MANCHESTER, N.H. — The father of Harmony Montgomery, the missing New Hampshire 5-year-old who has not been seen since 2019 but was not reported as missing until late 2021, has been arrested on second-degree murder and a host of other charges, authorities confirmed Monday.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg announced the arrest in a joint news conference, noting 31-year-old Adam Montgomery is slated to be arraigned Tuesday on charges including second-degree murder, falsifying physical evidence, abuse of a corpse and tampering with witnesses, WFXT-TV reported.
Formella stated that evidence collected indicated that Adam Montgomery repeatedly struck the child in the head with a closed fist, recklessly causing her death. He is then accused of destroying Harmony’s body sometime between Dec. 7, 2019, and March 4, 2020, in a bid to “impair its verity or availability in an official proceeding or investigation, WFXT reported.
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Authorities did not say whether Harmony’s body had been found, The Associated Press reported.
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“I do want to again express my deepest sympathies to Harmony’s family, friends and loved ones,” Formella said at the news conference, adding, “We understand that today’s news, while significant for purposes of this investigation, is yet another difficult moment for those who loved Harmony and those who have followed this case.”
Authorities confirmed in August that they believed Harmony had been killed in Manchester in early December 2019, and that the missing person’s case had morphed into a homicide investigation.
[ Officials: Investigation into Harmony Montgomery’s disappearance is now considered a homicide case ]
Harmony’s father and stepmother, who have since pleaded not guilty to charges related to her well-being, told police that Adam brought Harmony to be with her mother in Massachusetts around Thanksgiving 2019. Her mother said she last saw her daughter during a phone video conversation around Easter that year.
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-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.