Details shared in Wash. family killed in N. Calif. cliff plunge

WILLITS, Calif. (AP) – Officials testifying at a coroner’s inquest Wednesday shared grisly details of the deaths of a southwest Washington 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 said 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 said he was able to identify Sarah Hart through a Minnesota driver’s license found near the car.

He said he was not able to immediately identify Jennifer Hart due to her fall.