Missing Hoggle Kids Are Not Dead: Family

Inconclusive sightings of two missing Montgomery County children – first at a New Jersey rest stop and more recently at a Virginia mall – have failed to lead police to the youngsters, missing for nine months today.

Missing siblings Jacob Hoggle, 2, and Sarah Hoggle, 4, have not been seen since early September. Their mentally ill mother was with them last and refuses to tell the children’s father, her mother, or police, where the children are. Those family members remain steadfast in their belief that the children are alive.

Catherine Hoggle – a schizophrenic who reportedly refused to stay on her medication -- remains in the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center. Hoggle says the children are safe, but has not given any information on their whereabouts.

There are two theories on the fate of the children. Troy Turner, Hoggle’s common-law husband, and Lindsey Hoggle, their grandmother, believe Catherine gave the youngsters to someone to care for them. Montgomery County Police say they believe the children are dead, although no bodies have been found.

In a Facebook post Monday, the Hoggle family says: “Sarah (age 4) and Jacob (age 2 1/2) have been missing 9 months today. Their mother continues to state that they are with someone. There is no evidence or proof to believe otherwise - so we will continue to consider them MISSING. Please keep in mind they may look differently and be anywhere in or outside of Maryland. Thank you for continued diligence! We will find them.”

Sightings of Missing Kids?

There was a “possible sighting of the siblings on March 12 at Potomac Mills Outlet area in Woodbridge, VA. Both children were reportedly seen around 8 p.m. that day, the family said on the FindSarahFindJacob Facebook page.

The family says it considers most tips credible until proven otherwise.

In December, Montgomery County Police concluded that video from a New Jersey rest stop reputedly showing the missing children at the Joyce Kilmer Service Area off the New Jersey Turnpike near New Brunswick was not the Hoggle siblings.

Last month Catherine Hoggle was again in court to evaluate her mental state as a July 10 trial date approaches on misdemeanor charges of child neglect, abduction and hindering a police investigation for her role in the children’s disappearance.

A report from the hospital where Hoggle is being treated for mental illness, said she has made “some improvement” but is still incompetent to stand trial, reports Montgomery Community Media.

State’s Attorney John McCarthy told reporters last month his office will likely file additional charges against Hoggle and may use a grand jury to accomplish that.

Renewed Search Efforts

More than 100 searchers from Maryland and Virginia police agencies, along with dog teams and officers using sonar searched hundreds of acres in April during what turned out to be a fruitless attempt to locate the children.

Montgomery County Police say the search was not based on any new investigative leads, but is part of the continued effort to locate the siblings.

Authorities focused their efforts on areas in Darnestown, Boyds, and Clarksburg, and asked residents in those areas to again search their property for any sign of Jacob and Sarah.

Related Stories

• Massive Search for Missing Hoggle Kids Yields Nothing
• Gone Without a Trace: Hoggle Siblings Missing for 6 Months
• Police to Review Video in Purported NJ Sighting of Hoggle Children
• Father of Missing Kids: ‘I Miss Them More Every Day’
• Mother of Missing Children Declared Incompetent to Stand Trial
• Search for Missing Toddlers Passes Two-Month Mark; Family Begs for Answers
• Judge Won’t Allow Mom of Missing Toddlers to Go with Police

Timeline of Events

On Sept. 7, 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 day-care 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, Hoggle was found and arrested in Germantown.

On Nov. 6, it was revealed in court that Hoggle allegedly told her mother she could take the police to where the children are. Hoggle’s lawyer said she did not want to go, and Judge Eugene Wolfe refused to sign an emergency order for her to leave Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center.

On Nov. 17, a psychiatric evaluation of Catherine Hoggle was submitted by Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, finding her not competent to stand trial.

»Photo of Sarah and Jacob Hoggle, from Facebook