WASHINGTON — “Let’s find these kids!” That’s what Dennis Stiles, a commercial pilot who flies out of Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland, had in mind when he decided to volunteer his skills as a pilot in the search for 2-year-old Jacob Hoggle and 3-year-old Sarah Hoggle.
Stiles has no connection to the Hoggle family, but says he’s followed the case of the missing Germantown, Maryland children through social media.
“I saw that they had a community search party they were putting together, and I thought, ‘What is a way I can help? What is an asset I can bring to this?'” Stiles said.
In a series of three sorties — or search flights — Stiles said the pilot would go up with a spotter, a second person who could be an eye in the sky.
What did they look for? Virtually anything that seemed out of place. From the sky, it’s possible to see things that could be missed on the ground, says Mateen Ahmad.
From the ground, you might not be able to spot something in the middle of a pond or lake. From above, an object could be very clear.
“You can actually see right to the bottom [of a pond or lake] from the air,” Ahmad says.
Stiles detailed some of the search area.
“We were able to cover every area between here and the Potomac River — areas where this woman was known to hang out. She spent a lot of time in the woods apparently. We’re not saying this is a recovery operation. What we are saying is that we’re looking for anything out of the ordinary.”
The children have been missing for two weeks. Police have said from the start, they were “gravely concerned” about the children’s welfare.
Their mother, 27-year-old Catherine Hoggle, has been charged in connection with their disappearances.
Montgomery County police officers are working on building a homicide case against Hoggle.
But like the children’s father — Troy Turner, of Germantown — Stiles is holding out hope in the case.
“We’re not ruling anything out,” Stiles said. “The ultimate goal is to find these kids safe and alive.”
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
