A Montgomery County woman wanted in connection with the disappearance of her two small children may have been off her medications for as long as two weeks before she and the children were last seen, her father said Thursday.
Catherine Hoggle, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, was last seen Tuesday, the day after her children were reported missing.
Randy Hoggle, the father of the 27-year-old, said his daughter was a loving mother who was protective of her children and urged her to come home.
“We know she’s probably not been on medication for two weeks, and thus we know, Catherine, this is not you. And this is not who you’re about and what you do,” Mr. Hoggle said during a news conference Thursday at Montgomery County police headquarters.
Authorities charged Ms. Hoggle with misdemeanor child neglect Wednesday in an effort to find her 2-year-old son, Jacob, and 3-year-old daughter, Sarah.
Montgomery County police said Thursday that they had no sightings of Ms. Hoggle since she was seen on videotape at 4:40 a.m. Tuesday in the Germantown area.
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Officials later in the day confirmed that they were searching a Darnestown park in connection with the case but did not elaborate on what led them to the park. They said they were searching several areas of the county.
Mr. Hoggle said the family was surprised by the turn of events.
“She just had to go off her medicine because even a week ago we couldn’t tell anything was wrong,” Mr. Hoggle said.
Capt. Darren Francke, commander of the police department’s major crimes division, said at least 50 officers were involved in the search. He said Ms. Hoggle is known to have an affinity for McDonald’s food and a preference for Dr Pepper and asked residents, particularly in the Germantown area, to be mindful of such details as the search continues.
“It’s things like that that are going to help the citizens of Montgomery County and our officers find them,” Capt. Francke said.
• Matthew Cella can be reached at mcella@washingtontimes.com.
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