Montgomery County police said Friday they remain hopeful that Catherine Hoggle’s two young children are alive and are continuing to pursue leads related to their whereabouts.
Police last updated the public on the case Sept. 15, a week after Hoggle’s two young children, Jacob, 2, and Sarah, 3, disappeared after last being seen near Hoggle’s home in Clarksburg. Police said at that time they were pursuing homicide charges against the mentally ill mother who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Now a month later, police are continuing to build their case.
“The homicide investigation is ongoing,” said Officer Nicole Gamard, a county police spokeswoman. “When our investigation into the circumstances and current proceedings show additional charges are needed, we will discuss and make the appropriate decision.”
Gamard said police are “using whatever resources are necessary” to pursue leads related to finding the young children.
Hoggle, 27, is being held on charges of parental abduction and child neglect at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, a mental health facility in Howard County. Police said she has declined to give them information about where her two young children are, despite undergoing a 12-hour interrogation, when she was arrested on Sept. 12.
The Washington Post reported that Hoggle’s lawyer filed a motion earlier this month asking the charges against her be dropped, claiming detectives improperly interrogated her at the hospital.
According to Hoggle’s family, Jacob was last seen on the afternoon of Sept. 7 and Sarah was last seen during the early morning hours of Sept. 8.
Both children were reported missing by Catherine's husband, Troy Turner, who lived with the family in Clarksburg. Catherine was also reported missing Sept. 8, but was later found by police while she was walking in Germantown Sept. 12.
Correction: Randy Hoggle is Catherine's father, not the children's father, who is Troy Turner, as was reported in the original version of this story. It has been corrected, we regret the error.