Harmony Montgomery.Photo: Manchester Police Department
Content warning: This article contains disturbing descriptions.
In the months after the death of his 5-year-old daughter, Adam Montgomery is accused of toting Harmony’s body — in a red Under Armour duffel bag, tied up in trash bags — all over Manchester, N.H. He has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and is awaiting trial.
Adam Montgomery, 33, is charged with his daughter’s 2019 murder and for abuse of her corpse, among other charges. Harmony’s body has not been found.manchester NH police / facebook
Harmony, who police believe was killed in December 2019, wasreported missingalmost two years later, when her biological mother, who had lost custody of her daughter because of drug use, reported her missing in November 2021, according to unsealed records. (Crystal Sorey, now 32, had not seen her daughter since a FaceTime call on Easter 2019, she told police, noting that her daughter seemed scared of her father at the time.)
Police interviews indicate that in the days leading up to Harmony’s disappearance, Adam Montgomery had become frustrated when the 5-year-old had bathroom accidents in the car where he, Kayla Montgomery and their two younger sons were living. In the unsealed court filings, John Dunleavy, the Manchester Police detective on the case, noted of law enforcement interviews with Kayla Montgomery: “Kayla stated that after each accident Adam would get upset and would strike Harmony in the face/ head with a closed fist.”
On the day of Harmony’s suspected murder – December 7, 2019 – Adam Montgomery turned around while driving to a local Burger King for breakfast and allegedly “delivered sets of three-to-four blows with a closed fist to Harmony’s face/ head on three separate occasions over the course of a few minutes.”
Harmony Montgomery.Crystal Sorey
After the last blow, Adam Montgomery allegedly said: “I think I really hurt her this time. I think I did something,” Kayla Montgomery later recalled to police.
Harmony moaned in the backseat for five minutes. Then she became quiet. The family proceeded to the fast-food restaurant and then back to the parking lot, where they were living in their car. They never got Harmony medical attention, police records allege. Hours later, at about 12:15 p.m., the couple “discovered that Harmony was not breathing and was deceased.”
Realizing his daughter was dead, Adam Montgomery went to the trunk of the car and removed a red duffel bag, Kayla Montgomery later told police. He allegedly put his dead daughter inside.
Body Was Transported for Months in Attempt to Hide Crime: Police
In the months between Harmony’s December 2019 death and the disposal of her body in March 2020, the family moved from the parking lot to a family’s home, then to a shelter, then to another apartment and finally to a motel — and Harmony’s body allegedly went with them. In that time, Harmony’s body began to decompose, the duffel bag leaking, court records state.
Kayla Montgomery was also incarcerated for aiding in the cover-up of Harmony’s murder in 2019.Charles Krupa/AP/Shutterstock
Kayla Montgomery later told police that she smelled an odor coming from the bathroom. Harmony’s body was frozen, and so Adam Montgomery set the bathtub water hot to soften her, the documents allege.
The documents allege Kayla Montgomery told police Adam Montgomery placed Harmony’s body into the duffel bag, and that she had helped him close the bag. Then he allegedly cleared the room with ammonia, Kayla said, according to the documents.
Afterward, Kayla Montgomery told police that per Adam’s instructions, she transported the bag with Harmony’s body in it in a stroller to the Portland Pie Company, where Adam briefly worked. Once there, Adam allegedly stored his daughter’s body in the company freezer.
Kayla Montgomery, who pleaded guilty to charges that she lied to law enforcement to hinder their murder investigation, is serving an 18-month prison sentence,according to the Associated Press.
Adam Montgomery, now 33 and in jail awaiting trial, is charged with second degree murder, tampering with witnesses and informants, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. Hepleaded not guiltyin October to second-degree murder, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse charges, according to the AP. Caroline L. Smith, a New Hampshire public defender representing Adam, could not be immediately reached for comment.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
