An investigation into a missing girl who was last seen in New Hampshire over two years ago has led to the arrest of the child’s father, officials announced.
Rewards totaling $33,000 are being offered for information leading to 7-year-old Harmony Montgomery. She was last seen at a Manchester home in October 2019, when she was 5.
Adam Montgomery, 31, was arrested Tuesday on charges including second-degree assault connected to an incident in 2019 involving the missing girl, interference with custody and endangering the welfare of a child. The assault charge is a felony.
“Although an arrest has been made, the search for Harmony continues,” New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella wrote in a statement.
Adam Montgomery waived his arraignment Wednesday in the Hillsborough County Superior Court North. He had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf by his lawyer and has been jailed without bail.
According to an affidavit, Adam Montgomery is suspected of hitting his daughter in the face and claimed that he brought her to live with her mother, who lived in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg said Harmony was in the child welfare system in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It was New Hampshire’s Division of Children, Youth and Families that notified police last week that Harmony was missing and last seen two years ago, the chief said.
A source told WCVB sister station WMUR that Harmony had been reunited with her father after spending time in foster care in Massachusetts.
An affidavit from the case indicates that Harmony’s mother called Manchester Police Department to report the girl missing on Nov. 18, 2021. She originally told officers she hadn’t seen her in over six months, but then said it had been since Easter 2019 when she video chatted with Adam Montgomery and Harmony, according to the affidavit.
Harmony’s mother told police she had lost custody of the girl to the state in 2018, in part to a substance abuse issue. According to the affidavit, she told police that since Easter 2019, she attempts to find Harmony by contacting various schools and driving by addresses associated with Adam Montgomery, but those efforts were unsuccessful. Harmony’s mother said last year, Adam Montgomery and his partner had blocked all communication from her. A boyfriend who lived with Harmony’s mother in 2019 said he never met Harmony in person.
The Manchester Police Department contacted DCYF to get contact information about the father, but was unable to find him at the addresses provided. More than a month later, on Dec. 27, 2021, DCYF contacted police to report they were unable to locate Harmony. The affidavit says that was when the department initiated its investigation.
During the investigation, a detective spoke with Adam Montgomery’s uncle. The document says he had first-hand knowledge that Harmony’s eye injury was caused by her father in 2019. Adam Montgomery’s uncle said Montgomery told him he hit Harmony after he had seen her holding her hand over her younger brother’s mouth to stop him from crying, according to the police documents. That family member said he notified the state’s child protective services. Adam Montgomery’s brother also told police he was concerned Adam was “super short” with the child.
Adam Montgomery has three younger children with his current wife and all were accounted for by investigators. The document indicates that he had not been living with his wife since late October. According to the affidavit, Montgomery’s wife told police she had last seen Harmony in November or December 2019. She said Adam Montgomery was driving the child to see her mother, and that she did not see Harmony after that.
Investigators wrote that they found Adam Montgomery sleeping in a car with his new girlfriend in Manchester on New Year’s Eve. According to investigators, Adam Montgomery initially said that Harmony was fine and he had seen her recently. In subsequent interviews, the affidavit indicates that the father made contradictory statements about his missing daughter, saying he had not seen her since her mother picked her up in Manchester around Thanksgiving 2019, or refused to answer.
According to the Essex District Attorney’s Office, Adam Montgomery has a prior criminal history in Massachusetts. The DA’s office confirmed to NewsCenter 5 that in March of 2014, Montgomery was charged in Haverhill District Court with shooting a Haverhill man in the head after he came to the city to buy drugs. Police charged Montgomery with armed robbery and armed assault to murder in connection with the incident, which happened the night of Jan. 24, 2014. He was also charged with carrying a firearm without a license and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.
Authorities said Adam Montgomery pleaded guilty to all the charges he faced on Sept. 9, 2014, and he was sentenced to serve 18 months in the Middleton House of Correction.
Manchester police have created a dedicated tip line for the search for Harmony. Anyone with information is asked to call or text 603-203-6060.
“Help us find this little girl,” Aldenberg said. “Someone knows something. Do what is right and call in. I cannot emphasize this enough. Someone out there knows something.”
On Sunday, Manchester police searched a home at 77 Gilford St. in Manchester, which is where Montgomery used to live. Aldenberg said the owner of that home has no involvement in the case, but noted she has been cooperative with police and has assisted them in their investigation.
A person who saw the search said that a police dog went through the home and did not find anything. That same person also said police dug up a corner of the yard, but they did not appear to find anything.
Investigators said they think Harmony has blond hair, blue eyes and is blind in her right eye, so she may be wearing glasses.
Aldenberg said Monday that Manchester police are treating this case as a rescue mission and not a recovery mission.
“For now, we have to operate under the assumption that she is alive and well somewhere, and that somebody knows something,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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