Father of Missing Toddlers Says Amber Alert Needed

Law enforcement officials should have issued an Amber Alert for missing toddlers Sarah and Jacob Hoggle, says their father, Troy Turner.

“There’s no reason it shouldn’t have been done,” Turner told WUSA TV. “We need to take every option available to us to try to find my children.”

There have been no confirmed sightings of the children since they were reported missing by their father on Sept. 8. The children were last seen with their mother, Catherine Hoggle, who isn’t telling family or police where she left the toddlers. Family members say Hoggle is a paranoid schizophrenic who stopped taking her medication several weeks ago.

Police said they needed a vehicle type and license plate to show in order to issue an Amber Alert, the station reports, and both of the vehicles that Catherine Hoggle could have used to transport her children have been located. For that reason, an Amber Alert was not issued.

Turner, who said he believes his children are still alive, led searchers into wooded areas in Upcounty over the weekend.

If the children are traveling with someone, the father says, an Amber Alert might help locate the toddlers.

Local authorities say Maryland State Police decide when to issue Amber Alerts, and the TV station says state authorities are reviewing the case.

Montgomery County Police detectives are asking area business owners to check their surveillance videos to see if the two vehicles Catherine Hoggle drove prior to the children’s disappearance were in the area. The public is asked to contact County Police with any information about this case.

Searchers continued without success over the weekend to locate the children. On Sunday evening, a candlelight vigil was held in Germantown for the missing siblings, reports Montgomery Community Media.

Supporters of the family said on a GoFundMe page set up to accept donations to pay for search expenses that corporate donors are offering a $10,000 reward in the case. Donations to the search fund totaled $2,742 Tuesday morning.

The Facebook page FindJacobAndSarah thanked volunteers who turned out over the weekend to look for the siblings.

Police say they are building a homicide case against the children’s mother. Hoggle she was arrested in Germantown on Sept. 12 and has been charged with detaining a child in the state, child neglect and obstructing and hindering.

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»Missing toddlers Jacob, 2, and Sarah Hoggle, 3, and pictures of the two vehicles Catherine Hoggle drove before the children went missing. Credit: Montgomery County Police Department