Family SUV plunges off cliff in CA - family from WA

[keepercjr]

If you adopt out of foster care you get an adoption assistance payment.  My in laws adopted their now 8 year old great niece out of foster care a few years ago (there is a long and sad story) and get around $700 per month for her and it will last till she is 18.  6 kids at $700 (just a guess) is $4200 per month, all of which is non taxable income.

[hoipolloi]

The first information released from the ongoing investigations does not look good:

Quote

 

The SUV that authorities said was carrying a family of eight — two parents and six adopted children — was traveling at 90 mph before it plunged off a California cliff last week, according to court documents obtained by a local TV station.

Fox affiliate KPTV in Oregon reported that the SUV’s speedometer was “pinned” at that speed, indicating that the vehicle remained in motion after it fell and just before it hit the rocks 100 feet below on the Pacific Coast Highway. Investigators also did not find any marks showing that the vehicle either accelerated or slowed down before it reached the cliff, or any evidence that it crashed into the embankment as it “traversed towards the tidal zone below,” according the documents cited by KPTV.

 

And @TooTired2bOriginal - you are correct about those photographed wheel marks, per this article.

[quiversR4hunting]

@hoipolloi I just saw that same article. 90 MPH as it plunged off the cliff, that doesn't sound like an accident. 

I hadn't read this neighbor's account before the article:

Quote

Last month, another sibling, Hannah, knocked on his front door at 1:30 a.m., DeKalb said. She was covered in weeds after jumping out of her family's second-story window. DeKalb said the teenager, who was missing some front teeth and who he thought was only 7 years old, was "rattled to the bone."

Hannah is the 16 year old and one of three still missing. 

[TooTired2bOriginal]

Plus Devonte was begging the Dekalbs to give him food, to the point where they finally called CPS. 

Is there no system in place in the US to track families who have had past issues or convictions for child abuse, when the families move to a different state? 

[quiversR4hunting]

Exactly @TooTired2bOriginal and one article said Devonte asked the neighbors to put the food by the fence so his parents wouldn't know about it. 

[Glasgowghirl]

Horrible situation and this does not sound like an accident, poor kids. When one of the parents was convicted of assault of a child, the kids should have been taken or least closely monitored by authorities. 

[FundaMental]

So there's a history of abuse, yet their deaths are an accident? What evidence do they have to believe it's just a coincidence? Sad.

[Briefly]

I just read this article online, the missing kids are believed to have been in the van and possibly thrown out into the water.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-crash-that-killed-hart-family-believed-by-authorities-to-be-intentional/ar-AAvlO6W?li=BBnb7Kz

 

[Howl]

3 hours ago, TooTired2bOriginal said:

Is there no system in place in the US to track families who have had past issues or convictions for child abuse, when the families move to a different state? 

Apparently not.  We tracked one mega size homeschooling family (Rembis family) who moved repeatedly after CPS investigations, out of state and in Texas.  They even tried to move to Colorado from Lubbock, Texas during a CPS investigation, but were tracked down and brought back.  They also moved several times within Texas.  CPS took their kids for quite a while (six to nine months, I can't remember exactly) and finally returned them.  I'm sure they skedaddled out of state immediately once CPS closed their case. 

 

[snickers34]

4 hours ago, TooTired2bOriginal said:

Is there no system in place in the US to track families who have had past issues or convictions for child abuse, when the families move to a different state? 

Others here that work as social workers, etc, can likely answer better than I. But, generally speaking, child protective services is ridiculously underfunded and under-prioritized, with out-of-date technology. Add it to the sad list of major US problems. I'm a mandatory reporter and have reported several specific issues over the years - it's beyond complex and difficult and just sad all around. 

[TooTired2bOriginal]

Yikes, that is just so wrong. No wonder this family moved once Devonte's picture went viral - previous CPS contacts were probably interested to know how far they'd moved!

[RainbowSky]

I know it sounds unlikely at this point bit a friend of mine had an aneurysm burst and died by slamming into something very fast. He basically just floored it when his body went slack and his foot slammed the pedal to the floor with no way to move it. His vehicle went super fast until something got in the way.

Either way this is so sad. 

[quiversR4hunting]

@Briefly I am not surprised they are now saying that the 3 missing kids may be out to sea. One of the neighbors said the entire family left together so I am not surprised by this development.

On the start of CBS news this morning they are now saying that it wasn't an accident. https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/02/us/family-suv-pacific-coast-crash/index.html

Part of the article

Quote

Data from the vehicle's air bag module and software indicated that the car had stopped at the pull out and then accelerated off the road, said Greg Baarts, acting assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol's Northern Division.

Also part of the article

Quote

He (Baarts) denied rumors that a suicide note had been found at the Harts' Washington house but said investigators were still evaluating some items found at the residence and said there had been some red flags raised.

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by quiversR4hunting
clarified "he"

[Mama Mia]

16 hours ago, TooTired2bOriginal said:

Plus Devonte was begging the Dekalbs to give him food, to the point where they finally called CPS. 

Is there no system in place in the US to track families who have had past issues or convictions for child abuse, when the families move to a different state? 

Basically, no. Not if the case is closed and the parent(s) have completed all legal and case plan requirements.

If  there is an active Child Protective Services case at the time of a move, or if the parent was still on probation, the case would be transferred to the County they move to. 

Sometimes in high profile, or extremely severe cases ( where one child has died, or a parent is required to register as a sex offender for molesting children) - the family is tracked more closely long term, even across moves. But, IME, that is very rare. 

A very low level child abuse case, from 2011, would definitely not be something a local Social Services office would be automatically aware of. 

 

[Toothfairy]

22 hours ago, Glasgowghirl said:

Horrible situation and this does not sound like an accident, poor kids. When one of the parents was convicted of assault of a child, the kids should have been taken or least closely monitored by authorities. 

Sadly, no. I mean these were white lesbian liberals adopting black kids. Nobody would ever expect this. Sadly, CPS does make exceptions or ignore things. There's a shortage of foster and adoptive homes. 

 

 

I still can't believe the people defending them. My heart breaks for these kids. The adoptive parents could've took their own life and left the kids at a gas station or at home. 

[Terrie]

I've seen comments about "why were they allowed to adopt with a history of child abuse?" here and elsewhere. Do we know if any of the adoptions were finalized after the incident? 

[hoipolloi]

More information and more red flags:

Quote

 

The parents of Devonte Hart removed him and his five siblings from public schools in Minnesota the day after one of his mothers resolved a child-abuse court case, The Oregonian/OregonLive has learned....

The Harts homeschooled their children, according to friends and neighbors in Oregon, Washington and in Minnesota. But they never filed the proper notices in Oregon and Washington, according to agencies in both states.

The two states require families to tell officials that they're homeschooling their children, with notice to their local school system in Washington and to their regional service district in Oregon.

The Clackamas Education Service District, which oversees West Linn, said it had no record of the children. David Holmes, superintendent of schools in La Center said the same thing after the family moved to Washington.

Officials have no other way to track when homeschooling families move in or out of their district, Holmes said. "It's totally up to the family to notify."

 

There are additional articles at that link on the ongoing investigation & other allegations of abuse.

A terrible & sad situation -- these parents were determined to fly under the regulatory radar.

[FundieCentral]

@Terrie: that was me, but as other people thankfully already pointed out, I don’t know about this; it was just a knee-jerk reaction. 

 

Initially I was more angry, but now my heart is just broken. The world is a really shitty place sometimes. 

Edited April 5, 2018 by FundieCentral

[Howl]

20 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

More information and more red flags

This certainly caught my attention: 

Quote

 

Scott Heckert, the principal of Woodland at the time, recalled the Harts as an insular family whose children — despite being amiable and outgoing among their peers — rarely spent time with others outside the classroom.

"They stayed under the radar and liked to be alone and away from other people," Heckert said of Jennifer and Sarah, adding the children received extra attention from teachers and faculty after the abuse allegations.  

 

 

[Howl]

CNN has a timeline with a few more details: 

A timeline leading up to the Hart family's fatal crash off a cliff

[Buzzard]

The fact that both adults were not wearing seat belts makes it seem like they were both in on the "plan."  I can comprehend a person wanting to commit suicide.  I can wrap my brain around killing a partner and then killing yourself (I obviously dont support it but I can understand how someone decides to do such a thing).  I simply cannot understand killing 6 children that you chose to bring into your family.

[Howl]

The main thing that chafes my grits is that there was definitely dysfunction and child abuse going on and these women were able to hide behind "homeschooling" to go undetected.  In other words, when they moved to Washington state, there were supposed to register as homeschoolers, but there were seemingly no repercussions when they chose not to do so.  And had they done so?  I'm sure oversight would have been zero. 

[Briefly]

Sad, not matter what the verdict is on murder/suicide or double suicide/murder. Just sad.

[Howl]

12 hours ago, Briefly said:

Sad, not matter what the verdict is on murder/suicide or double suicide/murder. Just sad.

I know.  Nothing changes the horrific outcome. 

I don't follow adoption stuff too closely, but it seems that more than a few ill-prepared adoptive parents simply don't know how to handle kids with food deprivation issues; they immediately go to a more control scenario, or worst case, implement food deprivation as punishment.  It seems that that's what these "moms" did. 

Edited April 7, 2018 by Howl

[hoipolloi]

5 hours ago, Howl said:

I don't follow adoption stuff too closely, but it seems that more than a few ill-prepared adoptive parents simply don't know how to handle kids with food deprivation issues; they immediately go to a more control scenario, or worst case, implement food deprivation as punishment.  It seems that that's what these "moms" did. 

Agree.

How did these two adults manage to adopt two sets of siblings from another state with apparently little or no official follow-up or oversight from TX or MN on how things were going? Is that typical?