A mother has been reindicted on murder charges over the disappearance of two young siblings 11 years ago.
Catherine Hoggle, 38, was the last person seen with her children Sarah, 3, and two-year-old Jacob before they went missing in Maryland in September 2014.
She told investigators that she dropped the youngsters off at daycare or left them with friends, but Sarah and Jacob were never found.
Hoggle was initially charged in the children’s disappearance years ago, but the case was delayed after she was deemed incompetent to stand trial.
She was committed to a psychiatric facility and finally released just last month.
Prosecutors have now reindicted her, with Hoggle now facing two counts of first-degree murder.
She was arrested and has been held in custody in Montgomery County since last Friday.
Hoggle is scheduled to appear in court today at 1.30pm ET but her lawyer still claims she is not fit to stand trial.
Catherine Hoggle, 38, has been reindicted on murder charges over the September 2014 disappearance of her two young children
Hoggle was the last person seen with her children Sarah, 3, and two-year-old Jacob (pictured together) before they went missing in Maryland in September 2014
Hoggle was driving with her ex-boyfriend Troy Turner on the day their kids were reported missing. She asked to stop at Chik-fil-A to get a drink (pictured), but slipped out a different exit and disappeared. Hoggle was later found, but the kids remain missing
Her defense attorney told WDCA that he plans to challenge both her detention and the indictment.
‘Ms. Hoggle was held for eight years having been judicially determined to be incompetent. Every doctor found that, every doctor agreed with that. Nothing’s changed,’ her lawyer David Felsen told the news outlet.
Sarah and Jacob’s father Troy Turner has spent the past 11 years searching for answers in his children’s disappearance.
Although he reportedly declined to comment on Hoggle’s arrest, he is understood to continue the fight for justice for the youngsters.
The heartbroken father spoke out last September, 10 years since their disappearance, and vowed to ‘keep fighting’ for his children.
‘We’re going to continue to do what we can do for Sarah and Jacob. We will find them or die looking for them,’ Turner said.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children last September released age progression photos of the children in hopes to reignite attention to the case.
‘I’m praying that the age progression photos jog somebody’s memory, you know, remind them of what happened,’ Turner said last year.
‘We want [the photos] out there because we want people to understand that no matter what the situation is, my kids deserve to come home and deserve to be loved on and taken care of.’
‘As a dad I want to have hope, and as a father, obviously, I love my kids. I want to hope that in some way they’re still there. It’s been 10 birthdays you, it’s been 10 Christmases, 10 Easters, 10 Thanksgivings, 10 school year starts where you go “they’re supposed to be here”.’
Sarah and Jacob’s father Troy Turner has spent the past 11 years searching for answers in his children’s disappearance. He is pictured with Jacob
Age progression photos created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children show what Sarah (left) and Jacob (right) may look like today
Hoggle previously told psychiatrists at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center that she loves her kids and thinks they’re safe. Pictured, Sarah, 3, (left) and two-year-old Jacob (right)
Turner, who was in a relationship with Hoggle at the time, woke up on September 8, 2014 to find his girlfriend and their two youngest children missing.
Hoggle returned home, said she left the children at a new day care and agreed to show him the facility.
The two were driving when Hoggle asked to stop at a Chik-fil-A to get a drink and disappeared through a different exit.
Turner called the police to report that Hoggle and their two children were missing, and a search party was launched.
Hoggle was eventually found walking alone holding a missing-persons flier with her picture on it, but the children were never seen again.
When she was questioned about where her children were, she said she had left them with ‘Erin’ and failed to elaborate beyond that.
Hoggle had previously been admitted to the hospital twice after she was convinced someone trying to cut off her limbs and perform an exorcism on her in 2013, court records say.
Psychiatrist Danielle Robinson wrote in court filings at the time that Hoggle is ‘isolative and guarded, and spends most of her time intently observing her surroundings while sitting in the dayroom.
‘She has a poor understanding of most legal concepts including the purpose of a trial, the roles of courtroom personnel, her plea options and the role of evidence.’
When Hoggle (pictured with Sarah and Jacob) was questioned about where her children were, she said she had left them with ‘Erin’ and failed to elaborate beyond that
But her own mother Lindsey Hoggle said in an affidavit: ‘Catherine understands precisely what is going on.’
Lindsey, who at the time claimed to be in daily contact with Hoggle, alleged that her daughter wanted to escape with her children because she feared they would be taken away from her.
Turner also claimed in a now-decade old affidavit that Hoggle told him she planned to remain incompetent in order to avoid going to trial.
Hoggle repeatedly tried to escape from the psychiatric hospital where she was held in custody, court records from 2016 revealed.
She allegedly ran off with a staff member’s security badge at least eight times. She made it past the door of her locked unit a number of times before she was stopped.
The former waitress also looped bedsheets in her room in the hopes that she could use them to scale a fence outside the hospital.
