Mother of missing kids tries to escape psychiatric hospital

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- A Montgomery County mother suspected in the disappearance of her two children has repeatedly tried to escape from a maximum-security psychiatric hospital.

Citing court records filed in Montgomery District Court, the Washington Post reports that 29-year-old Catherine Hoggle has tried to escape at least eight times from Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup. In each of those escape attempts, Hoggle grabbed a staff member's security badge and ran toward the door of her locked unit.

Hoggle is suspected in the 2014 disappearance of her two children. She has been charged with neglect, abduction and hindering.

Prosecutors believe Hoggle is faking incompetency so that the court can release her to the community after a period of time. Her attorney, David Felsen, says prosecutors should accept the psychiatric hospital's opinion that Hoggle has a poor understanding of legal concepts.