Mother of 2 missing children reindicted with murder after 11 years of
psychiatric treatment
[August 05, 2025]
By LEA SKENE
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A Maryland woman with a long history of severe
mental illness has been rearrested and charged with killing two of her
children who disappeared in 2014 as toddlers and have never been found.
The new indictment marks the latest twist in a case that began with the
children’s disappearance and subsequent revelations about their mother’s
mental state, which resulted in her long hospitalization in a state-run
psychiatric facility as she was repeatedly deemed incompetent to stand
trial.
Catherine Hoggle, 38, was released from the hospital last month. After
her release, a grand jury reindicted her on two counts of first-degree
murder, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
She was arrested Friday — three years after a judge dismissed an earlier
indictment charging her with the same crimes.
Hoggle appeared in court Monday afternoon for a bail review hearing, but
the judge agreed to postpone the proceeding until Tuesday after her
attorney raised a scheduling conflict and accused prosecutors of seeking
“to try this case in the press.”
Attorney David Felsen also challenged the legality of Hoggle’s recent
arrest, telling reporters after the court appearance that he believes
the state has no new evidence. Furthermore, he said, Hoggle was still
under civil commitment for involuntary mental health treatment, even
though she had recently been released from Maryland’s Clifton T. Perkins
Hospital Center.
“These are the exact same charges that were dismissed in 2022,” he said.
It’s still not clear why she was released from the hospital and what
psychiatric treatment she was receiving. But her attorney said the
system is designed to make those determinations with public safety in
mind.
“We don’t hold people just to hold people,” he said.
Hoggle’s children, Sarah and Jacob Hoggle, were ages 3 and 2
respectively when they were last seen in September 2014. Catherine
Hoggle also went missing around the same time. The children’s father
reported them all missing. Hoggle was found days later, walking in a
nearby town. Police said she refused to tell them where the children
were.
[to top of second column]
|
The outside of the Montgomery County Circuit Court is seen in
Rockville, Md., Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Lea Skene)
She was initially arrested and charged with neglect and abduction,
both misdemeanors. She was sent to the state-run psychiatric
hospital for treatment.
Then in 2017, she was indicted on murder charges. A judge ruled she
was incompetent to stand trial and imposed continuing court-ordered
treatment. Under state law, authorities had five years to declare
her competent to stand trial; otherwise, criminal charges would be
dismissed.
Hoggle has long suffered from severe mental illness. She has a
history of schizophrenia and was treated with antipsychotic
medications after her arrest.
In 2022, a Montgomery County judge dropped the charges against her,
citing the five-year time limit. Hoggle was ordered to remain
involuntarily committed for psychiatric treatment because she was
still considered a danger to herself or others.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said then that if
she’s deemed no longer a threat and released, he was prepared to
charge her again with murder.
Hoggle appeared in court Monday via video conference from jail and
answered a few basic questions. Her mother and other family members
watched from the courtroom gallery, including the children’s father,
Troy Turner, whose shirt was emblazoned with a message seeking
justice for Sarah and Jacob.
Turner declined to comment Monday, but he told the AP in 2014 that
Hoggle had started showing signs of psychosis and was diagnosed with
paranoid schizophrenia. He later claimed she was feigning
incompetency.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
