According to Chief Allen Aldenberg with the Manchester Police Department, 7-year-old Harmony Montgomery has been missing since 2019, but a missing persons report has only recently been filed in her disappearance. Police are now seeking help from the public in locating her.
It was brought to the attention of the police that Harmony was missing after an anonymous email was sent to the mayor’s office “primarily regarding issues with follow-up” from the Division for Children, Youth, and Families. The email was forwarded to the Manchester Police for investigation.
Speaking at a press conference on December 31, 2021, Chief Aldenberg said, “The circumstances surrounding this prolonged absence are very concerning and are thoroughly being investigated as we speak.”
Chief Aldenberg told reporters that his department had received a report earlier in the week which indicated that Harmony had not been seen since October 2019 when officers had replied to a call to the home involving a family dispute.
He indicated that the situation had been resolved and there had been no reason for them to return. At the time, Harmony would have been 5 years old. She had been enrolled in school in Massachusetts prior to her disappearance but didn’t seem to be in school during the pandemic, which likely played a large role in it not being realized she was missing for so long.
There is currently no AMBER alert as police don’t have enough details to issue one. They can’t say who Harmony might be with or what vehicle that person or persons might be driving. Chief Aldenberg said that they lack answers to many questions in this case. His department has not yet released a great amount of the specifics of the disappearance and is only seeking information from the public at this time.
“I am in rescue mode right now. This is not a recovery. All efforts are focused on that Harmony is alive…until somebody points to me that proves that she is not. We have to operate under the assumption that she is alive. Help us find this little girl. Someone knows something. Do what is right and call in. I cannot emphasize this enough. Someone out there knows something.” — Chief Allen Aldenberg
After the recent report was made, officers were sent out to the home at 77 Gilford Street in Manchester, New Hampshire, to investigate according to the Union Leader. The home was sold in 2020, only months after Harmony was last seen. After their discussion with the current homeowners and interviews with some of Harmony’s family members, the police put up tarps and a tent in the backyard to shield their search efforts from public view.
Neighbors told reporters at WMUR that the former home of Harmony’s parents had been searched by police on Sunday. According to their report, one of the neighbors told them that local officers had arrived on the scene, joined by state police and a dog who searched the backyard.
Another neighbor told WMUR that they had seen the search from a close range and believe that police didn’t find anything after digging up a corner of the yard.
On Monday, the Washington Post reported that Harmony had spent her early life in foster care in Massachusetts with her younger brother Jamison, according to Blair Miller, the boy’s father. When Miller adopted Jamison in 2019, he was told that Harmony had been reunited with her father. He said that the boy had often talked of his sister, but Miller and his husband’s efforts to connect with her had been unsuccessful, he said.
According to The Daily Beast, a woman who says she is Harmony’s cousin wrote on social media that Harmony was in her father’s custody, but police have not confirmed that his information is true. Per Chief Aldenberg’s press conference held on January 3, 2022, Harmony is not in the custody of “who she should be” but he would not elaborate past that.
Harmony’s mother, Crys Renee Sorey, has issued pleas for information on her Facebook page, posting photos of her daughter with the comment:
“HARMONY MOMMYS [sic] COMING FOR YOU I PROMISE & I WILL NEVER LET YOU GO!!!! HANG ON BABY!!!!”
The report in the Daily Beast says that while police have not released any official information about Harmony’s parents, her paternal great-uncle, Kevin Montgomery, claims that Sorey has met with authorities for a “polygraph and DNA test.” Sorey did not respond to their requests for comment.
Montgomery also told the Daily Beast that he called police back in July 2019 after seeing Harmony with a black eye, but he says nothing happened. According to him, he called the police again three months later, on October 19, 2019. At the time his nephew (Harmony’s father) and other family members lived in the home. He says that it was an intense and chaotic situation and that Harmony “looked scared.” It seems to be the last time Harmony was seen.
The Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment to WUMR reporters regarding the encounter, saying that “state and federal law requires us to protect the confidentiality of children and families served by and individuals engaged with the Division for Children, Youth, and Families.”
Harmony is described by police as having blonde hair and blue eyes. She is blind in the right eye and should be wearing glasses. It is estimated that she would now be about 4 feet tall and weigh around 50 pounds.
There is a $12,500 reward being offered to anyone providing information that leads to Harmony’s whereabouts. Police are seeking tips from any time within the last two years as even older information might help piece together where this child has gone and narrow down the search for her.
The Manchester Police Department is asking anyone who has information to call (603) 668–8711. Detective Jack Dunleavy, the lead investigator in the case, can be reached at (603) 792–5561. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling the Manchester Crimeline at (603) 624–4040.
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