They show the two small children as older kids.
Alexandria, Va. (KM) Some age-progression photos of Jacob and Sarah Hoggle have been released by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Two kids have not been seen since September, 2014.
The two photos show Jacob, 2, and Sarah, 3, as older children. “We have forensic artists who work here at the National Center. And they take a look at the child’s image when the child went missing. A couple years later, an image of mom at that age; an image of dad at that age. It’s part technology; it’s part science in taking a look at the growth of the child and trying to come up with an image,” says John Bishoff, Executive Director of the Children’s Division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
He says these age-progression images have been very successful in locating missing children, sometimes years later, although Bishoff acknowledges that no one knows how children will look when they get older. “For a lot of our cases, we don’t know if the image led to the recovery. We like to think so. But we know that image has helped keep the case moving in the public eye. It’s new information to get out there. It’s what we believe the child to look like,” says Bishoff.
Jacob and Sarah Hoggle have been missing for more than two years.
According to a time line, the children’s mother, Catherine Hoggle, and the two kids, were taken to her mother’s home in Gaithersburg on September 7th, 2014. While visiting, Hoggle borrowed her father car and took Jacob with her, telling her parents she was taking the child to get pizza.
Hoggle returned three hours later without her son and the food. She said she dropped off Jacob at a friend’s house. Montgomery County Police say their investigation determined that was not correct. Jacob had not been at the friend’s house.
Early next morning, Hoggle left home with Sarah, telling her husband, Troy Turner, that she was dropping the girl off at a daycare center.
Two hours later, Hoggle told Turner the two children were at a unknown daycare, but the children’s mother would not say where, according to the timeline.
Turner decided to go to the police. While en route, he and Hoggle stopped at a Chick-fil-A in Germantown. Hoggle slipped out of the restaurant.
A police canine tracked her to the Germantown Transit Center, and she appeared on video surveillance. Hoggle was apprehended several days later, but the children are still missing.
Since her apprehension, Catherine Hoggle refuses to tell police where the children are, but insists they’re okay.
She is charged with child neglect, abduction and hindering an investigation.
Some police investigators believe Jacob and Sarah are dead. But Bishoff continues to hold out hope. “We always hold on to the hope, no matter what case is, that the children are very much alive,” he said. “We’re hopefully going to find every child out there alive and well.”
Anyone who has information on Jacob and Sarah’s whereabouts is asked to call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST {1-800-843-5678. Citizens can also call Montgomery County Police at 301-279-8000.
Bishoff says you should call even if you feel the information you have is not very significant. “To find these children, to find any children, it’s at times very much a community effort ,” he says. “Any bit of information, as minuscule as a listener might feel it may be, that could very much be the tipping point in finding a missing child.”
By Kevin McManus
Jacob Hoggle, age 2 (left); and shown as age-progressed 4 years (right).
Sarah Hoggle, age 3, (left); and shown age-progressed to 6 years (right).