WASHINGTON – Police say they believe two young children who’ve been missing in suburban Maryland for more than a week are dead, and they’re pursuing a homicide case against their mother.
Montgomery County police will continue to search parks and wooded areas in Clarksburg and Darnestown for 3-year-old Sarah Hoggle and 2-year-old Jacob Hoggle today, officials said during a morning news conference.
“We keep a ray of hope that Sarah and Jacob are still out there,” said Captain Darren Francke, who leads the Major Crimes Division.
The children’s mother, 27-year-old Catherine Hoggle of Clarksburg, was arrested Friday and faces charges of child neglect and obstruction. Additionally, Hoggle was charged Monday with two counts of parental abduction.
According to the abduction charging documents, Hoggle initially told police that she had taken the children to the home of a high school friend but that she didn’t have the woman’s phone number, address or last name. She later changed her story and took police to a playground in Germantown, where she said she had left her children, alone.
Police have searched as many as 13,000 acres in their effort to find the children. They also questioned Hoggle extensively this weekend and even brought her common law husband Troy Turner into the interview room to demand that she release the children. But she refused tell police where the children were, Francke said.
Police believe Hoggle acted alone. She told them that she had a “plan” and that the children were safe. But she has not been in contact with them.
“She’s not going to tell you where they are. She thinks she’s protecting her kids,” says Turner, who believes that his children are still alive.
Hoggle’s family believed that she had stopped taking her medication for her diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia. But Hoggle told investigators that she hadn’t stopped taking her medication and she appeared lucid throughout the interviews.
During a court hearing Monday afternoon, a judge agreed that Hoggle could be examined by a state mental health doctor.
Investigators hope the preliminary competency exam could yield new leads and information, says Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
A bond review hearing was rescheduled for later this month. In the meantime, Hoggle remains held in lieu of $1,020,000 bail.
Also Monday, police asked that residents in Darnestown and Clarksburg check their properties for any signs of the children, who are expected to be together. Police want property owners to check wood lines for evidence, sheds for any signs of forced entry or if brush has been disturbed.
“If you find what we unfortunately believe you will find, we would ask that you back away immediately. Do not touch anything,” Francke said. He asked anyone who finds either the children or any possible evidence to call 911.
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The Associated Press and WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and on Facebook.
