California

The Search for Mendocino County Missing Children Continues

Mystery continues to surround Mendocino County as three children remain unaccounted for following a car accident on HWY. 1 that killed their parents and three siblings on March 26.

A total of eight Bay Area crews continued the search of the three children ages 12, 15 and 16 Wednesday, combing the beach and water looking for any sign of them in the city of Fort Bragg.

“We had 74 searchers out today,” said Lt. Shannon Barney from the Mendocino County Sherriff’s Office, “We wanted to cover the beaches at low tide, so that if anything drifted up, we could find it before the storm comes in tomorrow.”

A helicopter, mountain rescue teams and resources from San Mateo to Mendocino, focused on the missing children who may or may not have been aboard an SUV barreled off a cliff.

However, search crews were unable to find anything of value in the quest to find Hannah, Devonte and Sierra Hart.

The only visual confirmation of the family before the crash is a surveillance photo of someone believed to be Jennifer Lawrence, a mother of the six adopted kids, buying groceries at Safeway the morning of the tragedy.

“It’s sort of like walking around, like it feels like there are ghosts around, or something,” said Fort Bragg resident Quinn Fields.

In a town as small as Fort Bragg, the tragic accident 20 miles north of the California coastline has left people feeling shaken.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a car accident, but there’s that like slow motion moment before like impact, or whatever- but I can’t imagine hurtling off of a cliff, and what those poor kids must have been thinking,” said Fields.

Mendocino County residents have places pinwheels and flowers next to the Juan River, where the family’s SUV crashed.

Contact Us