Two Hart children remain missing, police investigate family’s home life

Two Hart children remain missing, police investigate family’s home life

The Hart children

The Hart children

What does it mean for a child to fall through the cracks? It’s a phrase we often hear following a tragedy involving children, like the one that killed six members of the Hart family in March of this year. Their family SUV was found in the water after having plummeted from a cliff’s edge in Northern California. While the remains of the parents, Jennifer and Sarah Hart, and four of their six children were pulled from the wreckage, two of the children, Hannah Hart, 16, and Devonte Hart, 15, are still missing, yet presumed deceased.  In the weeks following, the investigation of the crash and the home life lived by the Hart family has law enforcement and social service agencies shaking their heads. When asked how something like this could happen to these beautiful children, many lament with dissatisfaction, “They fell through the cracks in the system.”

What was initially regarded as an accident has recently been declared by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s department in California to be a homicide. Investigators have since learned at the time of the crash Jennifer Hart, the driver of the vehicle, was legally intoxicated. While that fact alone is heartbreaking, the tragedy deepened when an examination of the road near the cliff determined the vehicle may have come to a complete stop before speeding over the edge into the Pacific Ocean. Both Sarah Hart, Jennifer’s wife, and the three youngest children were found to have substances resembling Benadryl in their systems. This evidence was just the beginning of a series of confusing discoveries by investigators painting a larger picture of six children trapped in an isolated world of strict rules, rigorous punishment, and a functional façade that had friends, neighbors, and social service agencies stymied in their efforts to save the Hart children.

Hart family crash site

A truck drives by the pullout where the SUV of Jennifer and Sarah Hart was recovered off the Pacific Coast Highway, near Westport, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2018. The bodies of the two women and three of their adopted children were recovered after the vehicle plunged over the cliff Monday, while three more of their children, Devonte Hart, 15, Hannah Hart, 16, and Sierra Hart, 12, have not been found. (Alvin Jornada/The Press Democrat via AP)

Their neighbors in Woodlawn, Washington had called social services a few days before the crash after weeks of 15-year-old Devonte approaching their door up to three times in a single day to ask for food because Devonte claimed his mothers were not feeding him or his siblings. These are the same neighbors who played host to the much-covered incident in which Devonte’s sister Hannah, 16, jumped out a window of the Hart home and ran next door to hide from her mothers. Social services knocked on the Harts’ door two days before the crashed. Despite having observed their SUV in the driveway, there was no answer. They returned the next day, but this time no one appeared to be home.

The agent left their card on the door, but it was already too late for the Hart children. The baffling fact is this was the third time it had been too late for state social services to intervene. The children were adopted in Texas, and the family moved to Minnesota not too long after. Social service agencies there received six claims of abuse/neglect during the Hart’s time living there, two of which they were able to confirm. The first claim was from an anonymous party who claimed the children appeared malnourished. This claim was easily verified by the sight of them, particularly Hannah Hart. Although Hannah was sixteen at the time of the crash, she was one of the smallest children, possessing the frame of an eight or nine-year-old. The second was a 2010 case that began with the parents discovering a penny in the pocket of one of the children, Abigail. Convinced the child had lied about how she got the penny, Sarah disciplined Abigail, describing it in court documents as a spanking that “got out of control.” The reported misdemeanor assault conviction on Sarah’s record was filed around this time. Sarah had admitted to using corporal punishment to discipline a child identified as “A.H.” According to The New York Times, the school system stopped making calls home in order to spare the children any disciplinary action at the hands of their mothers. Not too long after Sarah’s domestic assault conviction, the children were pulled from public school.

The Hart Family

The family moved to Oregon, where law enforcement and child welfare agencies were eventually made aware of the allegations against the Harts in Minnesota. If the children had fallen through the cracks in Minnesota, Oregon was making efforts to ensure they wouldn’t fall through another. While there was no direct evidence of abuse discovered, they did hear some disturbing anecdotes from friends and acquaintances of the family. One person reported the Harts had stayed at their residence for a few days. After ordering a pizza, Jennifer only permitted the children to have one small piece. The children obeyed, but the next day, the pizza was gone. When none of the children would admit to eating the pizza, an enraged Jennifer forced them to lie still on their beds for hours as a form of punishment. Unfortunately, despite these disturbing accounts, Oregon child services was “unable to determine” whether or not the children were victims of neglect, and having found no evidence of a safety threat, their hands were tied. And just like that, the Hart children tumbled through another crack in the system.

In documents published after the crash, a Minnesota welfare employee commented the investigation into the Harts was tricky because they “look normal.” And look normal, they did. Appearances were apparently very important to the Harts, who allegedly forced the children to pose happily for Facebook photos. According to People, multiple women spoke with Oregonian child welfare representatives who commented Jennifer Hart “does this thing for her Facebook page, where the kids pose, and are made to look like one big happy family, but after the photo event, they go back to looking lifeless.” If that’s true, it would be a compelling testament to the proposed notion that these children were often thought of as accessories in the women’s lives. A quick google search of “the hart family” in images will kick back at least a half dozen image results of the family in matching or coordinated outfits for a variety of events, including matching blue Bernie Sanders shirts at a Ferguson demonstration–the same event where 15 year-old Devonte would become famous on the internet when a photo of his tearful embrace with a police officer went viral. An investigation into the Hart’s family home following the crash turned up further contradictions to the Facebook life cultivated by the parents. The Hart mothers proudly proclaimed their vegetarian lifestyle on social media, as well as publicly denouncing television in favor of more productive activities, such as reading and outdoor play. A search of the home turned up a large-screen television, as well as a fridge stocked heavily with ham, hot dogs, and frozen chicken breasts. There were also allegations both mothers favored Devonte, the child who was famously photographed hugging a police officer during a northwestern Ferguson demonstration. These facts presented together certainly give credence to allegations the children were often treated as accessories for the lifestyle these women wanted to portray.

Devonte Hart

Facebook pictures, staged or otherwise, are certainly not smoking guns for abuse. So what were the red flags? Child welfare experts have stated, in addition to the bruises discovered on Abigail, the extraction of children from public school might as well have been a flaming comet—a beacon something was amiss in the Hart household. Nicol Stolar-Peterson, a licensed clinical social worker and child abuse expert says the circumstances of a child’s presence at school can be very telling to school teachers and other mandated reporters, “Are they wearing the same clothes for three days? Have they been fed? Are they always hungry when they get here? Do they eat breakfast and lunch and they’re starving and they say that’s the only two meals they get?” When children are pulled from public school, it narrows the number of mandated reporters (teachers, doctors, etc.) they are exposed to everyday. An approximate 1.7 million children are currently homeschooled in the United States for a variety of reasons, receiving a personalized education to further their academic success. However, without regular access to other adults, it liberates caregivers to abuse children without fear of being discovered.

the Hart children

These children did not trip and fall into an opaque field where the signs of abuse were invisible to the outside world.  Rather they were pulled through the cracks by two women who wished to isolate them from the outside world. And the consensus among child welfare professionals is there is something to be learned from this case. In a letter accompanying the release of all child welfare documents pertaining to the Hart children, Caroline Burnell of the Oregon Department of Human Services said, “We believe the release of these records may help avoid future tragedies.” She also noted the department, “continues to strive to improve.”

Carie McMichael is the Communication and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, a private investigation firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana–delivering proactive and diligent solutions for over 30 years. For more information, please visit our website.

AKIA EGGLESTON: ONE YEAR LATER

AKIA EGGLESTON: ONE YEAR LATER

 

The month of May is a time to celebrate the women in our lives who brought us up. During this time, when they should have been talking of treasured childhood memories while visiting with family, one Baltimore family was in the grip of fear and uncertainty following the disappearance of a mother in their lives. Akia Eggleston, 22, was reported missing on May 7, 2017, and since then, both family and law enforcement have been trying to make sense of her disappearance. Was she a victim of intimate partner violence, or did she simply vanish without a trace?

As if it were not horrifying enough for a loved one to go missing without answers, the anxiety of Akia’s disappearance was only escalated by the fact she was eight months pregnant. Shortly before her disappearance, she’d recently had a prenatal checkup for, what her doctors described as, a “high-risk pregnancy.” The baby was determined to be breach and Akia was scheduled for a cesarean. She was placed on bedrest.

When Akia failed to show up for her own baby shower, her loved ones began to suspect something was wrong. Her family told police Akia was excited about her impending delivery and would never have left her two-year-old daughter willingly. She also placed a $900 deposit down for the baby shower.

Concerned family calls went unanswered prompting the family to go check on her at the apartment where she was staying. What they found only heightened their suspicions. According to Akia’s stepfather, Shawn Wilkinson, “The only thing left in her apartment was her bed and a couple of dressers. It looked like she had moved out, but we know she couldn’t move anything because of her high-risk pregnancy. She could barely walk.” A recent article by Fox News in Baltimore, marking the one-year anniversary of Akia’s disappearance, also notes her personal belongings were missing and there was a sizable hole in the wall.

One of the unique problems in the case of missing adults in the United States is law enforcement is not always able to treat cases like these with the urgency they might require. Akia’s age was a factor preventing law enforcement from ruling out she did leave the apartment of her own free will. According to The Charley Project—a publicity vehicle maintaining awareness of missing persons cases—reports before the time of her disappearance, the family did not know the identity of the father of her unborn child, only that he was a family friend. Law enforcement determined from text messages between Akia and her female roommate she was planning on moving in with him. Reports indicated Akia had remained active during her pregnancy despite having been placed on bedrest, so law enforcement had to consider the possibility Akia left the apartment of her own accord.

Another piece of evidence, strengthening this resolve, was the last confirmed time Akia Eggleston was seen alive—on surveillance footage at a nearby bank. Detective Michael Reno told Crime Watch Daily, “The bank surveillance shows her at the bank by herself. She doesn’t look disheveled, she doesn’t look like she’s under any kind of stress, she’s there on her own. She presents a cashier’s check to the teller, she receives cash, and she leaves.” The amount of money withdrawn by Akia is characterized by Reno as “a lot,” which might be another explanation as to why police did not suspect foul play when first investigating.

It wasn’t until July of 2017 investigators announced they were considering foul play in the disappearance of Akia Eggleston. Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith said, “At this state, I think we’re prepared to pivot, foul play is something we’re absolutely exploring. We’re obviously beyond the point where she could have given birth.” Akia had been placed on a notification registry alerting law enforcement if she was admitted to a hospital to deliver her unborn child, but she never did. The serious implications of her high-risk pregnancy also make it unlikely she would have been able to survive a home birth without medical assistance.

In October of 2017, a vigil was held outside Akia’s home. Shawn Wilkinson was there to speak, reaching out to the community for answers about his stepdaughter’s disappearance, “We need that one individual to step forward and give us some closure.” At the vigil, while everyone prayed for Akia’s safe return home, an eerie clue surfaced. Someone approached Wilkinson and claimed they’d found something in a bush outside the apartment. “I went behind the bush. I flipped it over with my foot to see what it said. It was her bank card,” Wilkinson said. Authorities were immediately contacted, and the card was seized as evidence.

Now one year later, Wilkinson and his family still do not have answers. Is it possible an expectant mother who is prescribed bed rest could move herself and many belongings out of her apartment alone? Or could the unidentified father of the child have played a role? Remember, when her family went to check on her well-being, they noticed a significant hole in the wall. While thought to be woefully under-reported, the National Institutes of Health estimates 300,000 women are the victims of intimate partner violence during pregnancy. The NIH also reports the second leading cause of death in pregnant women—after car accidents—is homicide, with more than two-thirds of those women being killed in their first trimester. Authorities have reportedly spoken to the expectant father of Akia’s unborn child but have not yet named any suspects in their investigation.

Akia Eggleston is 22 years old and is described as 4’8” tall, weighing 145 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes. She would no longer be pregnant. Anyone with information regarding her case is urged to call the Baltimore Police Department at (443) 984-7385.  

Carie McMichael is the Communication and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, a private investigation firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana–delivering proactive and diligent solutions for over 30 years. For more information, please visit our website.