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Family Of Missing Kids Say Mom Is Trying To Avoid Trial

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- It's been 18 months and still investigators have no clue what happened to two missing children in Baltimore County. They were last seen with their mother, who remains tight-lipped inside a psychiatric facility. Now her own family members are accusing her of working the system to avoid trial.

Meghan McCorkell has the details from surprising new court documents.

Catherine Hoggle has told authorities her children are safe---but she refuses to say where they are.

September 2014 is the last time four-year-old Sarah and two-year-old Jacob Hoggle were seen. The one that could unlock the mystery of their disappearance---their mother, Catherine Hoggle---has been deemed incompetent to stand trial.

"I don't get how she's more of a patient than a criminal at this point, where she's admitted to taking the kids," said their father, Troy Turner.

Hoggle's husband, Troy Turner, is one of several family members who accuse Hoggle of working the system to stay at a psychiatric hospital to avoid jail.

In court papers obtained by the Washington Post, Hoggle's own mother writes, "Catherine understands precisely what is going on."

"She's said things to me about even consequences and the difference between jail and where she is," Turner said.

Documents reveal she's tried to escape the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital eight different times.

Hoggle has been held at the maximum security psychiatric facility in Jessup for the past 18 months.

Prosecutors want to bring in their own doctors to assess Hoggle.

"Then what you end up with is a battle of the experts, which is a subject of litigation, ultimately," said legal expert Adam Ruther.

Ruther says if Hoggle is never deemed competent, she could walk away free.

"If you're not able to be tried and the courts can't make a determination beyond a reasonable doubt that you're guilty of the crime, they don't have the legal right to punish you," he said.

A fear for family members still desperate for answers.

Doctors have found Hoggle incompetent in multiple different evaluations.

Hoggle faces charges of neglect, abduction and hindering the investigation. Police have said they are building a homicide case against her.

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