A Maryland mother has been rearrested and charged with murdering her two youngest children—nearly a decade after they vanished—following disturbing new allegations that she joked about killing them during a group therapy session.
Catherine Hoggle, 37, was formally charged Friday with the 2014 murders of three-year-old Sarah and two-year-old Jacob, whose bodies have never been found. The arrest comes just weeks after she was released from a state psychiatric facility, where she had been held for years following an earlier indictment that was dropped due to mental incompetency.
**Sarah, 3, and Jacob, 2, disappeared with their mother in September 2014 and were never seen again**
According to prosecutors, Hoggle made chilling comments shortly after the children’s disappearance—remarks that they now believe were a confession.
During a court hearing Tuesday, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said that hours after the children vanished, Hoggle attended a group therapy session alongside their father, Troy Turney. There, she allegedly told another woman she had strangled her children—and even mimicked the act with her hands—before claiming she was “just joking.”
“She made a comment to a woman that she had strangled her children,” McCarthy told the court. “Then insisted it was a joke.”
McCarthy argued forcefully against granting Hoggle bond, noting she still posed a threat—particularly to her surviving child.
**Hoggle was rearrested and charged with the children’s murders just weeks after her release from a mental health facility**
Timeline of a Disappearance
On September 7, 2014, Hoggle was last seen with Jacob. She reportedly told family members she had dropped him off at a friend’s house for a sleepover.
That same night, she allegedly took Sarah from the home without alerting anyone. Neither child was ever seen again.
An arrest warrant revealed investigators later consulted with an FBI profiler who believed the children were likely murdered by strangulation, and that their bodies were disposed of in an outdoor trash container.
Hoggle reportedly intended to abduct her eldest son—then five—from his bus stop, but the attempt was thwarted by his father.
**After her 2014 arrest, Hoggle was initially charged with neglect and abduction—both misdemeanors**
**Hoggle (seen on CCTV) has a long-documented history of schizophrenia and was treated with antipsychotic medication after her arrest**
Legal Limbo
Hoggle was arrested shortly after the disappearances and charged with neglect and abduction, but later deemed mentally unfit for trial. She was committed to a state psychiatric hospital.
In 2017, she was indicted for murder, but the case stalled again due to her mental health. Under Maryland law, prosecutors had five years to establish that she was competent to stand trial, or the charges would be dropped.
In 2022, a judge dismissed the charges after that deadline passed—but Hoggle remained involuntarily committed for psychiatric treatment as she was still considered a danger to herself and others.
Renewed Charges
Hoggle was released from the mental institution in mid-2025. Prosecutor John McCarthy immediately followed through on a long-standing promise: that if she were ever freed, he would refile murder charges.
Now, with new evidence—including the alleged therapy-room confession—he believes there’s enough to finally bring her to trial.