The Latest: Woman Says Cliff Crash Mom Ran Kids’ ‘Boot Camp’

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A woman who called Oregon child welfare officials in 2013 about a woman who last month drove off a California cliff with her family says the household was run “like a regimented boot camp.” In an email to The Associated Press Friday, Alexandra Argyropoulos wrote that as a family friend she initially thought Jennifer Hart was a loving mother. But after spending two weeks with the family Argyropoulos said she noticed kindness, love and respect for the children was largely absent. She says the six kids were regularly punished for common childlike and adolescent behavior, such as laughing too loudly. Jennifer, her wife Sarah and three of their children were found dead after their car plunged into the Pacific Ocean March 26. Two more children are missing and another body has been found but not identified. Argyropoulos says the family’s story has spurred her to start a petition calling for a national child abuse registry.

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