From left: Catherine Hoggle (Montgomery County State”s Attorney’s Office), Sarah Hoggle and Jacob Hoggle (Montgomery County Police).
A Maryland mother has found herself back behind bars days after she was released from a psychiatric facility where she has spent the last three years after being deemed incompetent to stand trial for the murders of her two kids who remain missing but are presumed dead.
Catherine Hoggle, 38, was indicted Thursday on two counts of murder in the disappearance of 3-year-old Sarah Hoggle and 2-year-old Jacob Hoggle, the Montgomery County State Attorney’s Office said in a press release. Sarah and Jacob were last seen with their mother on Sept. 7, 2014. Authorities believe the kids are deceased, but their bodies have never been recovered.
Hoggle was first charged with child neglect and obstruction and later with murder. But she was deemed incompetent to stand trial some 30 times over nearly five years. Her lawyer at the time called Hoggle a “profoundly mentally ill woman.”
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In November 2022, a judge dismissed the charges and ordered Hoggle committed to a maximum-security psychiatric hospital. The judge cited a state law that requires defendants to be deemed competent to stand trial within five years or the charges must be dropped.
“This is not a double jeopardy situation,” the State’s Attorney’s Office said at the time. “While the judge today ruled Hoggle incompetent to stand trial, he also involuntarily committed her to a psychiatric facility indefinitely. Should doctors ever decide her condition improves and she is released, the State reserves the right to re-charge her with murder.”
With Hoggle’s release late last month, prosecutors have done just that. Prosecutors convened a grand jury that indicted her on the murder charges, and cops with the Montgomery Police Department arrested her on Friday.
Her attorney, David Felsen, said in a statement to local NBC affiliate WRC that he did not believe her detention is “proper or appropriate.”
“Legally, nothing has changed since 2022,” Felsen said in a statement.
Troy Turner, Sarah and Jacob’s father, and his family released a statement to WRC.
“We are following the latest developments closely and continue to work with authorities to seek justice for Sarah and Jacob. We ask that you please respect our privacy as we continue to rebuild our lives while continuing to search for our babies,” their statement said.
As the missing children’s mother was committed, the search for them continued, and the investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information about Sarah or Jacob is asked to visit the Crime Solvers of Montgomery County website at www.crimesolversmcmd.org and click on the “www.p3tips.com” link at the top of the page or call 1-866-411-8477.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
