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A New Hampshire judge has released Kayla Montgomery, the stepmother of missing girl Harmony Montgomery, out on $5,000 cash bond, so as long as she does not contact Harmony’s father and her estranged husband, Adam Montgomery.
Kayla Montgomery, 31, must also check in at the Manchester Police Department in person every day and participate in treatment for substance use disorder under the terms of her bail order, Manchester County court filings show.
“The defendant was aware of the police investigation regarding [Harmony Montgomery] for approximately ten days prior to her arrest on the initial welfare fraud charge and made no attempt to flee,” the order states.
Harmony Montgomery, 7, was reported missing in 2021 — two years after she was last seen. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children/ New Hampshire DOJ)
Authorities in April charged Kayla Montgomery with stolen property charges related to gun thefts from 2019. The charges came after 32-year-old Adam Montgomery, a career criminal with rap sheets in at least Massachusetts and New Hampshire, was hit with eight new gun charges earlier in April related to the stolen firearms, on top of the allegations the man already faces, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella.
MISSING HARMONY MONTGOMERY’S STEPMOTHER FACING NEW CHARGES
The state argued that Kayla Montgomery violated court orders by contacting Adam Montgomery, who is also in jail, via phone. The court determined, however, that statements made during the call were not enough to deny bail for the defendant, according to the order.
Left: Adam Montgomery, who police arrested on child abuse and endangerment charges in connection with an alleged assault on his daughter from 2019 and her disappearance. Right: Missing Harmony Montgomery (Manchester Police)
Harmony was 5 years old when she was last seen in 2019, though police did not begin searching for her until December 2021 after learning that the girl had not attended school in the two years that Adam held full custody. They found Adam Montgomery living out of a car in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Dec. 31.
FATHER OF MISSING NEW HAMPSHIRE GIRL HARMONY MONTGOMERY HIT WITH NEW CHARGES
Investigators have not found evidence to link the stolen firearms to Harmony’s disappearance, they said.
Adam and Kayla are being held on separate charges. Accusations against the father include child abuse for allegedly giving the partially blind child a black eye in 2019. Kayla Montgomery allegedly committed welfare fraud by collecting food stamps in Harmony’s name for months after she’d last seen the child.
Harmony is about 4 feet tall and weighs around 50 pounds. She has blond hair and blue eyes. Because of visual impairments, she should be wearing glasses. She’s blind in her right eye. (Manchester Police Department)
After police questioned Adam Montgomery in 2021, they alleged he gave them contradictory statements – including first claiming to have recently spoken to Harmony and then backtracking to claim that the last time he saw Harmony was when her biological mother picked her up, sometime around Thanksgiving 2019.
MISSING HARMONY MONTGOMERY: JAILED DAD’S GIRLFRIEND FOUND DEAD IN MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Then he allegedly stopped answering questions and told investigators, “I have nothing else to say … If I’m not under arrest, I’m leaving.”
He was arrested four days later. Adam waived his arraignment proceeding scheduled for last week in Hillsborough County Superior Court’s Northern District.
Harmony Montgomery in an undated photo. (Manchester Police Department)
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Harmony has not been found. The girl, who would now be 7 years old, is described as being 4-feet-tall and weighing around 50 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She would likely be wearing glasses and is blind in her right eye.
Anyone with information on her is asked to call the Manchester Police Department’s Harmony Montgomery tip line at 603-203-6060.
Source: www.foxnews.com