WASHINGTON — Montgomery County prosecutors say they will not challenge a recent psychiatric opinion of Catherine Hoggle, the mother of two young children who have been missing since September, that she is mentally incompetent to stand trial, The Washington Post reports.
Hoggle had been set to go on trial Monday on misdemeanor charges related to the children’s disappearance. However, the proceedings have been postponed until February due to concerns that Hoggle isn’t able to understand her surroundings well enough.
Hoggle’s two youngest children, two-year-old Jacob and three-year-old Sarah, vanished in early September. They were last seen with their mother. But she has refused to say where they are and has been charged with neglect and other counts, according to arrest records.
Hoggle, 28, has a history of paranoid schizophrenia and is being detained in a maximum-security state psychiatric hospital. But detectives, who fear that the children are dead, are building a homicide case against her.
Family members of the missing children continue to hold out hope that they are alive, The Post reports. Prosecutors say that with proper treatment, Hoggle could participate in court proceedings.
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