MANCHESTER, N.H. — UPDATE: The father of missing 7-year-old Harmony Montgomery allegedly told his uncle he "bashed her around this house" and gave her a black eye in the months before she was last seen in 2019.
Adam Montgomery, 31, whose last residence was Manchester, New Hampshire, appeared in Hillsborough County Superior Court North Wednesday morning. He is charged with one count of second-degree assault and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Montgomery, 31, was arrested Dec. 31, 2021, after police located him in the area of Harvell Street in Manchester, New Hampshire, according to court documents.
Montgomery made contradictory statements about when he had last seen his daughter, police said in an affidavit, at one point saying she was "fine" and he had seen her "somewhat recently," and later saying the child's mother picked her up in Manchester around Thanksgiving 2019.
Police said his responses "raised our suspicion and concern for [the child's] well-being."
According to a complaint, the child's mother told police on Nov. 18, 2021, that Adam Montgomery was given physical and legal custody of the child in July 2018 but that she hadn't seen her daughter since Easter 2019. She said she had tried to contact them but that Montgomery and his new girlfriend had blocked all communication.
She said she last saw Harmony in a Facetime conversation near Easter 2019. According to the affidavit, the mother said Montgomery was visible in the background of the call and her daughter "seemed frightened."
Detectives said in the complaint that family members told them they'd been concerned that Montgomery was physically abusive towards his daughter.
According to the affidavit, Adam Montgomery's uncle told police that he saw the girl with a black eye in July 2019 and called the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families, which operates the state's child protective services, about it. Subsequent paragraphs in the complaint are redacted.
The relative told police Montgomery told him, "I bashed her around this house" after leaving her to watch her infant brother while he used the bathroom, and then returning to find her attempting to stop the baby's crying by placing her hand over his mouth.
The relative said he believed Adam Montgomery had relapsed with drugs. He said he recalled other ways Montgomery had abused the then-5-year-old including "spanking hard on the butt," "being forced to stand in the corner for hours," and "ordering [her] to scrub the toilet with her toothbrush."
On Dec. 27, 2021, DCYF reported to police that they could not locate Adam Montgomery.
On Dec. 31, Montgomery's current wife, with whom he shares three children, said she hadn't seen him since October 2021, but thought he was living in a sober house in Maine.
Montgomery's three younger children are all accounted for, police said.
Police said they are working in conjunction with the state Division for Children, Youth, and Families and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NECN reported.
Two Massachusetts men have offered a $33,000 reward in the case.
On Wednesday, Montgomery pleaded not guilty in Hillsborough County Superior Court North. He remains in custody.
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