What happened to Jen Hart’s children?
One investigator noted that the children “showed little emotion or animation.” Jen Hart argued that many of the issues the family faced were due to outsiders not understanding the Hart family’s lifestyle. Officials in Oregon couldn’t find any concrete evidence of abuse or neglect and the case was closed.
What was the narrative with the Harts?
With the Harts, the narrative was, "You saved them, awesome," according to family friend Ian Sperling. A Facebook photo of "mini Jackson Pollocks" Devonte, Sierra, and Jeremiah at home in 2013.
Where did Jen and Sarah Hart live in Oregon?
The Harts decided to pack up and move to West Linn, Oregon, a suburb of Portland, in 2013. The family rented a house and raised goats and chickens in the backyard. As was the case before, Sarah worked and Jen stayed home with the six children.
How many children did the Hart family have in 2008?
Two years later, in 2008, the Harts took in three more siblings from Texas: Devonte, 5; Jeremiah, 4; and Ciera, 3. “The Hart Tribe” was now complete and they looked like the model of a progressive, 21st century family: two white lesbian mothers and six adopted Black children.
In Episode 306
The life portrayed on social media by Jennifer Hart seemed perfect. She and her wife, Sarah, were a progressive and loving couple with six adopted black children. Pictures on Facebook showed two moms giving their disadvantaged children a better life. Never mind that the pictures looked posed and the children were rail thin.
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Two white moms. Six adopted black kids. One car found upside down at the bottom of a cliff. What went wrong?
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Summary
This week, Kelley and Julia tell the tragic story of the Hart family murders. They discuss how moms, Jennifer, and Sarah Hart carefully constructed an image of a progressive and loving family, all while starving, beating, and abusing all six of their adopted children.
Episode Sources
In this episode their research, quotes, timeline and facts come from the following sources:
How many siblings did the Harts have?
The girl never heard from Jen or Sarah again. In 2006, the couple took in three siblings from foster care in Texas: Markis, 7; Hannah, 4; and Abigail, 2. Two years later, in 2008, the Harts took in three more siblings from Texas: Devonte, 5; Jeremiah, 4; and Sierra, 3.
What did the Harts do?
The Harts began attending many music festivals as a family unit and became well-known members of the nationwide festival community. These multi-day gatherings focused on togetherness, dance, yoga, and music, all in a socially conscious atmosphere.
Why are Jen and Sarah Hart called the Hart Tribe?
Jen and Sarah Hart were regarded by all who knew them as caring and devoted parents who had adopted two sets of three Black siblings and dedicated their lives to raising the six children in a socially conscious atmosphere that focused on love and acceptance. Friends referred to them as “The Hart Tribe” because of their tight bond.
What is Jen Hart's master poster?
One person referred to Jen Hart as a “master poster,” her long online diatribes filled with her thoughts and feelings about raising a happy family and the challenges of modern-day society. But, like in Minnesota, some people saw through the facade and alerted the authorities.
Where did Sarah Hart meet Jen?
Jen and Sarah Hart’s romance began nearly 20 years earlier, at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The women both attended school there when they met and fell in love.
Where did Jen and Sarah move to?
The couple moved to Alexandria, Minnesota, and both worked at the same department store. Jen was recognized as the dominant person in the relationship, a woman with a big personality who liked to be in control and wasn’t afraid to let her voice be heard. Sarah was seen as sensitive and passive.
Where is Sarah Hart's homestead?
Once authorities began to dig into Jen and Sarah Hart’s pasts, however, they pieced together a decade-long tale of abuse and neglect that ended tragically on a remote stretch of highway more than 500 miles from the Hart homestead in Washington state .
How many siblings did Jeremiah Hart have?
Jeremiah Hart. Two years later, in 2006, Jen and Sarah took in three siblings from the Texas foster system: Markis, seven, Hannah, four, and Abigail, two. Statistically speaking, the kids fell into several categories that might have made them hard to place with adoptive families.
Where was Jen Hart's Mystic Festival?
The family as they appeared on Jen Hart's perfectly curated Facebook feed (2/3): The Hart children with their moms at the 2013 Mystic Festival in Mystic, Connecticut, one of the many "transformational festivals" the family attended over the years. Jen Hart.
Where did Sarah Gengler and Jen Hart grow up?
Sarah Gengler and Jen Hart both grew up in small-town South Dakota and met when they were in school at Northern State University in Aberdeen. Sarah earned her degree in special education; Jen never graduated. Later Jen would describe on Facebook how she purposely called Sarah her "friend" or her "roommate" back then.
Who is Jen's wife?
In other circumstances, on other trips, Jen and her wife, Sarah, might have pulled to the side of the road and lined up their brood as they often did: backs to the camera, hands raised in peace signs, a Technicolor sunset framing their silhouettes.
Where did Sarah and Jen move to?
The pair eventually moved to Alexandria, Minnesota, a lake town, where they worked at Herberger's, the biggest department store in the Viking Plaza Mall. When Sarah became a manager, she placed a cuddly photo of herself and Jen on her desk—a bold move for the time.
