Missing Hoggle Kids: Another Delay as Mom Still Not Competent for Trial

Rockville, MD — Family members of two Montgomery County children missing for almost two years say they are still hopeful the siblings will return home but also acknowledge they fear the young lives have been lost.

Despite nearly two years of treatment at a state mental hospital, Catherine Hoggle, the mother responsible for the September 2014 disappearance of her daughter, Sarah, now 5, and son Jacob, 3, is still not competent to stand trial.

Judge Eugene Wolfe said at a hearing Tuesday that the latest evaluations indicate that Hoggle remains incompetent to stand trial on charges of neglect, obstruction and hindering in the case. However, doctors believe her competency can be restored.

Wolfe set a new court status hearing for Sept. 27.

On his Facebook page Tuesday, the children’s father, Troy Turner, said he "remains hopeful that the kids are out there and that we will be reunited. However, to not acknowledge that the worse case scenario is possible is not living in reality and not acknowledging the true severity of the situation.”

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Hoggle of Clarksburg is a schizophrenic who reportedly refused to stay on her medication. While she says the children are safe, she has not shared any information on their whereabouts.

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.

• Find updates on the FindSarahFindJacob Facebook page.

Police and prosecutors accuse the siblings’ mother of taking them from the family home in September 2014 and suspect she killed the youngsters.

In April, Wolfe denied a request by prosecutors to hire a psychiatrist to conduct an independent competency evaluation of Hoggle. While doctors say she is not capable of facing criminal action, her mother, Lindsey Hoggle, Turner, police and prosecutors disagree.

“This is just unacceptable that we continue not to have Catherine competent,” Lindsey Hoggle told reporters Tuesday after the court hearing.

Catherine Hoggle’s attorney said doctors at Clifton T. Perkins State Hospital have tried different combinations of medications and therapies in hopes of restoring competency, reports Montgomery Community Media.

“I still believe that Sarah and Jacob are with someone and encourage any tips (anonymous) to www.findsarahfindjacob.com,” Lindsey Hoggle posted on Facebook. “Thankful for friends and God's grace.”

Jacob was last seen with his mother on Sept. 7, 2014, in Darnestown or Clarksburg; Sarah was last seen with Hoggle 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.

Turner’s mother, Debbie Beckward, was in court Tuesday with signs with pictures of her missing grandchildren that read, “Justice for Sarah and Jacob.” She told reporters that she has asked the FBI to get involved in the case.

And while the legal battle goes on, Turner and supporters continue to look for signs of the children. A search in early April of Goshen Recreational Park in Germantown yielded nothing.

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 child 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.

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

»Photo of Sarah and Jacob Hoggle with their mother, Catherine, courtesy of the FindSarahFindJacob Facebook page