Missing girl murdered in New Hampshire since 2019, remains not found: police

Authorities have determined that Harmony Montgomery, a little girl who disappeared in 2019, was murdered in Manchester, New Hampshire in early December 2019, officials announced on Thursday.

Harmony would be 8 years old if he were alive today.

Harmony’s remains have not been found, but “multiple sources of investigative information, including biological evidence,” led to the conclusion that she is dead, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said at a news conference.

The missing persons case is now a murder investigation, he said.

“Our investigators will continue to seek justice and investigate the circumstances of Harmony’s murder and search for her remains,” Formella said.

“I am beyond sad,” said Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg.

“There have been many discussions, speculations and questions about where Harmony’s system has failed, and I myself continue to share the same concerns and still have many outstanding questions,” he said. “However, the murder of this little girl rests with the person or persons who committed this heinous act. Manchester Police will do everything within the bounds of the law to ensure that the person or persons responsible for Harmony’s murder are charged.” tried. justice.”

Aldenberg said he believes “there are people in the community who have information about this research that have yet to come forward.

“If you are that person, I beg you to do that now and come forward,” he said. “Do it for this little girl.”

Aldenberg urged anyone with information to call the tip line at 603-203-6060.

The attorney general and the police chief did not answer questions from the media during the press conference on Thursday. No suspect was named.

Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, had custody of her until 2018. according to a state report released in February. In 2019, a Massachusetts court ordered Harmony to live with her father, Adam Montgomery, in New Hampshire, state officials said.

Harmony’s last confirmed home was in Manchester with her father, her stepmother Kayla Montgomery and her two half-siblings, according to state officials.

Sorey said the last time she saw Harmony via FaceTime was in the spring of 2019, officials said.

In July 2019, an anonymous appeal was made to the New Hampshire Department of Children, Youth and Families, claiming that when visiting Harmony a week earlier, he or she had seen “a black eye that Adam Montgomery admitted caused” , the report said. On the same day as the anonymous call, an employee of the case visited and Harmony did not see a black eye, the report said.

A week later, that same employee noticed a red spot and faded bruises under Harmony’s eyelid, and both Harmony and Adam Montgomery told the employee that the mark came from a toy while playing, the report said.

On subsequent visits to the home, “the children appeared happy and healthy,” the report said. On the latest visit, in October 2019, case workers found the allegations of abuse unfounded, but added: “the situation was scored as having a high risk for future child welfare involvement under the risk assessment tool that included substance use history, previous family history child-cited protection and economic challenges,” the report said.

In January 2020, Adam Montgomery told the child protection officer that Harmony had been living with her mother in Massachusetts since Thanksgiving 2019, the report said. The employee left a voicemail with Sorey to confirm Harmony lived there, but never heard back, the report said.

In September 2021, someone close to Harmony’s mother contacted the Department of Children, Youth and Families with concern, and the agency determined that Harmony had never been enrolled in school in Manchester, the report said.

The Children’s, Youth, and Families Department then went looking for Adam and Kayla Montgomery.

When police found Adam Montgomery in December 2021, he gave authorities “conflicting and inconclusive statements about Harmony’s whereabouts,” the report said. Adam Montgomery is said to have told police that Harmony’s mother had picked her up, although Kayla Montgomery told police that Adam Montgomery told her he had returned Harmony to her mother the day after Thanksgiving 2019, according to the report.

At that point, the investigation became a missing children case, the report said.