In this March 28, 2018 aerial file image from Alameda County Sheriff's Office drone video courtesy of Mendocino County shows the pullout where the SUV of Jennifer and Sarah Hart was recovered off the off Pacific Coast Highway 1, near Westport, Calif. The SUV carrying the large, free-spirited family from Washington state accelerated straight off the scenic California cliff and the deadly wreck may have been intentional, authorities said Sunday, April 1, 2018. (Alameda County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
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SEATTLE (AP) - Investigators are looking into "red flags" in a Washington state family's past in hopes of explaining why their SUV went off a 100-foot cliff in an apparent suicide plunge.
The wreck was discovered last week on the rocks along the coast near Mendocino, California, a few days after child welfare authorities began investigating whether the children were being abused or neglected.
The Hart family's two moms and three of their six adopted children were found dead; the three others are missing and presumed dead, possibly washed out to sea.
On Sunday, authorities announced that data from the vehicle's software suggested the crash was deliberate.
The SUV had stopped at a pull-off area, then sped straight off the cliff, Capt. Greg Baarts of the California Highway Patrol said. Baarts said that as far as he knew, investigators had not found a suicide note.
In interviews with friends and relatives, "there have been red flags," the investigator said. He did not elaborate.
But days before the wreck was discovered, neighbors called Washington state child-welfare authorities to say one of the youngsters had been coming to their house almost daily asking for something to eat and complaining that his parents were withholding food as punishment.
Also, well before the crash, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children.
And in 2013, social service authorities in Oregon, where the Harts lived at the time, contacted the West Linn Police Department about them, police said Monday.
They referred questions to the Oregon Department of Human Services, which cited privacy laws in refusing to confirm or deny the agency was involved.
Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.
The large, multiracial brood, led by Sarah and Jennifer Hart, both 38, grew their own food, went on road trips and took part in activist causes. The children ranged in age from 12 to 19.
Family friend Max Ribner said Monday he was not ready to believe the crash was intentional.
"As much love as they put in the world, there were times when it was challenging for them to be a family with six kids and hold the energy of what they put out," Ribner said. "I don't think people realize what it takes to be a mother, raise six kids, many of whom came from hard backgrounds."
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Associated Press writer Michelle A. Monroe contributed to this report.
A small vase of flowers, at left, sits beside a mile marker Wednesday, March 28, 2018, near the pullout where the SUV of Jennifer and Sarah Hart was recovered off the Pacific Coast Highway near Westport, Calif. The bodies of the two women and three of their adopted children were recovered after the vehicle plunged over the cliff two days earlier, 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)
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Volunteers with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team searches the waters off the coast using a telescope near Mendocino, Calif. on Thursday, March 29, 2018 for any signs of the three children who remain missing after a mysterious wreck now under investigation. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the Monday crash. (Kale Williams/The Oregonian via AP)
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Deputy Bill Holcomb looks down the cliff near the crash site near Mendocino, Calif., as search and rescue volunteers scour the area behind him on Thursday, March 29, 2018, and resume looking for three children, still missing after their parent's SUV plunged into the ocean Monday. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the crash. (Kale Williams/The Oregonian via AP)
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The scene of Monday's fatal crash on the Mendocino coast north of Fort Bragg near Mendocino, Calif. was all but deserted Thursday morning, March 29, 2018 before search and rescue teams showed up to resume looking for three children, still missing after their parent's SUV plunged into the ocean. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the crash. (Kale Williams/The Oregonian via AP)
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Members of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office drone team pack up their equipment after a search for three missing children Wednesday, March 28, 2018, at the site where the bodies of Jennifer and Sarah Hart and three of their adopted children were recovered two days earlier, after the family's SUV plunged over a cliff at a pullout on the Pacific Coast Highway near Westport, Calif. Three of the children, Devonte Hart, 15, Hannah Hart, 16, and Sierra Hart, 12, have not been found. (Alvin Jornada/The Press Democrat via AP)
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This March 20, 2016 photo shows Hart family of Woodland, Wash., at a Bernie Sanders rally in Vancouver, Wash. Authorities in Northern California say they believe all six children from a family were in a vehicle that plunged off a coastal cliff. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allmon told reporters Wednesday, March 28, 2018, that only three bodies of the children have been recovered. Their parents also died Monday. (Tristan Fortsch/KATU News via AP)
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This June 2014 photo shows Devonte Hart with his family at the annual celebration of "The Goonies" movie in Astoria, Ore. Authorities in Northern California say they believe all six children from a family were in a vehicle that plunged off a coastal cliff. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allmon told reporters Wednesday, March 28, 2018, that only three bodies of the children have been recovered. Their parents also died Monday. (Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian via AP)
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FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2014, file photo provided by Johnny Nguyen, Portland police Sgt. Bret Barnum, left, and Devonte Hart, 12, hug at a rally in Portland, Ore., where people had gathered in support of the protests in Ferguson, Mo. Authorities have said two women and three children were killed Monday, March 26, 2018, when their SUV fell from a cliff along Pacific Coast Highway in Mendocino County. Hart is one of the three other children still missing after the vehicle fell off a cliff. He had gained fame when this picture of him hugging the white police officer during the protest went viral. (Johnny Huu Nguyen via AP, File)
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