A New Hampshire resident who currently lives in the Manchester apartment where missing Harmony Montgomery once lived gave Boston 25 News exclusive access to take a look inside.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the FBI, Manchester police, the U.S. Marshals Office, and the state attorney general’s office arrived last week at the Manchester home, where Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, and his wife Kayla Montgomery lived with Harmony before she vanished.
The Manchester Fire Department set up an incident tent, while the city’s Department of Public Works dropped a camera into a sewer pipe while FBI agents watched the camera views from the utility truck.
Investigators were seen hauling a large refrigerator, wrapped in black plastic, out of the apartment, along with other items that were wrapped in brown paper.
Although officials removed the refrigerator from the one-bedroom apartment, Ginger said she thought it was a newer appliance that likely was not there when the Montgomery family lived there. Police have not confirmed or denied the statement.
“That fridge is supposedly a newer fridge,” Ginger said. “It wasn’t here when they were here. A lot of the stuff, the maintenance man was telling me, was not here when they were here. There were three tenants before me.”
The kitchenette and hallway had tiles removed, but investigators reportedly seemed the most interested in a small closet in the bedroom, according to Ginger.
“The closet was all just ripped up,” Ginger said. “They took my things out of the closet. Then they took the walls off the closet. There was a shelf and a bar, that’s all gone.”
Ginger said police also cut a hole in the bathroom to gain access to the pipes. Door knobs and faucets were also removed.
“It’s breaking my heart,” she said while coming to grips with what might have happened in the apartment.
“It’s heartbreaking to be in an apartment that you think something might have happened in.”
Harmony and Adam Montgomery/NHPD]
Where is Harmony?
According to police, Harmony was officially reported missing in December 2021, although she has not been seen in years.
Court documents released earlier this year indicate that police received a call from Harmony’s biological mother, Crystal Sorey, on November 18, 2021, who claimed her daughter was missing. Sorey told police that Harmony’s father had physical custody of the girl and she couldn’t get in touch with him.
Sorey added that she lost custody of Harmony in 2018 due to drug issues. Adam Montgomery, according to Sorey, blocked her calls and blocked her from social media, and didn’t allow her to speak to Harmony after Easter 2019.
New Hampshire police reached out to the New Hampshire Department of Children’s Services to locate Adam, but by December 27, 2021, the agency couldn’t find him. Police began searching for Adam Montgomery when they learned that Harmony “had not been physically seen since October/November 2019.”
Police also spoke to Adam’s brother, Michael, who said that Adam abused Harmony and gave her a black eye. Police then reached out to Adam Montgomery’s cousin, Kevin, who witnessed the alleged incident.
“I bashed her around this house,” Adam Montgomery said, according to Kevin.
Adam and Kayla Montgomery/Facebook
Kevin told investigators that Adam was upset at Harmony when her infant brother started crying because he told her to keep an eye on him. In anger, Adam allegedly spanked Harmony, made her scrub a toilet with a toothbrush, and forced her to stand in the corner for hours.
On December 31, 2021, police located Adam Montgomery sleeping in a car in New Hampshire with his current girlfriend. The girlfriend told police that Adam never once talked about Harmony.
Adam reportedly told police that Harmony’s mother came to “pick her up in Manchester, NH around Thanksgiving 2019.” Adam claimed he hadn’t seen his daughter since.
Police said Adam Montgomery’s statements were inconsistent and secretive, with the suspect telling them things such as, “I have nothing to say” and, “If I’m not under arrest, I’m leaving.”
Adam Montgomery was subsequently arrested and charged with assault for the 2019 incident. Earlier this month, he was charged with 8 firearm-related charges. No one has been charged with Harmony’s disappearance.
One of the last known sightings of Harmony happened in October 2019 at the Manchester apartment after the family spat broke out. Kevin Montgomery said Adam Montgomery left with Harmony and broke off contact with several family members.
Kevin Montgomery said Harmony “looked like a scared puppy” the last time he saw her.
Meanwhile, Kayla Montgomery was arrested in March on fraud charges for allegedly continuing to collect benefits for Harmony even though she was no longer living in the household. In May, she was hit with a new charge of receiving stolen firearms, a week after Adam Montgomery was charged with stealing a rifle and a shotgun.
Prior to her arrest on the gun charge, prosecutors said they’d made a plea deal with her on the fraud charges. Details weren’t released, but a hearing on the agreement was scheduled for June 9. The status of that hearing is unclear in the wake of the latest charges.
None of the charges are related to Harmony’s disappearance, officials say, but the girl’s biological mother, Crystal Sorey, told WMUR that “Karma is real. I knew she wouldn’t last long and I hope this only brings us closer to bringing Harmony home.”
Harmony is described as standing around 4 feet tall and weighing 50 pounds. She has blond hair and blue eyes. She is blind in her right eye and should be wearing glasses. The most recent photographs available were taken when she was 5 years old.
