Prosecutors Building Murder Case Against Mom Says Dad of Missing Hoggle Kids

ROCKVILLE, MD — With the statue of limitations counting down on child neglect and obstruction charges against a woman who refuses to disclose the whereabouts of her two young children, a Montgomery County father says prosecutors have enough evidence to instead charge the mentally ill mother with murder.

Catherine Hoggle of Clarksburg will remain confined in a state psychiatric hospital for treatment after a Montgomery County judge on Monday agreed with doctors that she is still not mentally competent to stand trial for the September 2014 disappearance of her two youngest children, Sarah and Jacob Hoggle.

During her children’s mysterious absence, Catherine Hoggle has said only that Sarah, now 6, and son Jacob, now 4, are safe with someone. Her longtime partner and the children's father, Troy Turner, and Hoggle’s mother, Lindsey, have begged her for answers, to no avail. After Monday's court hearing the family said on Facebook: "INCOMPETENT AGAIN. Who's going to help our babies?!?"

At a press conference after the latest court action, Turner told reporters that Montgomery County prosecutors have told him they have enough evidence to indict the children’s mother on murder charges of murder. That could force Catherine Hoggle into disclosing what she did with the siblings. Police and prosecutors accuse the siblings’ mother of taking them from the family home in September 2014 and suspect she killed the youngsters.

Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for State’s Attorney John McCarthy, would not comment on whether prosecutors are ready to seek murder indictments, although McCarthy has said they were building a case, WTOP reports.

The Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office first filed misdemeanor charges against Hoggle in September 2014. The law says that an accused person must go to trial with three years, so the state must file news charges by fall or Hoggle could be released, reports WJLA.

According to court records, Hoggle will be in court again April 3, 2017, for another check on her mental status.

Turner and other family members took to Facebook Monday to urge for information about the children to be shared. The family says they plan to contact TV personality John Walsh to enlist his help. The father of a son who was kidnapped and killed years ago has devoted himself to searching for missing and abducted children, and hosts the show "The Hunt With John Walsh" on CNN.

Lindsey Hoggle maintains that her daughter would not harm her own children. Two weeks ago on Facebook she wrote: "#Thankful for those who #Believe that we will #FindSarahFindJacob - I will continue to give credance to the fact that #MissingChildren are such - until found! There is NO evidence to prove otherwise..."

A Montgomery County District Court judge ruled that since Catherine Hoggle's doctor at Clifton T. Perkins State Hospital has determined that the schizophrenic mom remains not mentally competent to stand trial, she will remain at the facility for treatment.

Catherine Hoggle's attorney, David Felsen, has said previously that the doctors at Perkins believe Hoggle’s mental competency is restorable.

Turner has implored the public to sign an online petition launched to spur public awareness about the youngsters as a way to bring them home. To date, 2,200 signatures have been placed on the petition. Turner asks that the judge change earlier rulings and let police question the mentally ill mother about what she did with young Sarah and Jacob.

SEE ALSO:

• Missing Hoggle Kids: 2 Years With No Answers
• Dad of Missing Hoggle Kids: 'They Deserve to Come Home'

"Sarah and Jacob Hoggle were taken by their mother, Catherine Hoggle, almost two years ago never to be seen again. She remains in an inpatient psychiatric facility where she is protected by patient rights," Turner says on the petition site. "Police and other important officials are unable to question her as to the whereabouts of the children due to Judge Wolfe's order. We are asking this order be lifted so we can finally bring our children home."

Judges will not let police question Catherine about what she did with her children since she has been deemed incompetent.

“I am disappointed that the focus is not on Sarah and Jacob – on looking for them – regardless of any interview with my daughter,” Catherine’s mother, Lindsey Hoggle, told Patch in September 2016 on the two-year anniversary of her grandchildren's disappearance. “I believe they are with someone, as she has indicated.”

Jacob was last seen with his mother on Sept. 7, 2014, in Darnestown or Clarksburg; Sarah was last seen with Catherine on the morning of Sept. 8, 2014. Catherine’s family says she is paranoid and was making plans to leave the area, so she gave the young children to someone for safekeeping.

On Sept. 12, 2014, Catherine was found and arrested in Germantown.

Legal Rulings, Frustration Mounts
Catherine faces charges of neglect, obstruction and hindering in the case. Until she can face trial, the judge will not allow her to be interrogated about the fate of the children.

Catherine's rights shouldn't outweigh those of her children, says Turner.

“I don’t understand how you leave the victims out of the system. My kids have no representation in the courtroom. … There’s really no way to insert them in a case that should be all about them,” he told Montgomery Community Media.

The focus on the two missing children has been lost in the struggle over their mother’s court-mandated commitment, which has stifled investigators, he said.

“The focus is simply bringing my kids home. Whether they’re alive or dead, they deserve to come home, and that’s where the focus needs to remain.”

Find updates on the FindSarahFindJacob Facebook page.

Hoggle is a schizophrenic who reportedly refused to stay on her medication. Turner has said in interviews and on social media that Catherine understands her situation based on conversations with her and that she should be questioned in court about the children’s fate.

Police interviewed Catherine for more than 10 hours when she was first found, her mother said. While
Lindsey spoke with her daughter several times a day for part of 2015, she has not seen her since Catherine fled home with the children.

“Isolation for any mental patient is unacceptable; there are ways to encourage family support and involvement without disclosing facts that she is not ready to share,” Lindsey said.

SEE ALSO:

• Missing Hoggle Kids: Prosecutor's Case Dealt a Setback
• Missing Hoggle Kids: Is Mom 'Trying to Work System'?
• Missing Hoggle Kids: Mom Again Found Not Competent to Stand Trial
• Missing Hoggle Kids: Hope Alive One Year After Disappearance
• 'Mystery Must End' Says Missing Hoggle Kids' Grandmother

Family members ask anyone in the Clarksburg area who may have seen Sarah and Jacob to message the Facebook page, call or text (301) 549-9044 or submit a tip on the website www.findsarahfindjacob.com. Tips can be made anonymously.

Timeline of Events
On Sept. 7, 2014, Catherine Hoggle borrowed her father’s gray 2012 Nissan Rogue SUV and said she was picking up pizza for Jacob. She returned three hours later without the boy or pizza and told her parents she had left Jacob at a playmate’s house.

On Sept. 8, Hoggle left home with Sarah and told Turner she was taking the girl to a daycare center. That afternoon, when Turner asked about the children’s whereabouts, Hoggle would not tell him where the children were. Both Hoggle and Turner set off for the police station but stopped at a Chick-Fil-A near the Germantown Transit Center where Hoggle left the restaurant without Turner noticing and disappeared.
»Photos of Sarah and Jacob Hoggle, Catherine Hoggle, courtesy of the FindSarahFindJacob Facebook page