WASHINGTON – Police think two children missing for more than a week in Montgomery County may be dead, but their father thinks otherwise.
“Nothing changes here, nothing changes for anybody else here. We’re going to find my kids, that’s all there is to it,” said their father Troy Turner Monday evening in Germantown where volunteers gathered to search for the children.
He says he has to be strong and have hope.
“I can’t go into a puddle, I can’t help them if I do that.”
Turner reported his 2-year-old son Jacob, 3-year-old daughter Sarah and his common law wife Catherine Hoggle missing last Monday.
Catherine, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was arrested Friday and is charged with child neglect, obstruction and parental abduction.
Montgomery County Police said they’re building a possible murder case against her.
Hoggle won’t tell police where the children are, other than to say they are safe.
She’s being held on $1,020,000 bail.
Turner met family and friends in a Chick-fil-A parking lot Monday night and fanned out to do searches in Gaithersburg and Darnestown, as well as knock on doors and pass out flyers they printed in multiple languages.
“We’re all just believing it’s all going to pay off and I’m going to get my kids back,” said Turner.
Turner thinks Hoggle may have asked someone to hide the children for her, and he’s pleading for that someone to do the right thing.
“I just want my kids back. Drop them off at a library, a hospital, police station, whatever. It doesn’t matter. Just bring them back.”
Turner says the reward for tips leading to the kids’ return is $5,000 and growing.
Family friend Glen Gehrke is confident that Catherine Hoggle loves her children.
“I’m just hoping they’re somewhere safe, and just waiting on us to find them. Somebody knows where they are,” he said.
“She could have stashed them somewhere. There’s many things she could have done, but hurt them I don’t think is anywhere near the top of the list,” he added.
Police say more than 13,000 acres in Montgomery County have been searched for the Hoggle children so far.
No evidence was found Monday, but searches will continue Tuesday.
Late Monday night, Turner told WTOP he had received some new possible leads he wants to check out.
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