A teen famously photographed hugging a police officer during 2014 protests over the shooting of Michael Brown has been reported missing after several members of his family died in a horrific car crash.
Five members of Hart’s family, including adoptive parents Jennifer and Sarah Hart, are confirmed dead after the SUV they were in went off a cliff near Mendocino in northern California on Monday, March 26.
A puzzling aspect of the case, authorities said, was the lack of brake or skid marks before the vehicle plummeted 75 feet into the Pacific Ocean, something police called “confusing.”
None of the victims of the crash had their seatbelts on, the authorities revealed, and when crews arrived the car engine was cold, reported ABC.
While investigators remain unclear about the details surrounding the circumstances of the incident, officials said they had “no reason to believe” the crash was “an intentional act.”
Devonte Hart became known when a photo of him hugging a police officer during the Ferguson protests in Portland on Nov. 25, 2014 went viral.
Freelance photographer Johnny Nguyen was there to capture the moment.
Within hours of its posting on Facebook by an Oregon newspaper, the first media outlet to publish the photo, it was shared more than 150,000 times, CNN reported.
Photographer Nguyen said it seemed to capture a spirit of unity and reconciliation.
“I thought, what a great scene. A powerful scene. A scene with a message that needed to be communicated. A scene of coming together,” he said, according to CNN.
“I knew it had something special, something powerful. It had a message I think everyone wanted to see,” he said.
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