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Prosecutors Reveal How They Believe Harmony Montgomery’s Dad Killed Her and Hid Her Body For Months Afterward
After hitting his daughter a final time, Adam Montgomery allegedly said, “I think I really hurt her this time. I think I did something,” adding that he heard or felt something when he struck her.
A newly released affidavit reveals gruesome details of how the father of missing New Hampshire five-year-old, Harmony Montgomery, allegedly killed her and moved her body around for months, hiding the child's corpse before eventually disposing of it.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of child abuse and may be disturbing.
Adam Montgomery, 33, pleaded not guilty in October to charges of second-degree murder, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, according to the Associated Press.
His daughter Harmony was reported missing in November of 2021. The newly unsealed court documents expose what allegedly happened to the little girl in the two years before she was reported missing.
The 48-page affidavit of probable cause, published in full by Law & Crime, consists mostly of interviews with Montgomery’s estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, 32, who was Harmony's stepmother. She agreed to cooperate with prosecutors following a plea deal after admitting she previously lied in front of a grand jury.
Kayla revealed that on December 7, 2019, Montgomery struck his daughter in the face or head with a closed fist, causing her death. Montgomery allegedly would get enraged when Harmony needed to go to the bathroom and had accidents in their Chrysler Sebring, the car they were living out of after being evicted in November of 2019.
Kayla further described how Montgomery struck Harmony on three separate occasions that day for her bathroom accidents. Harmony was sitting on the rear passenger side of the car, and while her father was driving, he turned his body and allegedly gave his daughter four-to-five blows to the face or head.
After the final blow, Montgomery allegedly said, “I think I really hurt her this time. I think I did something,” adding that he heard or felt something when he struck her. Harmony could be heard moaning from the back seat, according to Kayla, who added that this went on for about five minutes until the child stopped.
According to the affidavit, no one checked on the child or sought medical attention for her, and the family went on driving until their car broke down at around 8 or 9 a.m. Sometime between then and noon, according to Kayla, she and her husband realized that Montgomery had stopped breathing and was dead, according to investigators.
Kayla said that Montgomery then took a duffel bag out of the trunk of his car and stuffed his daughter’s body into the bag.
For the next three months, according to the affidavit, Harmony’s body was kept in hiding and moved from place to place in different containers.
While staying in a friend’s car, the child’s body was kept in the trunk, Kayla said, adding that the corpse was also occasionally left outside in the snow to prevent decomposition.
The Montgomerys moved in with Kayla’s mother and stayed in her apartment until the end of December of 2019. During that time, Harmony's body was transferred from the duffle bag to a red cooler, which was left in a hallway of the apartment until the end of their stay, the affidavit stated.
Kayla said they then moved to a family shelter in Manchester, where Harmony’s body was placed in the original duffle bag and lodged in a bedroom ceiling vent.
RELATED: Missing Girl Harmony Montgomery's Father Charged With Her Murder
“Kayla stated that during this time, there was liquid coming from the bag containing Harmony’s dead body, and there was an odor,” the affidavit said. “She said Adam placed a trash bag around the bag to keep it from leaking.”
When detectives removed part of the ceiling in the bedroom where Harmony’s body was allegedly kept, they found staining directly next to the vent where Kayla said her husband put the child's body.
“Detectives noted that this area had a smell consistent with decomposition,” the affidavit said.
In February of 2020, the Montgomerys moved into an apartment, allegedly taking Harmony’s body with them. When they noticed the duffel bag containing the body was leaking again, Kayla said that her husband placed another trash bag around it and put it in a refrigerator.
Montgomery then allegedly transferred the child’s body into a much smaller tote bag, which “would not likely fit Harmony’s body unless it was dismembered or grossly distorted,” the affidavit noted.
Harmony’s body was eventually stored in the walk-in freezer of a restaurant that Montgomery worked for. An employee who was interviewed by authorities said he saw the tote bag in the freezer and knew it belonged to Montgomery, but never questioned it because the logo on the tote bag suggested it came from a Catholic maternity hospital and the employee knew Montgomery had children.
In a later interview, Kayla admitted that the transfer to the smaller bag actually happened while they were living in the shelter. She said, in graphic detail, that Montgomery used some 20 pounds of lime to help decompose his daughter’s frozen body.
“Kayla said Harmony wasn’t bones; she had skin, teeth, and hair, and Kayla could still tell it was her,” the affidavit stated. Kayla also admitted to helping cut the clothes off the body to make it fit in the bag.
“Kayla described Adam eventually pushing and pushing on Harmony’s body, and then she heard a bang; she was not able to elaborate on what this bang was,” the affidavit said. “Adam also ‘banged the [Catholic Medical Center] maternity bag on the floor while zipping it.”
Harmony’s body was kept in a freezer until Montgomery rented a moving truck to dispose of her in March of 2020, which was confirmed by multiple witnesses documented in the affidavit. Harmony’s remains have still not been found.
Montgomery was found guilty of six felony weapons charges in a separate case earlier this month, according to the AP.
His murder trial for the death of his daughter will begin in late November.
