff
Tom Allman.

So right after the accident
I was on CNN

to make that statement.

Sheriff, I wanna begin with you.

We're starting to get
at least a picture

of where this family was
before this horrible accident.

Is that helping you
in any way to figure out

why the accident happened

and where are those
three missing kids are?

Well, it's certainly helping us

determine the route.

I... I'm to the point
where I no longer am calling

this an accident.
I'm calling it a crime.

[ominous music playing]

[Zaron] Every day I go on
Twitter looking for stories.

Because as a journalist,
it is the place

that you can see a story

before it becomes a news story.

And some Black women
that I follow,

they were posting
about Devonte Hart,

this kid who had gone missing
and they said it's the kid

from that viral photo
from the Ferguson protest.

And I said, "Wait,
that's the kid who's missing?"

And it stuck with me because
I'll put it very simple,

when you have two White mothers

who adopted not one, not two,

but multiple Black children,

enough to fill a Suburban
that alone is the curiosity.

But as soon as the story
started developing,

people started to dig into it.

Not only was there
a lot more to it

but the tragedy
was incomprehensible.

[dramatic music playing]

[Dr. Raquel]
In 2004, Markis, Abigail,

and Hannah came to the attention

of Child Welfare in Texas.

The children were very young
at the time

and they came
from poor backgrounds.

[Sharon] Markis was five,
he was in school,

then Hannah was about two,

and then Abi was still a baby,

she was like six months.

The biological mom
had some issues

and the children weren't
getting the medical care

that they needed.

And he decided that
it would be best for the kids

if she went ahead
and relinquished her rights

and let them get adopted.

[Dr. Raquel]
Jen and Sarah worked through

the Permanent Family
Resource Center

which was
an adoption service agency

in Minnesota

and adopted Markis
and his two siblings

Abigail and Hannah in 2006.

[Sharon] Jen and Sarah
were a same-sex couple

and instead of trying
to have a baby through,

you know, artificial means,
they felt that adopting

a sibling group
was a better alternative.

I met them on the phone
the first time

and there was just something
about them.

They were open to any therapies

that the kids needed
to go through.

They were very supportive
of the fact

that they were siblings
and needed to stay together.

I don't know.
It was just the things

that they said
were all the right things.

[dramatic music playing]

[Dr. Raquel] The adoption
worker found the home

was suitable.

They were making adequate
sleeping arrangements.

They took them
for speech therapy

and kept up with their
medication regiment.

Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta.

[Sharon]
Approximately a year later

I had to take three more kids
to Minnesota.

So, I checked in on Markis,
and Hannah, and Abi.

And the difference was amazing.

[Diane] I met Jen and Sarah
in our store

in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Markis, Hannah, and Abigail,

they came into the store
quite a bit.

Sarah and Jen
were very proud of them

and introduced them
to all of us.

As soon as they saw you,
you'd always get a hug.

They'd always talk to you.

They just seem like
a happy family.

[ominous music playing]

[Dr. Raquel] In 2008,
Sarah and Jen were approved

to adopt Devonte,

Jeremiah, and Sierra.

But while they're
in that process,

there is an allegation
about a physical disciplining

in the home that
may have been inappropriate.

Hannah made a report in school

that she was hit by her parent.

Jen and Sarah both denied
having any knowledge

of how or why Hannah
had bruises.

Child Welfare did investigate,

but by all accounts
there was not enough evidence

to indicate that
that had actually happened.

But on November 15th, 2010,

Abigail was in school

and she mentioned to her teacher

that her mom gave her an owie,

and she pulled up her shirt

and her teacher saw bruises
on her stomach.

[Zaron]
Based on the CPS reports,

there are bruises indeed
by her belly button

but then also on her back,
and up by her sternum.

This is not some child
who is clumsy or fallen.

The cops find out that
the parents felt the child

needed to be disciplined
because the child

had a penny in her pocket.

So the parents, Sarah and Jen,

gets so upset that one of them
beat the child.

The child said it was Jen
but the cops eventually

arrested Sarah and she pleads
to domestic assault.

[Diane] I got
a telephone call at home

one evening from Sarah.

She had some serious matter

that she needed to take care of

so she wanted to change shifts

with me at the store.

She told me that she had
spanked Abigail too hard

and there were bruises
and the police were involved.

I was surprised, disappointed,

but when she told me
the situation,

there was something
I guess that I felt

just seemed a little bit off.

And my gut instinct right away

was that she was covering
for Jen.

[Jackie] "Sarah immediately
took responsibility"

for the spanking that
occurred the previous day.

The defendant explained
that she and her partner

Jennifer do not ordinarily
use spanking

as a disciplinary measure.

However,
they had recently resorted

to spanking to deal
with AH's behavior.

The defendant admitted
that she let her anger

get out of control
the previous day

while dealing with AH.

The defendant explained
that she took AH

into the bathroom

and bent AH over the edge
of the tub.

The defendant admitted
that she hit

AH on the back side

and acknowledged that
the marks on AH's stomach

"probably came from AH
being bent over the tub."

It's just hard to read.

[dramatic music playing]

[Dr. Raquel]
Between November 2010

and January 2011,

there were six allegations
of abuse

against Jen and Sarah

called into
Child Protective Services.

But even after Sarah
was convicted,

Child Welfare did not feel

that there was enough
information or evidence

in this case to suggest
that these children

were being neglected
and/or abused.

[Zaron] Eventually,

Jen and Sarah seemed to notice

that if they can minimize
the children's contact

with other adults
then nobody would be able

to file reports with CPS,

nobody would be able
to involve police officers

coming to the house unannounced

to check on their children.

So they learned
the obvious lesson,

remove the children from school.

So you no longer
have school nurses,

and cops,
and social workers noticing

the children had now fallen
through the cracks.

[dramatic music playing]

[news reporter] Authorities
say they have recovered

a body they believe belongs
to one

of the three children
who went missing

along the Northern
California coastline.

[Cynthia] On April 7th
I was notified

that we were able
to locate remains

of another young juvenile.

[waves crashing]

[Cynthia] She was
in the general vicinity

of where the crash was.

We were pretty positive
we had one of the two females

that we were missing.

And when we were able
to gain DNA samples

is when we were able
to identify her

as Sierra Hart.

Finding her, it just solidified

that we were now looking
into a recovery process

for the last two children.

[ominous music playing]

[Dan] Some new details tonight

about the Washington family

who drove off a cliff
in California.

Tonight we're learning
information now

about the biological mother
of three of those kids

and their aunt's fight
to keep them in Texas.

[news reporter]
This attorney, Shonda Jones,

represented the aunt.

She said she held
onto these case documents

for seven years longer
than is normal

because she felt this decision

was such an injustice.

[Shonda] I remember
I was at my office

and I kept hearing about it.

And then they said Devonte,

they said Harris County,
and they said Minneapolis.

And I know I said,
"That's my case."

I was representing
Priscilla Celestine

who was a paternal aunt
of Devonte,

Jeremiah, and Sarah.

I'm not gonna lie,
I became furious.

I wanted people to know,
you know,

there's another backstory
to this

than besides what the media
is presenting.

The mother of the children,
she had a drug problem

and the state of Texas
was seeking

to terminate
her parental rights,

as well as the father

of the children's
parental rights.

And the father of the children,

his sister
was Ms. Priscilla Celestine.

She stepped in because
she wanted the children

to remain with a family member

instead of being placed
into foster care

with the state of Texas.

Ms. Celestine always had
a special place in my heart.

She is a wonderful person,
honest, loyal, reliable.

[Dr. Raquel] Ms. Celestine
kept a clean home.

She took really good care
of the children.

One day while Celestine
was at work,

the daughter allowed
their biological mother

to come in
and visit with the children,

and the Child Welfare worker
showed up.

They felt like
this was a violation.

It put the children at risk

and that it was such
a safety issue

that they had to remove
the children

from that home immediately.

[dramatic music playing]

[Mia] My name is Mia Williams

and in 2006 I was a supervisor

with Child Protective Services
in Houston, Texas.

Within the state of Texas,
if there is an immediate risk

or harm with the child
in that placement,

the state has the authority

to remove that child
from the home.

And in this case,

according to the family opinion,

the case worker
went to the home,

saw the biological mother there,

probably received
the necessary approvals,

and the children
were ultimately removed

from the home and I'm sure
they probably placed them

in an emergency shelter.

[Dr. Raquel] Ms. Celestine,
by all accounts,

she was providing
a good home for them.

And one simple slip-up

letting the mother
come see them,

they just removed them
automatically.

[Zaron]
Priscilla Celestine fought

for those children and said
I want these children home

in my house
because they are my family.

And the law said, "No."

Priscilla Celestine,
she tries to get custody

of the children again.

Her petition for custody
is denied.

The children are then put
into the system

and are eventually allowed
to be adopted by the Harts.

[dramatic music playing]

[Shonda] It was just
very baffling to me

because it seemed like
it was all a sham,

like, everything
was already planned

and no matter what I said
or did,

their mind was already made up.

And I couldn't understand,
like, why are they trying

to get these children
out of Texas to Minnesota.

Come to find out,

the people that
they were placing them with

were the ones who were
actually abusing children.

[Mia] The Texas Department of Family
and Protective Services policy states

that throughout
the life of the case

you should be looking
for relatives or fictive kin,

meaning folks that have
a relationship

with the child.

[Zaron] Their aunt lost
custody because she allowed

the children to have
an unsupervised visit

with their own mother.

Should that be the penalty
that these children

are now gonna be consigned
to whatever fates

the winds allow them?

The White mothers,
after they adopt them,

get busted
for physically abusing them.

There's almost no consequences.

The punishment is nothing,

just think about that
for a second.

[Bruce] So, good afternoon.

I'm Bruce Carpenter.

I'm the commander
of the Ukiah area.

We got some preliminary
toxicology results back.

We have determined that

Jennifer Hart's
blood alcohol level was

above the legal limit
based on preliminary results.

[Cynthia] Jen had alcohol
in her system

which, according to family,

was a very
unusual thing for her.

The preliminary
blood alcohol content

was at 0.102.

[Cynthia] We were told that
she very rarely drank alcohol.

So it was a shock to her family

that she had alcohol
in her system.

And the other preliminary
results as well

that have come to light

is that Sarah Hart

had a significant amount
of benadryl in her system.

The children, also,
were determined

to have had
benadryl-type of substances

in their system.

[Cynthia] Looking
at the three children,

their levels of diphenhydramine

was actually very high.

[It. Shannon]
At those high levels,

it was fairly indicative
that Sarah and Jennifer Hart

drugged their children
before this incident.

[camera shutter clicks]

[Cynthia] That was
a huge shock to me

and to all of us

that they took the time
to actually give

this amount of benadryl
to the children.

And it had to have been done
an hour, two hours beforehand

in order for the children
to be sound asleep

when they drove
that car off of the cliff.

[Dr. Joni] What we know
as forensic psychologists is

that people wind up
doing bad things

for a lot of different reasons.

The term "family annihilation"
refers to someone who kills

several close family members

in a relatively short amount
of time.

For people on the outside,

family annihilation is
always a sudden event

and a complete shock.

But, this was not
an example of two individuals

who just, on the spur
of the moment,

were so desperate and despondent

that they drove off a cliff.

They had taken
some very specific steps

to plan out this murder-suicide.

In this case, there was
something that happens

that sets the wheel in motion.

We don't have
a clear understanding

of what that stress was,

but it's the end result

of all these things
that have been going on

for a long period of time.

[reporter] Tonight,
a call for change,

critics are calling out
Oregon DHS

after recently-released
documents reveal

officials here had
reports of abuse

involving the Hart family

long before their SUV crashed

on the California coast
last month.

[Dr. Raquel] This was
a report that was called in

from one of Jennifer's friends.

And what prompted this call
was an incident

that happened on 06/28 in 2013.

Jen and the kids
had been staying with friends.

They had ordered
pizza one night.

The friend thought
that it was a little strange

Jen only gave the children,

each of them,
a very small slice of pizza.

In the middle of the night,

one of the children came down
and they ate the pizza.

And in the morning
when it was discovered,

Jen got very upset.

The friend reported that
she dragged one of the kids,

and then she stated that
Jen had all six kids lay down

on an inflated air-mattress

with sleep masks on their faces

and their arms by their side
for five hours.

And when the friend spoke
to her about this,

told her that she was
concerned about the situation,

Jen did not see

that what she was
doing was extreme.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Dr. Joni] There were
a lot of indications

that these kids were
not being treated well,

and that these kids were,
at the very least,

in psychological danger.

Withholding food, particularly
on a regular basis,

it's so damaging to kids,

physically, in terms
of their development,

but also psychologically.

[Dr. Raquel] According
to the report,

Jen would kinda turn on and off.

She would
only show them affection

when she wanted
to capture certain pictures.

And then as soon
as that was done,

she would go back to,

pretty much, ignoring the kids.

The friends said
that the kids were

like trained robots,
and if questioned, would

likely not say anything.

But if one can get Markis alone,

he might honestly say
what is happening in the home.

CPS did do an interview
with the children.

They separated them
from the parents,

but in-home,

and asked them about
how they're disciplined.

All of the children denied
that they were being abused.

But this is not
necessarily unusual

for a child not to say anything,

especially if they're
being interviewed

in the presence of,
or within the vicinity

of their parent.

The child welfare workers
sit down with Jen and Sarah

to speak
about these allegations.

Jen just passed it off
as, you know,

they had food issues,
and that these children came

from a home where they were
abused and neglected,

and now they're
in a loving home.

And sometimes they act out.

[Zaron] They present this,
like, feral child model.

This is the power that Jen,
as a white woman, has is

that if she says something,
people believe it.

[Dr. Joni] Jen, I think,
tended to cope

by blaming other people,

by blaming the situation.

"It's the kids who had
the food issues.

It's not that we're not
feeding them"

[Dr. Raquel] When the doctor
did the evaluation,

it was stated that each
and every one

of the children,
except for Jeremiah,

was below the weight and height

where they should be
for their age.

But yet, he said that they were

still normal
and healthy children.

[Zaron] You have
two sets of children,

the two groups are
not biologically related,

and yet they all have
the same conditions

of not being
on the growth charts,

not tracking in terms
of normal development.

Why do they all have
the same condition?

The CPS worker takes
six months to complete

the report, and by the day
after Christmas,

they receive a report that...

there was reason to believe

that there may be
something going on

in the house.

They just say
that it is inconclusive

and that they lacked
the evidence to act.

The message to the parents is
"We're getting away with it."

And the message to the kids is,

"Nothing is gonna be done.

Nobody's got your back",

and makes it less
and less likely

that there would be
an opportunity

for anyone to intervene.

- [soft clapping]
- [indistinct chatter]

[people chanting "Om"]

[Irene] I met the Harts in 2013

at the Mystic Festival
in Oregon.

The kids were there. They were
really small at that point.

I remember...

thinking to myself,
"They must be

like, three or four years old."

I was most drawn towards Devonte

with his "Free Hugs" sign on,

because it felt
like an invitation.

He had so much charm,

just charms the pants
off of everybody.

Devonte was bright, joyful,
but also timid.

[indistinct singing]

[Niema] He would often wear
these, like, body suits,

or little bits
of colorful costume pieces.

But whatever
larger-than-life-ness

he might have had
in the pictures,

[audience member]
Woo! Beautiful.

[Niema] ...when
you touched him, he was

just this thin boy.

[all cheering]

Jen looked like

the commanding officer in a way.

She was just like, "Okay.
You go here, you do this."

She was definitely
always organizing the kids,

or taking the photos
or staging things.

[Irene] Everyone was
just celebrating them

and they were just like,
leading the way.

Like, "This is how you live."

This is
the picture of happiness.

I remember being like,

"I want to be like Sarah
and Jennifer one day.

I want to have that much love
to offer my child."

[Niema] I don't think
they were really close

to a lot of people
in terms of like,

having people over.

And, so Facebook was
how most people knew

what was happening
in their lives.

And Jen was
pretty active and posting,

and, so it seemed like

they were happy, you know,
from what she would post.

Very well-curated display
of life.

[Dr. Joni] We can learn a lot

about a family or about a person

by how they use social media.

How often they use it to get
their emotional needs met,

how often do they interact
with other people,

what kind of pictures
do they post,

it tells us a lot
about their values,

and the things that are
important to them.

But when I look at Jen's post,

I see, based
on my professional experience,

based on my knowledge as a mom,

something doesn't seem right

in terms of how this person
is presenting this image.

[Irene] Devonte was
definitely the focus

of her Facebook page.

You never really saw
her post about... Markis.

Or Jeremiah, or Hannah or Ciera.

She may have mentioned
some interaction

that had to do with Devonte.

But the focus was very much
her talking about her son,

and how she saved him, you know?

[Dr. Joni] So, this is a post
that Jennifer made

on November the 8th, 2014.

"We were standing
in the grocery checkout line.

An elderly man was standing

at the end of the bagging area.

He spots our son,
looks him up and down."

"Man: I can tell you're going

to be a baseball player
when you grow up.

Son: Pauses, tilts his head
and gives a closed mouth grin.

"Actually, no. Baseball isn't
really my thing."

[Joni] " Man: Well, I can tell
you're gonna be a ball player."

As his mom, I can tell

there was a slight frustration
inside of him.

Checkout lady: Oh, I bet
you're gonna be a basketball

or soccer player then.

Son: No, I don't
play any sports.

It's just not my thing.
I just have other interests.

"Checkout lady, in a befuddled,

nearly astonished voice:

What? I have never met a kid

"that looks like you
that doesn't play sports."

We all know what she means
by "Looks like you."

"Man chuckling: Right?
Never. They all do!"

"It was so obviously clear
what was happening."

While I wanted so badly
to step in and protect my son

from the ongoing
racial stereotyping, I didn't.

[Zaron] I let him step
into his own power

and he handled it brilliantly.

The statement, "I let him step
into his own power" is

just gaggingly offensive.
Anyway.

"Man: Well, what do you wanna
be when you grow up?

"Son: I'm here to help people."

I'm here to inspire. Now.

"Man said, " What are
you gonna do

to help and inspire people?"

[Zaron] " Son: I'm going to be myself."

No matter how much people try
to make me something I'm not."

[in unison] "Have
a great night."

"Flashes ginormous smile."

I think this kid will
be all right.

No matter what is tossed at him.

The irony is
that he will not be all right

because you were tossed at him.

Here's a post from Jen,
dated November 13th, 2014.

"I share stories, photos,"

and experiences
of our family often.

I would never have expected

that one
of my most recent posts would

impact people the way it has

and find its way
to the Huffington Post.

Meet Devonte: The little boy
with a big heart.

A young boy who was
born into a life of drugs,

extreme poverty, danger,

and destined for a bleak future,

is defying stereotypes
in the most remarkable way.

"Devonte Hart entered
the world 12 years ago"

with drugs pumping through
his tiny newborn body.

By the time
he was four years old,

he had smoked, consumed alcohol,

handled guns, been shot at,

"and suffered
severe abuse and neglect."

[Shonda] I remember
reading an article

with the adopted mom saying
that she remembered

Devonte being shot at,
and that was a complete lie.

Show me the paperwork
here in Houston

where someone said that.

"It was a life of little hope

and a future that seemed over
before it began."

[reading]

[Zaron] So,
the Huffington Post story,

all this stuff that's presented

as if it were documented fact,

these are all things
that Jen reported.

She says, "When we adopted him,

he only knew [bleep] and [bleep]

And he struggled to identify
with the names of foods,

body parts
and everyday objects."

Those are literally quotes
from Jen from the CPS report.

[Shonda] Again, she tells
this story.

Miss Celestine never
told me that about Devonte.

So he must have digressed

from the time that he left her.

I mean... that's ridiculous.

[Zaron] Jen figured out that
if she puts forth a narrative,

somebody else will pick it up
and repeat it,

and if someone else repeats it,

then she can say,
"You know what they said."

[Dr. Joni] On the surface
it looks like,

"Oh, it's all about my kid."

But, between the lines,

there is
just this constant theme,

that "If it wasn't for us,

this kid would've ended up
who knows where."

So what seems to be a story
about Devonte

is really a story about Jen.

[Niema] In hindsight,
it definitely looks like

they were painting this picture

of themselves as heroes,

and these children
as very sad victims...

that needed to be rescued.

[Zaron] She's using Facebook

just like an advertiser
or a marketer,

and she's selling
white saviorhood.

But she doesn't
care about the kids.

She just wants the likes
and the dopamine hit.

She's hurting
all of these people for that.

[Dr. Joni] Family annihilation
is the most common form

of mass murder.

But it is
an incredibly difficult event

to predict,
because it is so rare.

I've been asked before,
"Is there a personality

of the family annihilator?"
And we know the answer

to that question is "No."

But there are some commonalities

that we sometimes find.

There's, often times, a history

of undiagnosed depression.

People who commit
family annihilation,

often times have
a strong need for status,

and for attention.

Then sometimes you have
this black-and-white thinking,

"meaning "If you're not
my friend, you're my enemy.

If things aren't good,
they're horrible."

And then,
almost always, you have

an environmental trigger.

Something happens that isn't
responsible at all

for what happens,

but it becomes a precipitant.

[reporter] A few minutes ago,
the grand jury deliberating

the death of Michael Brown
issued its decision.

[newsreader] The Grand Jury
will not indict Darren Wilson.

He's the white police officer
who shot and killed

the young, unarmed black man
Michael Brown in August.

[newsreader 2] The Grand Jury
decision set off outrage

in communities not only
throughout St. Louis,

but across the country.

[Niema] I remember when
that hug image first appeared

on media, and how quickly
it became viral,

and learned that it'd become
kind of national news.

That was an iconic
and beautiful image

and spoke to a hope

that we were feeling
at that time.

As someone around here
said today,

what the world needs now might

just be what we see
in this photo.

I originally saw Devonte
in that picture

with that cop on the news.

And I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was Devonte on the TV.

And he's hugging a cop
in this picture,

and I'm like, thinking,

"Oh, my Gosh, maybe he'll

be a part
of something really profound,

with everything that's
happening with the protests."

I could tell it was
meant to be like,

"Oh, this is this black boy

hugging this white cop
in this moment of solidarity."

But the look
on Devonte's face was mixed.

I don't know if he was sad

because of
all that had happened,

or the interaction he just
had with the police.

I remember, at the time,
seeing that photo

and not fully understanding

that there was a lot more
to this story than I knew.

[Zaron] When the photo was
taken of him hugging the cop,

there were two photographers,
both people of color,

who both noticed
the same exact scene,

and they commented on it saying,

one said that it was
clearly trauma.

Another said, "I don't know
what's going on in this photo,

but I'm gonna leave it
up to y'all to say

because this, to me,
looks like this ain't right."

[Niema] Understanding how much
of those children's lives were

staged and made into photo-ops,

I don't know that
that moment was

actually consensual for Devonte.

I don't know if he actually
wanted to hug that cop.

[Zaron] From what I've seen,
a lot of the friends were

very proud of the moment

because it went
so massively viral.

It was as if they were
friends with somebody

who was on the cutting edge
of protest culture,

which is what Jen wanted
it to be

and present herself as.

A leading non-political figure
of this hope and change idea

that America can move towards.

She takes all of that
and uses it for her,

and in doing so is rightfully
called out for it.

[Vanryckeghem] I was
just going on Facebook.

I looked,
and I found Jennifer's post,

and I remember being confused
and disappointed.

Even reading it now, I'm like,

"Who wrote this?"

"I understand many of you
have stumbled upon"

the darker side of media
as of late.

Things have been twisted
and used for various reasons.

I can't control that,

and I cannot allow that
to control me.

What other people think
is none of my business.

I know what really happened,

and how Devonte truly feels
about that encounter.

"And that's all
that matters to us."

She dismisses claims that
she is basically hijacking

the Black Lives Matter movement,

that she is hijacking the
Ferguson protest and the energy

that going into calling
attention to systemic racism

and abuse in America.

People then, as they start
to, in her words, attack her,

she defends herself by
presenting it as their wrong,

they don't understand.

These are haters
that are coming after me

because we're lesbian moms

with our adopted black children.

She's both, dismissed
the claims that are rightful

and made herself sympathetic
by playing the victim.

[Vanryckeghem] It does really seem like
she was just protecting her own agenda,

and no one or anything else
but that.

It must have been a trigger
for her to get so much attention,

when she knew that she
was living a double life,

and that it couldn't be
something that she could maintain

if people really started
peering into their lives

and wanting to know a lot more.

So she probably had
no other choice

but to shut everything down
and withdraw.

[Burnett] The virality that she
was chasing after ruined the thing.

It, basically, compromised Jen's
ability to control the narrative.

So, once the narrative
escaped her clutches,

she left
and created a new narrative.

[Bunch] In 2016, I met Jen

in the highly competitive
gaming community.

We were part
of this team of players

dedicated to a specific game.

And you're all working
to destroy every other team

and move up the rankings.

And we were
the second-ranked team,

and this is worldwide.

Jen was the co-leader
of that 50-member team,

so she's keeping track
of scores for 50 players.

She is checking to see if people
are maintaining those scores.

In the team chat,
she kept it lively.

Anything to, like,
keep everyone motivated.

For her,
it was clearly a passion

to maintain that sense of unity,

and she did
a great job out of it.

[Johnston]
After this picture goes viral,

we find Jen going
to the gaming community,

which really does
provide her a forum,

where she can again share
pictures and posts of her family.

She can also get a ton of status

and a ton of affirmation.

[Bunch]
You're spending many hours

with the team members every day,

exchanging photos and
talking about your careers,

and so it really does become
a family in a sense.

Jen moved to Washington
early summer, in 2017.

I remember, she shared
photos of the house,

pictures of the kids in the
new house with chickens,

painting the new living room.

The kids are all happy,
she's happy.

I never saw a sign ever, ever

that they were
anything but great.

[911 operator speaking]

[man speaking]

[man speaking]

[911 operator speaking]

[man speaking]

[man speaking]

[man speaking]

[911 operator speaking]

[man speaking]

[Beck] Dana DeKalb's
father called 911,

and he told a shocking story

about a child coming to their
house in the middle of the night

and asking to be hidden
in the house.

[doorbell ringing]

[Bruce] It was 1:30 in the
morning, and I went to the front door,

and here's this girl
standing there,

and she comes
bolting in the house.

Ran upstairs,
and went into the bedroom,

and started shaking Dana.

[Dana] She pounced on me
frantic and begging, you know.

"Take me to Seattle.
Don't make me go back there.

They are racist,
they are abusive,"

and we're just like going,
"Whoa!"

[Beck] A short while later,
they heard the rest of the family,

Jen and Sarah and the rest of the
children, outside calling for Hannah.

Eventually,
they went into the house

and gave an explanation
for Hannah's behavior.

[Dana] Sarah never spoke.
Jennifer did all the talking.

And she said that, you know,
Hannah struggles, she has some issues.

It's been a rough week, and she's
going through all kinds of turmoil.

And they were drug babies,

and so the kids struggle.

I was all prepared
to call the cops,

but she, she sold it well.

They ended up
back at our doorbell at 6:30.

Hannah handed us a note
saying how sorry she was

that she had told us some
things that weren't really true.

It's just that she had
a really bad week,

and she wanted to apologize
for bothering us.

Before they left, I asked if I could
have a word with just Hannah,

and they said, "No. We
do everything as a family."

[Bunch] Jen was
the most fun-loving person

until you violated
one of her rules.

Oftentimes, these rules
weren't spoken rules,

these were just the way
she wanted things to be done.

[Hart] There was an
occasion that I was at the store,

and we get a call.

I answered the phone, and there
was a woman on the other end,

and she asked
to speak with Sarah Hart.

So I told her, "One moment."
I put her on hold.

"Sarah," I said, "It's for you."

And she got
a panicked look on her face,

and she looked at her watch,

and she went, "Oh, [bleep]."

And she ran into an office
and slammed the door.

About ten minutes later,
she came out of the office,

and I had jokingly said,
you know, "What did you do?"

And she told me that she did not

play her part in a game.

She said that Jen
was very upset with her,

to the point that Jen had said

if Sarah wasn't going
to support her,

she might as well
just kill herself.

Because it was all she had to
look forward to, was this game.

Sarah was very worried
about Jen,

because Jen was depressed
and withdrawn.

Sarah would constantly have to
be, you know, calming her down.

I think Sarah was the buffer
between the kids and Jen,

like the battered
spouse would, you know.

In this family, there was
a tremendous amount of stress

going on at home.

I don't know
what that stress was,

but we do know that
things were getting worse.

The only evidence we have
are these kids,

who are desperately
trying to get help.

So, the very first night
was on Thursday night.

The next morning, he was
here again at 9:00 am, asking,

"Do you have any bread?"

So I said, "No.
But I have those tortillas."

That's when he started saying
could we put it by the fence.

[Beck] While speaking
with Dana and Bruce,

they mentioned that Devonte had
provided them a list of food items,

and had mentioned that his parents
were withholding food from them.

And he was asking
Dana and Bruce to get food,

so that he could share it
with his brothers and sisters.

[Dana] The first night,
I didn't think anything.

But then, when he
came back Friday night,

it's like, "Wait a minute. I just
gave you, like, thirty tortillas."

One time, he asked us for
six jars of peanut butter.

- [Bruce] Yeah, peanut butter.
- [Dena] When he asked for peanut butter,

I was like,
"This is, like, staples.

They're not getting
enough to eat."

Every time he came, he
did divulge more information

as he became more comfortable.

And that's when we learned
that they had been abusing them,

and they were withholding food
for days at a time.

And he said Sarah used
to not go along with it,

but she is now.

At the exact moment that
Devonte was going to spend

the next eight, nine days
asking repeatedly for food,

she's on Facebook celebrating.

"I am a better human in every
possible way for knowing these children.

They have been
my greatest teachers.

I couldn't be more in awe
of all the people

that chose to celebrate
this life with us.

Thousands of people
that have shared a hug,

a dance, a story, a laugh, a meal,
a cry, a word of encouragement,

a smile, a song,

"thank your for exemplifying
the true meaning of family."

She's arranging a collage
of their love

while denying them
food, actively,

to the point that they are
begging strangers for food.

[Dana] That Thursday
is when he had told us

that everything
Hannah told you was true.

And I said, "Okay. So, why
did she run away that night?"

And he said, "'Cause my
mom was abusing her."

I just felt like, "Okay, now I have
enough to get somebody's attention."

[reporter]
Worried for the children,

the DeKalbs called
state CPS officials,

who visited
the home again on Friday,

but, apparently,
no one answered the door.

The next morning, when we
saw that the vehicle was gone,

and then, Sunday morning,
when it still wasn't there,

we figured there was something.

[reporter] Then, on Monday,
the DeKalbs heard about

the horrific crash
in California.

[Allman] I think the
moms were on a mission.

And whether or not their mission
originally was Mendocino County,

I don't know the answer to that.

But, in my heart, I believe
their mission was death.

This was a one-way journey
as soon as they left.

New details tonight.
Human remains have been found

near a cliff
in Mendocino County,

the site of a horrible
family tragedy.

[Bartley]
May 9th, I come to work.

There's buzz about the fact
that there was, uh, some

remains recovered on the beach.

A pair of blue jeans,

and a hiking boot style shoe,

and then, inside,
there was a sock.

[reporter] Hannah Hart and
her 15-year-old brother Devonte

are still listed as missing
after that crash.

I was told
at the coroner's office

that they could see
some bones within the sock.

And upon really looking
at the jeans,

we located the letter "H"

written in ink on the label.

So we were pretty confident that we
had recovered something of Hannah.

As the days rolled on,
we realized that

the ocean
had... had claimed Devonte,

and that we weren't
going to get him back.

And there wasn't going to be
any amount of searchin'

that we could do to change that.

[Allman] In California, in
the vast majority of counties,

the Sheriff is also the coroner.

Our responsibilities
are very legal,

in black and white,

to determine the cause of
death and the manner of death.

The cause of death could
be asphyxiation, drowning,

and the manner of death
is going to be

what actually caused that death.

Suicide, homicide,
accidental, natural.

Certainly,
I could have determined

that this was
a driving accident.

And we could have filed
the death certificates,

and that would've been it.

But I didn't want to do that.

I wanted the facts to be known.

I didn't want history to judge
this as an accident if it wasn't,

and I didn't want history to
judge this as a crime if it wasn't.

So I decided to have
the coroner's inquest.

- [man 1] We're set.
- [man 2] Thank you.

Good morning.
We are on the record.

[Guichard] This matter
is a formal coroner's inquest,

and it is an inquiry
into the death

and deaths of eight individuals.

It's... like a criminal jury,
you have citizen jurors

that listen to all the evidence,

and they make a determination
about the manner of death.

As I've indicated,

a coroner's inquest is
designed to put out into the open

the circumstance
of a death or deaths.

[Allman] If the jury comes back

that it's a traffic accident,
no worries.

All I wanted was the truth.

And if the law says that
a jury can determine truth,

I'll hang my head on that.

April 3rd, of 2019, a year
and a week after the incident,

the initial presentation
started.

By mid-afternoon on the 4th,
final arguments were given.

The jury went out,
and they came back

with a verdict
that wasn't a surprise to me.

And with respect
to Abigail Hart, Markis Hart,

Jeremiah Hart, Sierra Hart,

Hannah Hart, Devonte Hart,

the finding is, at the hands of
another other than by accident.

Sarah Hart,
the finding is, suicide.

Jennifer Hart,
the finding is, suicide.

[Allman] They list the cause of
death for six of them as homicide,

and two of them, suicide.

And I...

In my heart, I believe
that's the absolute truth.

The question
that bothered me most,

how did we allow this to happen?

And I'm talking about
"we" as society.

You have a parent
that went above and beyond

what was reasonable
in disciplining a child,

and you even charge them.

And you get to the end
of every one of these reports,

and they say the same thing,
"insufficient evidence."

What evidence did you need?

What did you need to see

to know that these kids
needed some protection?

[Williams]
This case is not unique.

I'm sure that there are hundreds
of cases around this country

that are being handled
in the same manner.

And what I would like to see

is more accountability

to ensure that
these children are placed

in a safe, nurturing,
home environment.

[Allman] We have a national
database that reports mental illness,

we have a national database
for criminal histories,

we also have a national
database for gun registration,

we do not have a national
database for child abuse allegations.

I'm not going to say that if
we had a national database,

that the Hart family
would still be alive.

But, certainly, there would have
been more of an investigation

to find out if the adoptions
had been appropriate,

or if CPS should be a little bit
more involved than what they are.

[Jones] It honestly was
just tragic all the way around,

from the beginning to the end.

And it's just unimaginable
that somebody

in those short years
on the planet,

that their lives
would just be filled

with so much chaos and tragedy.

[Vanryckeghem] My hope
if there's even one person

who sees a child in any sort of

potentially
compromising position...

[sniffles]

Will remember what happened
to the Hart kids

and not overlook it.

[Burnett] Most people would
never have heard of the Hart children

if it didn't have
the wild, dramatic ending

of them driving off the edge of
America and crashing into the Pacific.

Right now, there are kids being
abused in situations like this

that we may never hear about,

because no one will take
an interest in their story.

And not just in a passing way,

but actually engage
with this person.

Let me see them
as a human being,

a fully complex person
in front of me,

as opposed to
a quickly understood symbol,

a black boy with
"free hugs" on his chest.