Ex-Minn. Family's Crash Off Cliff May Have Been Intentional: Cops

The crash that killed an ex-Minnesota family last week along the Pacific Coast Highway in California may have been intentional, according to local authorities. Data pulled from Jennifer and Sarah Hart's SUV show the car was stopped before it suddenly accelerated, plunging more than 100 feet down a cliff and into the Pacific Ocean.

Family friend Max Ribner told the Associated Press the Harts left Alexandria, Minnesota, for Oregon looking for a change of weather and pace. The Portland area is more accepting of LGBTQ people, Ribner said.

The revelation of the crash Sunday comes after reports that the family of eight may have had domestic trouble.

Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said involved spanking one of her kids.

Prior to the crash, child protective services was looking into an allegation that the children would go door-to-door in their current Woodland, Washington neighborhood asking for food.

Jennifer and Sarah Hart adopted all six of their children. One of the children, Devonte Hart, was photographed hugging a Portland, Ore., police officer in 2014 during protests over the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

According to Mendocino County Sheriff's officials, deputies were dispatched to Highway 1 near Juan Creek around 4:16 p.m. March 26 after receiving a call of a fatal crash. A passerby reportedly used a pullout along the road and observed the vehicle off the embankment, upside down on the rocky shoreline.

Authorities immediately launched a search and rescue effort in the ocean waters where the accident occurred with the help of the California Highway Patrol and the Coast Guard.

Police found many belongings back at the family's Washington home, as well as a pet and some chickens.

The investigation is ongoing.

Travis Loose, Patch Staff contributed to this report.

Photo via Mendocino County Sheriff's Department