Catherine Hoggle faces review of mental competency in child murder case

The Hoggle Children Disappearance: 10 Years Later

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.

WASHINGTON - The Maryland mother accused of murdering her two young children more than a decade ago is back in a Montgomery County courtroom.

A two-day competency hearing began Monday to determine whether Catherine Hoggle is competent to face the murder charges filed against her earlier this year.

A forensic psychiatrist appointed by a circuit court judge says Catherine Hoggle remains incompetent to stand trial.

Montgomery County prosecutors are trying to prove recent phone calls to her mother and text messages with the children’s father’s current wife prove Hoggle actually is competent.

The backstory:

Hoggle, 38, is facing two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, 3-year-old Sarah and 2-year-old Jacob.

Hoggle was the last person seen with the children. At the time, she told investigators she had dropped them off at daycare or left them with friends, but those accounts were never verified. The children were never found.

Catherine Hoggle competency hearing set

Catherine Hoggle, a Maryland woman accused of killing her two young children who disappeared in 2014, is scheduled to appear in court Monday for a competency hearing.

Their father, Troy Turner, has spent years searching for answers and demanding accountability.

Hoggle was initially charged years ago, but proceedings were delayed after she was repeatedly deemed incompetent to stand trial and committed to a psychiatric facility. In July, she was discharged from the hospital, prompting prosecutors to act quickly, reindict her, and take her into custody in Kent County.