WATCH: The Hoggle Children Disappearance, 10 Years Later
BETHESDA, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - As the 10th anniversary approaches of one of the Washington, D.C. area’s most notorious missing persons cases, FOX 5 is taking a fresh look at the tragic disappearance and murder of young Sarah and Jacob Hoggle.
The children vanished on Labor Day in 2014, and despite extensive searches, their bodies were never found.
Their mother, Catherine Hoggle, has been at the center of the case.
At the time of the disappearance, Hoggle was 27 and reportedly suffering from schizophrenia.
According to Montgomery County police, Sarah, then 3 years old, was last seen with her mother at their home in Clarksburg early that morning.
Jacob, who was two, was last seen the previous afternoon at his maternal grandparents' house in Gaithersburg.
Catherine was last spotted at a fast food restaurant near the Germantown Transit Center later that evening, just before she and the children's father, Troy Turner, were on their way to report the children missing.
Turner expressed his anguish at the time, saying, "What I want to do is just... you know... get them back. I want people to know what they look like. So we’re running a lot of fliers around and a lot of people have helped out on social media and I appreciate all that."
Hoggle was charged with the murders of her children but has repeatedly been deemed incompetent to stand trial.
After five years, the charges were dropped, though Hoggle remains confined at a Maryland state mental hospital.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy described the case as "certainly the most frustrating" of his career, emphasizing the community's desire for resolution.
"It’s something the community wants at least the answer in terms of guilt or innocence as it relates to Catherine," McCarthy said. "Even if they’re not the recovery of the children, it’s not going to happen."
FOX 5 has covered the Hoggle case extensively, including producing a true-crime podcast.
On Labor Day, FOX 5's Bob Barnard will host a live special report at 1:00 p.m. on the FOX Local smart TV app, featuring interviews with Hoggle's attorney and the children's father. It is available now on demand on FOX Local.
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