ROCKVILLE, Md. — A judge dropped murder charges against a Maryland woman stemming from the 2014 disappearance of her two youngest children after finding Wednesday that she remained mentally unfit to stand trial nearly five years after she was first found incompetent.
Catherine Hoggle’s children, 3-year-old Sarah and 2-year-old Jacob, were last seen in their mother’s care and have never been found. Hoggle was arrested days later and charged initially with misdemeanor offenses. Three years later, Montgomery County prosecutors secured an indictment charging her with two counts of first-degree murder.
A judge initially ruled in December 2017 that she was incompetent to stand trial, concluding that she was a danger to herself or to others.