Idaho Mom Purposely Drove Car Off Cliff, Killing 3 Kids: Sheriff

BOISE, ID — Investigators say that a Boise woman purposely drove off a 50-foot cliff, killing herself and her three young children who were in the car, and the coroner's office has ruled the death of the three children a homicide and the death of the woman a suicide.

The Ada County Sheriff's Office said Friday that Noel Bankhead, 40, purposely drove her Land Rover off the cliff into Lucky Peak in June 2016. The sheriff's office said the car went 40 feet underwater before hitting the bottom. Bankhead and her three children in the car, Anika and Gwyneth Voermans, ages 13 and 8, and Logan Voermans, 11, died from drowning associated with blunt force trauma, the sheriff's office said.

Bankhead's autopsy showed no alcohol or medication in her system and witnesses later told authorities Bankhead was driving northbound on Idaho 21, slowed down, turned on to Spring Shores Road, positioned the car towards the cliff, and suddenly accelerated, the sheriff's office said.

Investigators did not find any skid marks or break marks where the SUV went over the edge. Authorities also did not find any mechanical issues with the car.

"Investigators spent over a year attempting to get data from the Land Rover’s water-damaged Event Data Recorder (EDR), which measures things like speed, braking, acceleration, and fault codes – like if a “check engine” light was on – but were not able to do so, despite sending it Land Rover’s European offices twice," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Photo: Patrick Orr/Ada County Sheriff's Office via AP, File