She Was Last Seen in 2019. Now Dad, Wife Are Held

NH police desperately searching for Harmony Montgomery, last seen in Manchester
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 6, 2022 1:17 PM CST
She Was Last Seen in 2019. Now Dad, Wife Are Held
This undated booking photo provided by the Manchester Police Department shows Adam Montgomery, of Manchester, NH.   (Manchester Police Department via AP)

New Hampshire police arrested a man in connection with his young daughter's 2019 disappearance on Tuesday, and a day later also nabbed his wife. The mother of Harmony Montgomery contacted Manchester police in November, saying she hadn't seen her daughter in more than six months, per the AP. She later clarified that her last contact had been during an April 2019 video call with the then-5-year-old and her father, Adam Montgomery, who had legal custody, according to a police affidavit. She said she'd tried to track down the pair to no avail, with Montgomery and his wife blocking all communication with her.

Police say Harmony was present when they responded to a disturbance at a Manchester home in October 2019, but there have been no confirmed sightings since. They say she could be dead and that her father, finally found sleeping with a girlfriend in a car in Manchester at the end of last year, "did not exhibit much emotion or reaction" to this suggestion. He told police that Harmony's mother had picked her up around Thanksgiving 2019, per the affidavit. When reached by police, his wife, Kayla Montgomery, reportedly said she'd last seen Harmony in late 2019, when her husband claimed to have taken the girl to see her mother.

A missing child alert for Harmony—described as 4 feet tall, weighing 50 pounds, with blond hair, blue eyes, and eyeglasses as she is legally blind in her right eye—was issued Dec. 31. "For us to have a two-year delay, that is extremely concerning," Police Chief Allen Aldenberg then said, per the Daily Beast. At a Monday press conference, he announced a $12,500 reward for information in the case, adding officers are acting under the assumption that the girl, who would be 7 at this time, is still alive. "Somebody knows something. Do what is right and call in," he said, per People, which reports a 24-hour tip line has been set up.

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A day later, Adam Montgomery was arrested on charges including assault, interfering with custody, and child endangerment. Harmony's great uncle, Kevin Montgomery, told authorities that he'd seen Harmony with a black eye in July 2019 and that Adam Montgomery had admitted to hitting her, prompting a call to child protective services, per the AP. The father, who's pleaded not guilty, is held without bond. Kayla Montgomery, accused of obtaining $1,500 in food stamps for Harmony from December 2019 to June 2021, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of welfare fraud. (More missing child stories.)

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