MD JACOB & SARAH HOGGLE: Missing from Gaithersburg, MD - 8 Sept 2014 - Age 2 & 3

Jacob and his sister, Sarah, were initially abducted by their non-custodial mother, Catherine Ashley Hoggle. Catherine had suffered from symptoms of mental illness since childhood, and was eventually diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. In August 2013, she was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital and placed on medication.

After her release from the hospital, Catherine moved first to a group home and then back in with Troy Turner, her children's father. She was enrolled in a day treatment program and wasn't supposed to be alone with her children: Sarah, Jacob, and her six-year-old son. She had always been an attentive mother, however, and seemed to be making progress in handling her illness.

On September 7, 2014, while Turner was at work, Catherine and the children were at her parents' house. At 4:00 p.m. Catherine borrowed her father's gray 2007 Nissan Rogue and told her parents she was going to take Jacob to get some pizza.

About two hours later, she returned, without her son or the pizza, and said she'd left him at a friend's home. Jacob had not, in fact, been left at the friend's house, but her family believed the story.

Catherine's parents took her and her son back to Troy's house. Troy arrived home from work at midnight and noted Jacob wasn't in bed, but didn't realize he wasn't home; he thought Jacob had probably gone to sleep with one of his siblings, as he often did. The last time Sarah was seen was at 9:30 p.m.

The next morning, when Troy woke up, he realized only he and his oldest son were home; Catherine, Sarah and Jacob were gone. Troy started to call 911, but stopped when Catherine drove up. She told him she'd taken both Sarah and Jacob to a day care center in Germantown, Maryland. He believed her and told the 911 operator it was a false alarm.

Troy took Catherine to her day treatment program, picked her up at 2:00 p.m., and suggested they pick up the children from day care. She told she couldn't remember the name of the day care center but would direct him to it.

She answered his questions evasively, however, and eventually Troy told her he was going to the police. She asked if they could stop at a Chick-fil-A restaurant to get a drink. When they went into the restaurant, Catherine ran out another door and disappeared.

Four days later, Catherine was located alone, walking down the street in Germantown, Maryland, wearing the same clothes she'd been wearing when she left. When police asked her where the children were, she at first said she'd left them with an old high school friend named Erin, then lead police to a playground in Germantown and said she'd abandoned both children there.

She was arrested, charged with misdemeanour counts of parental abduction, neglect and hindering a police investigation, and committed to Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, a maximum-security psychiatric hospital in Jessup, Maryland. Doctors there found her incompetent to stand trial.

Catherine has been in the hospital ever since. Turner and her family describe her as a highly intelligent woman and believe she may be feigning mental illness to escape the consequences of her actions. A person who is charged with misdemeanors and deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial can only be held for a maximum of three years. If they are charged with felonies, they can be held for an additional five years.

In September 2017, three years after Sarah and Jacob disappeared, Catherine was charged with two counts of murder. She remained in the hospital getting treatment in the hopes that her competency could be restored.

In 2019, the prosecution retained another psychiatrist to provide a second opinion on Catherine's competency, as for the past several years the doctors at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital had been saying she was incompetent but her condition was improving and she might become competent some day. The second opinion doctor agreed with the hospital's doctors; she also believed Catherine was mentally unfit for trial.

By 2022, however, Catherine was still mentally incompetent to stand trial, and due to the passage of time the murder charges against her had to be dismissed. The judge who dismissed the charges ordered that Catherine should remain confined in the hospital under a civil commitment order, as she is considered a danger to herself and others. Her diagnoses are schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Although police believe Catherine murdered her children, there is no evidence to indicate their whereabouts. She has told the staff at the hospital that her children are safe, but she continues to refuse to reveal their location. Their cases remain unsolved and foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.

NCMEC - Have you seen this child? Jacob Gabriel Hoggle
Charley Project - Jacob Gabriel Hoggle – The Charley Project
NamUs - Missing Person / NamUs #MP28539
Facebook: Justice for Sarah and Jacob - Justice for Sarah and Jacob


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‘No happy ending’: 10 years after Sarah, Jacob Hoggle went missing, father grapples with lack of progress in case​

Although it’s been 10 years since Troy Turner’s children — 3-year-old Sarah and 2-year-old Jacob Hoggle — went missing, he said it feels like no time has passed. He still has as few answers as he had in 2014.

“I say this, not negating the support that we’ve had or the work that people have put into it,” Turner said. “We realize that, we appreciate that, but it just feels like no one is helping us. It feels like no one who is in a position to help is willing to help, and it’s just frustrating.”

Sarah and Jacob were last seen with their mother, Catherine Hoggle, on Labor Day in 2014. Since their disappearance, Turner has been on the front lines searching for them, hosting annual vigils, testifying in court and speaking with the media. Despite his efforts, the community’s help and the work of Montgomery County detectives, Sarah and Jacob are nowhere to be found.

“If I find my children in the woods somewhere buried, that’s not closure,” Turner said. “My kids aren’t here. That hole just gets bigger. There’s no happy ending here, no matter what happened, no matter what you want to believe.”

Turner said his mind knows they are no longer alive, but in his heart, as a father, he believes they’re still out there. He even still contemplates several theories, such as the children living happily somewhere with a new family. Other, more gruesome theories of what happened also cross his mind. But regardless of if he finds them alive or dead, he wants them home.

“In the end, reality is, what I’ll probably find is what’s unfortunately left of them, their bodies,” Turner said. “It’s a terrible thing to know. But there’s people who even ask, ‘Wouldn’t it be better if you never found them? At least you can kind of hang on to hope.’ No, because it’s not about me. It’s about them and they deserve better than this.”

During an interview with WTOP, Turner said his only focus is finding his children and that he’s frustrated that so much attention from them has been taken away by their mother’s court proceedings.

Hoggle was indicted on two counts of murder in 2017, but after she was continuously found incompetent to stand trial, the charges were dropped in 2022. Under Maryland law, authorities have five years to restore a defendant to competency, before felony charges must be dropped.

“For Catherine, if I had anything to say to her, it would just be: ‘Just tell the truth,’ because that’s the whole thing … you have someone who has the key to all this, who knows the answers, and she just won’t say it,” Turner said.

Catherine is civilly committed at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, Maryland, deemed as a danger to herself or others. She has a history of schizophrenia and was treated with antipsychotic medications after her arrest.

“I’ve never, ever denied that Catherine is mentally ill,” Turner said. “In fact, I’ve said the opposite. I tried to get her help. But when you look at the system, it’s not doing anyone justice, including Catherine Hoggle at this point.”

While continuing to look for answers, Turner has turned his attention to advocating for changes in legislation. But while he has lost faith in the system, he said he believes in those who have stuck by his side from the beginning, such as Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.

When the charges against Catherine were dropped, McCarthy said if her condition improves and she is released, he intends to recharge her. In a recent interview with WTOP’s Neal Augenstein, McCarthy doubled down on that commitment.

“I believe that he does care about my kids,” Turner said. “I believe that he does care what happens in the county. I think he’s a good man overall, and I think he’s going to do the right thing.”