NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said its continuing investigation into the deaths of a family along the Mendocino Coast in March has led to the identification of remains found in May as belonging to one of the missing children.
Lt. Shannon Barney said the remains were identified as those of Hannah Louise-Holiday Hart, who also went by the last name of Scheurich, 16, of Woodland, Washington.
On the afternoon of March 26 the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office responded to the area of Juan Creek and North Highway 1, just north of the town of Westport, on the report of a traffic collision resulting in five fatalities.
The individuals who died later were identified as all belonging to the Hart family of Washington; Jennifer Hart, 38; Sarah Hart, 38; Markis Hart, 19; Jeremiah Hart, 14; and Abigail Hart, 14.
As a result of this investigation three other family members were listed as missing persons; Devonte Hart, 15; Hannah Hart, 16; and and Ciera Hart, 12.
An extensive investigation was initiated into the cause of the collision, the location of the three missing persons and the cause and manner of death of the decedents. It’s believed that Jennifer Hart intentionally drove the family’s SUV off a cliff.
This investigation has been an ongoing effort with the cooperating investigatory agencies being; The Clark County Washington Sheriff's Office, the California Highway Patrol and the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
On the afternoon of April 7, human remains were again discovered on the beach just north of where the original collision occurred. Ten days later, the remains were positively identified as belonging to Ciera Hart via DNA testing by the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services Laboratory.
On May 9, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office again responded to this area after a citizen reported partial human remains found on the beach.
These remains consisted of a partial foot located inside a shoe and attached to a pair of jeans. The jeans and shoe appeared consistent with those that would fit a smaller-sized person.
The remains were forwarded the to the DOJ LAB to see if a DNA profile could be determined and if so, could the remains be identified as one of the two remaining missing children, Devonte Hart or Hannah Hart.
On June 8, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office was notified the results of the testing by the DOJ LAB were inconclusive and the remains could not be positively identified.
The DOJ LAB personnel requested additional samples from known family members so additional testing could be conducted.
In October, a woman who identified herself as the mother of Markis, Abigail and Hannah Hart contacted the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and indicated she had heard of this incident via a family member.
She was fully cooperative in this investigation and with the assistance of detectives of the Mobile, Alabama Police Department, a DNA sample was obtained from this person and forwarded to the DOJ LAB for comparison testing.
On Tuesday, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office received word from the DOJ LAB that the additional DNA test results showed a positive identification of the partial remains found on May 9 as belonging to Hannah Hart.
Devonte Hart is still listed as a missing person with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
It is believed that the most likely scenario is that he too perished in this incident but the case remains open and active.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is poised to follow up any viable investigative lead but has not received any indication of Devonte being located elsewhere.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office identifies remains found in May as missing Hart family member
- Lake County News reports
- Posted On