The girlfriend of Harmony Montgomery‘s father was found dead in New Hampshire, police said.
Kelsey Small died on March 13 in Manchester, a police spokesperson said without releasing additional details. A cause of death is pending but it is not considered suspicious.
Jan. 9, 202202:19
Small was the girlfriend of Adam Montgomery, the father of the little girl police have been searching for since learning of her disappearance late last year. Harmony, 7, was last seen in 2019.
Manchester police said the girl’s disappearance is “very concerning” and that it is “being thoroughly investigated.” Police are operating under the assumption that Harmony is alive.
Small was not connected to the disappearance but did speak to police about Harmony in December. According to an affidavit, officers found Small and Adam Montgomery sleeping in their car in Manchester.
Harmony Montgomery.Manchester Police Dept.
Small told investigators that she had been in a relationship with Adam Montgomery for over a year, and said that he had not had any communication with his children. Small said that Adam Montgomery had never talked about Harmony and she did not know where the girl could be, the affidavit states.Adam Montgomery was arrested earlier this year along with Harmony’s stepmother, Kayla Montgomery. Adam Montgomery was charged with felony second-degree assault, interference with custody and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
The assault charge is from an incident in July 2019 when Adam Montgomery is alleged to have admitted to a concerned uncle that he gave Harmony a black eye after she failed to keep her little brother from crying, according to an affidavit.
Kayla Montgomery was charged with welfare fraud after she was accused of collecting more than $1,500 in food stamp benefits for Harmony, even though the girl was no longer living at their home.
They have both pleaded not guilty.
According to investigators, Kayla Montgomery said that her husband told her in late 2019 that Harmony was returning to live with her mother. Adam Montgomery, who had legal custody at the time of the disappearance, allegedly told police that Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, picked up the girl to live with her.
Sorey has not been accused of any wrongdoing. She previously said that she had been trying to track down her daughter since April 2019 and made calls to nearby schools and the New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Families.
She told NBC Boston in January that she has been “begging for any type of answer” since she last spoke to her daughter nearly three years ago.
“I don’t feel like she’s gone. I just don’t feel that in my heart,” Sorey said. “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.”