Family: Missing Maryland Kids Reported Near Potomac Mills

Photo of Sarah and Jacob Hoggle, from Facebook

By Deb Belt

Even as the mother of two missing Montgomery County, Md., children refuses to say where her son and daughter can be found, family members say they believe the missing youngsters were seen less than two months ago near Potomac Mills mall.

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.

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

In a Facebook post Wednesday, the Hoggle family says it is aware of a possible plan by Catherine to “escape.”

Sightings of Missing Kids?

There was a “possible sighting” of the siblings on March 12 at the Potomac Mills area in Woodbridge. Both children were reportedly seen around 8 p.m. that evening, 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.

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.

Last week, 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 recent 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.

Hoggle was in court April 30, and Turner told the media she appeared to be medicated.

State’s Attorney John McCarthy told reporters 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 last month in 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 in Maryland, and asked residents in those areas to again search their property for any sign of Jacob and Sarah.

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, Md.

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.

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