10 Years Later, Search Continues For Missing Hoggle Children

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Ten years after they were last seen in Montgomery County, the father of Sarah and Jacob Hoggle isn't giving up hope that he can one day bring his children home.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children this week released new, age-progressed images of Sarah and Jacob, who were last seen on Labor Day weekend 2014. Sept. 7 marks the 10th anniversary of their disappearance.

Sarah and Jacob, who were 2 and 3 years old when they disappeared, were last seen in the care of their mother, Catherine Hoggle, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

The new images show what Sarah and Jacob would like at 12 and 13 years old.

"It is definitely time to have some movement in the case," Sarah and Jacob's father, Troy Hoggle, told the NCMEC. "If someone knows anything, if anyone saw anything, it's time to come forward. It's past time."

On the day the children disappeared, Catherine told Troy that she dropped Sarah and Jacob off at daycare; however, when it was time to pick them up, Troy said she couldn’t tell him where they were.

After hours of searching, Troy said he and Catherine stopped at a fast-food restaurant. While he waited in the car, Catherine went inside, where she slipped out the back door. After realizing she had fled, Troy called the police and reported her and the children missing.

Several days later, Catherine was found wandering the streets of Germantown. Montgomery County police arrested her and charged her with child neglect, obstruction and hindering.

Catherine was later charged with murder; however, a judge found her incompetent to stand trial and ordered her to the maximum-security psychiatric facility Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, where she remains today. She still claims her children are safe, according to the NCMEC.

"For the past 10 years the focus has been on (Catherine) and whether she was competent to stand trial," Troy said. "I want the focus to be put back on finding my children."

Hoggle’s defense attorney, David Felsen told WTOP “At the time of the children’s disappearance, Ms. Hoggle was in the throes of a severe mental health crisis — she was schizophrenic, she was paranoid, she was delusional. As a result, I don’t think we’ll ever have a credible story of what happened to the children, and that is a tragedy for everyone.”

Turner told the station: “We will never give up trying to bring Sarah and Jacob home, no matter wherever or however they are. The focus has deviated too far from my babies for too many years. There are laws in place to protect Catherine, but not Sarah and Jacob.”

Anyone with information about the Hoggle children should call NCMEC at 800-843-5688 or Montgomery County police at 301-279-8000.