Harmony Montgomery update: Shocking new details about dad Adam’s arrest in home at center of hunt for missing girl, 8
A FATHER was arrested for stalking his wife in the same house where 15 months later officers would center the search for his missing eight-year-old daughter.
Law enforcement wheeled a refrigerator in and out of Adam Montgomery's former home on Tuesday, along with other potential pieces of evidence, as the futile, months-long search for Harmony continued.
Harmony, who turned eight last week, vanished in 2019 but wasn't reported missing until December 2021.
Her father Adam and his estranged wife Kayla cut off all communications with their families - and a series of errors by Child Protective Services left Harmony's mom and family in the dark.
Until Tuesday, the investigation focused on a home on Gilford St in Manchester, New Hampshire, where Harmony was last seen.
Officers responded to the home at least 16 times between January 2019 and January 2020, according to the police reports obtained by The Sun through a public records request.
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Adam's alleged criminal actions continued about four miles away on Union St, where he and Kayla lived for a period before they split, according to a police report obtained by The Sun.
There the dad, who is currently in prison, allegedly stalked Kayla in March 2021 and was ultimately arrested.
The arrest report mentioned three children in the house. All their information except ages was redacted, but none matched Harmony's age.
The report also said Kayla told police that she lost her key so she kept her back door and back window of the home open.
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Police swept through the house searching for Adam and didn't find him or anything out of the ordinary.
'IT'S NOT GOOD'
After police were seen wheeling in a fridge and wearing hazmat suits on Tuesday, former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer told The Sun that it usually means law enforcement needs to "maintain biological evidence.";
Drawing on her own experience as a field agent, Coffindaffer said: "If they found a body or body parts in a freezer, law enforcement would want to maintain the level of decomposition."
Authorities have not disclosed what they're looking for or what lead them to the home.
The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, which is leading the investigation, said early Tuesday evening that they expect to mean on scene the rest of the night.
The medical examiner's office and Manchester police referred all questions to the AG, which declined to answer specific questions.
"No matter what, it's not good. I have a really creepy feeling about this," Coffindaffer said.
ADAM'S ALLEGED ABUSE
Harmony was bounced between her mother’s care and the Department of Children and Families for much of her young life, according to records by the Massachusetts DCF.
The young girl was placed in the custody of Adam in 2019 when she was roughly five years old.
Investigators have since narrowed the time frame of Harmony's disappearance to November 28 to December 10, 2019.
Adam, 31, is being held on charges of felony second-degree assault stemming from an alleged attack against Harmony in 2019.
However, he has not been charged with the child's disappearance.
The 31-year-old is also facing a misdemeanor charge of interference with custody and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Adam's brother, Michael, told police the 31-year-old was physically abusive to Harmony and gave her a black eye.
A detective then spoke to Adam’s uncle Kevin and asked him about Harmony’s eye injury.
According to court documents, Kevin said that Adam told him in July 2019 that he [Adam] “bashed her [Harmony] around the house.”
Adam was allegedly angry at Harmony, who was five years old at the time because she was supposed to be watching her infant brother, but he started crying, which enraged the father.
The uncle also said Adam spanked his daughter, forced her to stand in the corner for hours, and ordered her to scrub a toilet with her toothbrush.
KAYLA CHARGED WITH PERJURY
Kayla was also arrested and charged with welfare fraud charges, but they've since been dropped because of new information about the benefits provided by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, according to the attorney general’s office.
The new charge still maintains that the stepmom of the seven-year-old still accepted food stamp benefits for Harmony while she was missing.
However, the new charge is filed under a different statute.
Prosecutors originally anticipated eight misdemeanor charges, but only two "prohibited acts" misdemeanors were filed under a public welfare statute.
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She was released from jail but arrested again last week on a perjury charge.
The attorney general's office alleged that Kayla intentionally made false statements by failing to disclose that Harmony was no longer under her care or living with her.
