The stepmother of Harmony Montgomery — the long-missing New Hampshire girl believed to have been murdered — was declared a fugitive after missing a court appearance Thursday.
An arrest warrant was issued for 32-year-old Kayla Montgomery after she failed to appear for a scheduled court appearance in Manchester.
She was scheduled to appear on charges that she lied to state officials about having 5-year-old Harmony in her care, but failed to do so.
She was charged with welfare fraud in January for allegedly collecting $1,500 in food stamps in Harmony’s name between December 2019 and June 2021 — even though the girl was not living with her during that time.
“Ultimately, I expect she will either surrender or be taken into custody on the warrant,” her defense attorney, Paul Garrity, told WMUR. “The court will then set bail and we hope that bail will be set that allows Kayla to remain free.” If not, we will proceed with the case.”
Little Harmony was last seen in 2019, but police didn’t learn she was missing until January 2022, when the New Hampshire Department of Children, Youth and Families alerted them that the child was missing.
She was officially pronounced dead last month. State Attorney General John Formella said little Harmony was killed in Manchester around the time of her disappearance in December 2019, when she was 5 years old
Her body has not been found.
Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, has been in jail since January on various charges, including allegedly punching the girl in the face in July 2019. He has pleaded not guilty.
The couple previously told investigators that Harmony went to stay with her mother in Massachusetts around Thanksgiving in 2019. However, Harmony’s mother, Crystal Renee Sorey, said she last saw the girl during a phone video conversation around Easter that year.
FBI agents searching for the girl in June seized a large refrigerator from the apartment where she once lived with her father and stepmother.
The state attorney general’s office said Kayla Montgomery was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over by police for an apparent drug deal on Aug. 11.
On Aug. 22, she was found at a Queen City hotel by police who learned she and another person were selling drugs from a room there, according to court documents.
Days later, on Aug. 24, she was a passenger in a car where drug paraphernalia was found during a search, officials said. She was not arrested during those meetings, officials said.