April 03, 2019 - 12:38 PM
WILLITS, Calif. - The Latest on a coroner's inquest into the deaths of a family whose SUV went off a Northern California cliff (all times local):
12:30 p.m.
Officials testifying at a coroner's inquest Wednesday are sharing grisly details of the deaths of a family whose SUV plunged off a Northern California cliff.
Mendocino County is holding the inquest before a jury to determine how to classify the March 2018 deaths of Jen and Sarah Hart and their six adopted children.
Jurors will decide whether the deaths were accidental, a murder-suicide or undetermined.
Mendocino County Sheriff Deputy Robert Julian says the bodies of the women were inside the car and that as the car was being towed up the cliff, one of the bodies fell out along with a backpack.
Julian says he was able to identify Sarah Hart through a Minnesota driver's license found near the car.
He says he was not able to immediately identify Jennifer Hart due to her fall.
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7:50 a.m.
Authorities in Northern California will hold a coroner's inquest to determine the manner of death for eight members of a family whose SUV plunged off a coastal cliff last year.
Mendocino County sheriff's Capt. Greg Van Patten says that during the two-day inquest starting Wednesday a jury will hear from officials and experts, and decide whether the deaths of Jen and Sarah Hart and their six adopted children were accidental, a murder-suicide or undetermined.
The family's SUV plunged off a seaside cliff more than 160 miles (250 kilometres) north of San Francisco. A tourist spotted the car in the water on March 26, 2018.
Five bodies were found that day. The remains of two more children were found weeks later. The remains of a teenage boy have not been found.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019