Friend Insists Family-of-8 Wouldn't Drive Off Cliff on Purpose Despite Police Suggestion Otherwise

A friend of the Washington family killed after their SUV plunged over a cliff in Northern California says she still believes the crash was an accident, despite mounting evidence otherwise.

“Am I saying they’re perfect? Am I saying they didn’t have problems? Not by a long shot. They were human,” Zippy Lomax tells PEOPLE. “I’m sure they needed help just like so many of us do and I think that was the tragedy, and I still cannot believe for a second that this was an intentional thing.”

On March 26, five of the eight members of the Hart family — parents Jennifer and Sarah and three children — were discovered dead after their vehicle was found at the bottom of a 100-foot cliff off the Pacific Coast Highway in Northern California, authorities have said.

On Sunday, California authorities announced they believe the wreck was possibly on purpose, though they did not discuss a motive. Officials said they did not find any suicide notes at the scene or in the family’s home in Woodlawn, Washington.

Investigators are reportedly searching the Hart home.

Law enforcement has not commented on a link — if one exists — between the crash and previous child abuse allegations in the family’s past.

Lomax, a friend of the family affectionately known as the “Hart tribe,” tells PEOPLE she first met them about five or six years ago at a festival. Immediately, she says, she was drawn to their open minds and positive outlook.

Word of the deaths shocked Lomax and other friends in Portland, Oregon, where the Harts had previously lived.

“We’re [trying] to understand and really looking at what did we miss? Part of what we find confusing is we imagine if something was really that horrifically bad, why not reach out to any of us?” Lomax says. “None of us know and sadly I don’t think that we ever will.”

From the beginning, key questions surrounding the mysterious crash have remained unanswered, such as when it happened, why and why the family was traveling hundreds of miles from their home.

However, on Sunday authorities said it appears the Harts’ SUV may have purposefully accelerated off the cliff along the highway. Officials cited information pulled from the vehicle’s software.

At a news conference, Capt. Greg Baarts with the California Highway Patrol’s Northern Division told reporters that the vehicle was stopped at a flat, dirt pull-off area before it sped off the steep rocky face and plunged down toward the water.

Baarts explained that computer information, combined with the lack of skid marks, led investigators to believe that the fatal crash was on purpose.

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“It’s baffling,” Lomax tells PEOPLE. “We are, as their friends, having the [hard] conversations and really none of us want to jump to conclusions and we don’t want to shy away from looking at the possibilities [but] we’re waiting for more conclusive reports. I feel like it’s really too early.”

The six Hart kids range in age from 12 to 19 and three of them remain missing, though they are presumed dead. Jennifer and Sarah were married, their friends and family said, according to authorities.

The three kids whose bodies have not been found are 15-year-old Devonte, Hannah, 15, and 12-year-old Sierra, according to California authorities. Bodies of the other Hart children — Markis, 19; Jeremiah, 14; and 14-year-old Abigail — were recovered by authorities and identified by relatives.

While Lomax says she hasn’t seen the family since a Bernie Sanders rally in 2016, the couple kept their friends up to date on their home life and family trips, including harvesting berries from the backyard and early morning hikes.

When asked whether such picture-perfect posts on social media were a sham, Lomax says the family she saw there aligned with who she knew and loved in real life — calling their lives “charmed” and “joyful.”

On Sunday, friends of the family met in Oregon to share memories and grieve together out of the spotlight, Lomax says.

“All we can do right now is try to hold each other and understand to give ourselves time to grief,” she says, noting that she has already received backlash online.

History of Abuse?

Three days before the crash was reported, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services received a call reporting that the six Hart children appeared to be “potential victims of alleged abuse or neglect,” Norah West, the department’s spokeswoman, told PEOPLE.

The department sent an employee to the family’s home but was unable to make contact with them, West said. Social services workers returned the following Monday and Tuesday.

Neighbors have since come forward to say they suspect the Hart children were being mistreated and denied food.

“We have not made any findings in this investigation,” DSHS said in a statement. “We had no prior history with this family. We are working with all involved law enforcement agencies on their respective investigations.”

That abuse accusation was not the first made against the Hart parents: Records obtained by PEOPLE show that while the family lived in Minnesota before moving to Oregon, Sarah pleaded guilty to domestic assault after hitting daughter Abigail, then 6.

During police questioning, Sarah admitted to letting her “anger get out of control” and spanking Abigail, according to the criminal complaint against her. But according to the Oregonian, it was Jennifer whom Abigail said had hit her.

Still, friends who spoke with local media after the crash said they saw no evidence of abuse.

As more information is released, Lomax tells PEOPLE she and the family’s friends are remembering the “tribe” as they knew them and will continue to speak out to honor Jennifer, Sarah and the children’s lives.

She says: “We’re [still] trying to make sense of it in our own way.”