Harmony Montgomery: Timeline, everything known about girl's disappearance

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Authorities in New Hampshire are investigating the disappearance of a young girl, Harmony Montgomery, who’s believed to have not been seen since 2019 at the age of 5. She wasn’t reported missing until the end of last year. 

Since her disappearance came to light, her father and stepmother have been arrested on charges related to the case.

Police are actively investigating and searching for the girl, with a reward of nearly $100,000 being offered for information. 

Here is everything known about Harmony Montgomery and her family in connection with her disappearance. 

Harmony Montgomery timeline

In December 2021, police in Manchester, New Hampshire, shared on Facebook they’d received a report that a 7-year-old girl named Harmony Montgomery had not been seen since late 2019. 

Police asked for the public’s help locating the child, saying "the circumstances surrounding this prolonged absence are very concerning."

Police said they first became aware of the case when they received a call from the girl’s mother, Crystal Sorey, who lives in Massachusetts, in November 2021. She had been trying to locate her daughter for months but said she had been blocked by her ex-husband from contacting her.

Sorey had to surrender Harmony to the state in the summer of 2018. After that, the girl’s father, Adam Montgomery, secured sole custody in February 2019 and moved her to New Hampshire, FOX News reported. 

Sorey originally told officers in November 2021 that she hadn’t seen Harmony in over six months, but then said it had been since Easter 2019, when she video chatted with the father and Harmony, according to a police affidavit.

Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg determined Harmony was last seen by police at a home in the city in October 2019. Police responded to a service call there and had no reason to return to the address after that.

Police said in December 2021 they had made contact with Adam Montgomery and other family members to speak about Harmony. An affidavit said police told the father Harmony "had not been physically observed in over two years and that we had concern for whether or not she was still alive."

In early January 2022, Adam Montgomery and Harmony’s stepmother were arrested, separately, on charges related to her well-being. 

Police are still investigating the circumstances of the girl’s disappearance and actively looking for her. On Saturday, Jan. 8, police searched the last known residence of the girl in Manchester.

Who had child custody of Harmony Montgomery?

Harmony Mongtomery’s father, Adam Montgomery, reportedly has had sole custody of the girl since February 2019. He is currently facing charges related to her well-being. 

In December 2021, police made contact with Adam Montgomery, 31, when they found him sleeping in a vehicle. 

He said initially that Harmony was fine and he had seen her recently, but then later said he hadn't seen her since her mother picked her up in Manchester around Thanksgiving 2019.

Police told Montgomery they were concerned his daughter "had not been physically observed in over two years and that we had concern for whether or not she was still alive," the affidavit said. "Adam did not exhibit much emotion or reaction to this," adding he believed she was with her mother. He eventually stopped answering questions.

He was arrested on several charges on Jan. 4, 2022, including a second-degree assault charge stemming from a 2019 conduct against Harmony, as well as charges of interfering with custody and child endangerment. Police accused him of "purposely violating a duty of care, protection or support" by failing to know where she has been since late 2019 — the last reported sighting of Harmony.

FOX News reported the 2019 conduct against Harmony involved Adam Montgomery allegedly punching Harmony, who is visually impaired and blind in one eye, in the face, leaving her with a black eye.

In a December 2021 interview with police, Harmony's great uncle told officers he saw her with a black eye in July 2019. He said Montgomery told him he hit her after he had seen his daughter holding her hand over her younger brother’s mouth to stop him from crying, according to the police documents.

The family member said he notified the state's child protective services.

Adam Montgomery has a criminal history of violence, which includes pleading guilty to shooting a man in a drug-fueled robbery in 2014, FOX News reported. 

He had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf earlier this month by his lawyer for the charges connected to Harmony’s disappearance. He has been jailed without bail.

Kayla Montgomery: Harmony’s stepmother

Harmony Montgomery’s stepmother, Kayla Montgomery, is also facing charges. She was arrested on Jan. 5, 2022, on a charge of welfare fraud for collecting food stamps in the girl’s name — to which she pleaded not guilty.

Police said between December 2019 and June 2021, Kayla Montgomery obtained over $1,500 in food stamps benefits by failing to remove Harmony from the family’s state assistance account, despite the fact that Harmony was no longer living with Kayla and Adam Montgomery. 

Prosecutors later announced a plan to drop the welfare fraud charge against Kayla and replace it with nine other charges, including felony theft, according to court documents released on Jan. 11. The change was made based on new information provided by the state Department of Health and Human Services about her, according to the attorney general's office.

A judge also agreed to the prosecution's request for $5,000 bail.

Earlier, in an interview with police on New Year's Eve, Kayla — who shares three children with her husband, ages 4, 2 and 1 — said she last saw Harmony in November or December 2019. She said her husband was driving Harmony to the child's mother in Massachusetts. She said she believed Harmony had been returned to the mother and never saw or heard about Harmony after that day, according to the police document.

Kayla also told police she hadn’t seen Adam since October and had not spoken to him since November.

Who reported Harmony Montgomery missing?

Harmony Montgomery’s mother, Crystal Sorey, told police she had lost custody of Harmony to the state in 2018, in part to substance abuse. She said she last saw her daughter during a Facetime video call with Adam Montgomery around Easter 2019.

Sorey told police that, since then, she unsuccessfully made attempts to find Harmony by contacting various schools and driving by addresses associated with Adam Montgomery. 

She said last year, he and his partner had blocked all communication from her. 

FOX News reported Sorey had been sharing concerns over Harmony’s well-being with Blair and Johnathon Miller, a couple who fostered and eventually adopted Harmony’s younger brother, Jamison. The two were also actively trying to make a connection with Harmony and told Sorey multiple times they’d adopt her if the need arose.

On Nov. 18, 2021, Sorey reported Harmony missing to the Manchester Police Department. 

Sorey made her first public appearance at a candlelit vigil on Jan. 8 after authorities searched the last known residence of her daughter. 

"I just don’t feel that in my heart," Sorey told NBC10 Boston. "Like, I don’t feel like I lost her. And a mother knows, a mother knows if your baby’s here or not. I know she’s here."

She had this message for her daughter: "Hi, baby. If you can see me and hear me, I want you to know that I never stopped looking for you and I won’t stop fighting until I find you, okay? You stay strong and mommy’s right here fighting for you. I love you."

Harmony Montgomery’s brother

Harmony spent time in foster care with her younger biological brother, Jamison. In June 2019, a couple began fostering the boy and eventually adopted him later that year in November. 

Blair Miller, a Washington, D.C.,-based television news reporter, and his husband Johnathon Miller are the adoptive parents of Jamison. 

FOX News has spoken with the couple, who said they repeatedly told Harmony’s mother that they were willing to adopt the girl if need be.

The couple actively tried to make contact with Harmony throughout the past two years, as they said Jamison missed her and that he’d cry at night for her. The couple said they weren’t ever able to speak with Harmony and kept in touch with Sorey about her communication attempts with the girl’s father, Adam Montgomery.

Harmony Montgomery reward

Manchester police set up a 24-hour tip line this week and offered nearly $100,000 in rewards in an effort to find Harmony Montgomery. 

They said they were working to find her with the state Division for Children, Youth and Families and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

This story was reported from Detroit. The Associated Press and FOX News contributed.