WASHINGTON — The Maryland mother of two children who have been missing since 2014 remains not competent to stand trial in their disappearance, a judge ruled on Monday.
Catherine Hoggle’s attorney told Montgomery County District Court Judge Patricia Mitchell that she is doing better in the psychiatric hospital where she was she has received treatment since September 2014.
Since then, the case has been on hold. Her doctor told the judge that Hoggle is still unable to understand what’s going on around her and therefore incapable of assisting in her own trial.
Montgomery County police have said Hoggle was the last person to see her children alive.
Family and community members have continued to search for Sarah and Jacob, who were 3 and 2 years old when they disappeared.
Their mother, who has a long history of mental illness, has another hearing scheduled on July 6.
Hoggle is charged with neglect, abduction and hindering the investigation into her children’s disappearance.
