# Boy in Police hugging photo dead :( **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 29, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429 "2018-03-29T19:37:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/61 "2018-07-13T15:25:32Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I could see them all unbuckled if they were making a rest stop in the turnout, and were having snacks and enjoying the view. What happened next is anyone’s guess. Maybe the car was still in gear and idling and driver floored it, either knowingly or hopefully unknowingly (perhaps reached for something and foot slipped-off the brake and onto the gas). We’ll probably never know for sure. Much easier: drug them. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/62 "2019-04-05T15:06:19Z")
Bumping this thread: > [@](#): > > A Mendocino County jury decided Thursday that two mothers acted deliberately when they drugged themselves and their six children, then killed the entire family by driving off a cliff in Mendocino County last year. > > The verdict came after eight investigators and one pathologist testified during the two-day hearing at the Willits Justice Center, the first coroner’s inquest held in Mendocino County in at least a half century. > > The jury of eight women and six men unanimously found that Jennifer and Sarah Hart committed suicide and their six children died “at the hands of another, other than an accident.” [https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Chilling-suicide-murder-plot-emerges-in-inquest-13742860.php](https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Chilling-suicide-murder-plot-emerges-in-inquest-13742860.php) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/63 "2019-04-05T15:30:10Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Bumping this thread: > > [Chilling murder-suicide plot emerges in inquest into Mendocino crash that killed family](https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Chilling-suicide-murder-plot-emerges-in-inquest-13742860.php) An absolute tragedy. Those kids don’t even have a family to grieve for them. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/64 "2019-04-05T15:49:32Z")
It was a shitty thing to do, but I don’t understand why they did this: > [@](#): > > Sheriff and Coroner Tom Allman had requested that the 14-member jury decide whether the deaths were an accident or “a Thelma and Louise” murder-suicide. What’s the point of the trial if everyone’s dead? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/65 "2019-04-05T15:59:12Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It was a shitty thing to do, but I don’t understand why they did this: > > What’s the point of the trial if everyone’s dead? It’s a coroner’s hearing, not a trial, and the point is to establish the facts of how the death occurred (accident, homicide, suicide). That’s what coroner’s hearings are for. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/66 "2019-04-05T16:36:37Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > What’s the point of the trial if everyone’s dead? It was a coroner’s inquest, not a trial. The jury was a coroner’s jury. Therefore the purpose was to determine the manner of death, sort of a “for the record” thing. Given new evidence from the inquest such as the adults search history and detectable drugging of the children, it is not unreasonable to assume this inquest will have some sort of effect on public policy. Probably not much of an effect but it might inspire people to think about how to prevent this situation from occurring in the future. The inquiry may also have an effect on people who are thinking about giving their children up for adoption, and people in child welfare services. There are also the members of the public who were deeply concerned, for whatever reason, about the whole incident. Was it an accident? Did we really have such horrible people in our community? An inquiry can put some of their questions to rest. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/67 "2019-04-05T18:20:30Z")
Did they ever find all of the bodies? ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/68 "2019-04-05T22:07:18Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > What’s the point of the trial if everyone’s dead? Well, for one thing, this is now the largest mass murder in Mendocino history. There are people who keep track of these things. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/69 "2019-04-05T22:08:38Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Did they ever find all of the bodies? Both parents and all but one of the children were found. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/70 "2019-04-05T22:09:47Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > It’s a coroner’s hearing, not a trial, and the point is to establish the facts of how the death occurred (accident, homicide, suicide). That’s what coroner’s hearings are for. > [@Max\_S](#): > > It was a coroner’s inquest, not a trial. The jury was a coroner’s jury. Therefore the purpose was to determine the manner of death, sort of a “for the record” thing. … Thanks, that makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429/71 "2019-04-09T13:42:16Z")
Some additional grim details, from [this article](https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/06/us/hart-family-crash-inquest-searches/index.html): Drunk driver: > [@](#): > > As Jennifer drove down the US 101 highway, she had five beers in her system, enough to make it difficult for her to function, according to Slates. Witnesses told police that Jennifer rarely drank. > The theory is that she drank to build up her courage, Slates said. Google searches: > [@](#): > > As the car was in motion, Sarah was busy with the searches: > “How easily can I overdose on over the counter medications?” > “Can 500mg of Benadryl kill a 125lb woman?” > “How long does it take to die from hypothermia while drowning in a car?” > > One of her last searches was for a no-kill dog shelter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-in-police-hugging-photo-dead/811429.md?page=3)