Harmony Montgomery Part 2
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In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one. A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.

Hear the story on Where's Dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder.

This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.

Today, I am resuming my coverage of the disappearance of Harmony Montgomery. If you haven't listened to part one, go back and listen to that one first, or else this episode won't make much sense. In part one, I discussed what we know about what Harmony was like as a small child. I went over the extensive new timeline of Harmony's life in the foster care system...

I explained the February 2019 review and redetermination hearing that led to Adam Montgomery getting full custody of his daughter. And I went over the last time Harmony's mother, Crystal Sori, ever saw her. So again, I went over a lot in the first episode. So if you haven't listened, go back and listen to part one first, and then come back and join me for this episode.

Today, I'm going to talk about what we know about the time leading up to Harmony's disappearance, Crystal Sori's efforts to search for her, and how it took two years for Harmony's disappearance to be investigated. I'm also going to discuss the 101-page report published by the Office of the Child Advocate in Massachusetts, exploring exactly how this happened and their recommendations to prevent this from ever happening again.

This is part two of the case of Harmony Montgomery. In February 2019, Judge Mark Newman grants Adam Montgomery full custody of Harmony. At this point, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, or DCF, closes out Harmony's case and they're no longer involved. From here, Harmony goes to live with her father, her stepmother Kayla, and her half-siblings in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Harmony's mother, Crystal Sori, says she had three in-person visits with Harmony over the next few months. Then, a few days before Easter, Crystal speaks with Harmony on a video call. This is the last time she ever spoke with her daughter. Here is Crystal talking to NewsNation about the call. When was the last time you actually saw Harmony? In a FaceTime video, like...

two, three days before Easter. I showed her her basket. I said, "I'm coming in a couple days. Mommy got you a basket." You know? I held onto that basket for a year and some change, hoping, you know, that I'd have a chance to give it to her. And what did she seem like when you saw her on FaceTime?

terrified. She, I would say, hey, you know, what's going on? You know, what'd you eat for lunch? What'd you do today? You know, are you going to school yet? Like, you know, how are your brothers and sisters? You got any friends? You know, little questions like, I'm her mom. Like, I want to know these things. I want to know she's happy. And every time I asked these things, he would pause it and he'd tell, whatever he'd say to her, I can't hear him. He'd mute it. And she'd be like, don't tell her. And she'd be like,

And I'm watching her. So he unmuted. And I'm like, what's going on? Why are you muting it every time I ask her a question? Why aren't you letting her talk to me? Why are you answering for her? You're acting weird, Adam. I'm like, what's going on? We're co-parenting. You're letting me have visits. What's going on? He's like, I have sole custody, sole decision making. You don't get to ask me shit. And he hangs up and blocks me.

And that was the last thing I had contact with her and saw her at all. As time goes by, Crystal obviously realizes that Adam is not going to let her speak with or see Harmony. And understandably, she becomes concerned. Now, I don't have a hard timeline of Crystal's efforts to find Harmony.

But she says that just a few months after this last phone call, she calls DCF about her concerns and even tries to file a missing person report for Harmony. According to Crystal, the police refuse to take the report or investigate at all because Adam has full custody.

Essentially, she's pretty much dismissed as just being angry about the custody situation. Over the next few months, Crystal says she kept trying to get in contact with Harmony. She even drove past schools in New Hampshire she thought Harmony would be enrolled in to look for her. And she used those paid websites trying to nail down an address for Adam. Crystal says,

Crystal stated, "...I'm always going to own the fact that I played my part in this, but I never gave up on her. I never just washed my hands. Never." On July 22, 2019, Adam's uncle, Kevin Montgomery, visits his home. During this visit, he sees that Harmony has a black eye. According to Kevin, when he asked Adam about this, he says, "...I bashed her around this house."

Adam tells Kevin that Harmony, who is five years old at this point, was supposed to be watching her younger infant brother while Adam was in the bathroom.

But her younger brother started crying. When Adam left the bathroom to check on his children, he found Harmony covering her brother's mouth in an effort to prevent him from crying. So, he hit Harmony in the face, causing the black eye. A week later, on July 29th, Kevin calls the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth, and Families, or DCYF, to report this incident.

Now, to be clear, this is a different agency than DCF in Massachusetts who previously handled Harmony's case. As far as I could find, this is the first time DCYF receives a report about Harmony. But while Kevin tells DCYF about Harmony's black eye, he also tells them that he believes Adam relapsed and was using drugs again.

He also expresses his concerns about Harmony's overall treatment in the home, saying that she was often spanked hard and was often made to stand in the corner for very long periods of time. He says that she wasn't even allowed to use the restroom during these punishments, so Harmony often soiled herself and was made to continue standing in the corner.

He also said one of Harmony's punishments was scrubbing the toilet with her toothbrush. Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffendaffer likened Harmony's abuse to a, quote, mistreated dog, end quote.

The same day Kevin made this complaint with DCYF, they visited the Montgomery home to follow up. But again, this is just one of those things that I can't make up, you guys. When the social worker visited the home, they conducted their assessment while Adam was loading her into his vehicle and leaving.

In the report, they say that they didn't notice any visible marks on Harmony, and I have to imagine that's because they really didn't get a good look at her. But they did return about a week later on August 7th for a follow-up assessment. This is now over two weeks since Kevin saw Harmony with the black eye. This time, the social worker reports a quote, red mark in her eye and faded bruising under her eyelid, end quote.

Adam, Harmony, and Kayla all told the same story about the mark, that Harmony was hit with a toy lightsaber while playing with her sibling. At this time, the DCYF investigation remained open. In total, there were three visits made to the Montgomery household in relation to this black eye. In the end, DCYF did not support the allegations of abuse and closed the complaint.

In this report, they noted that power was turned off in the home, but they were using a generator for electricity, there was food in the fridge, and the kids seemed happy. Despite the claims of abuse being deemed unfounded, DCYF did note that their situation was at high risk for future child welfare involvement. They say this was based off prior family history with child protection, the history of substance abuse, and economic challenges.

So, they notified Adam and Kayla of this assessment and offered them additional services to help with housing. Now, this is all in relation to just that one report about the black eye, but there were several other calls about them while they lived on Guilford Street in Manchester. I also think it's worth noting here that Adam's grandmother actually owned this house on Guilford Street, so I don't have any idea about what type of agreement they had about rent and bills.

But it's clear at some point that the power to the home was turned off, and people began reporting that Adam and Kayla were squatting in the home with young children. On August 5th, a neighbor called about concerns about the children living with limited electricity. On August 19th, Adam calls the police and says his uncle Kevin is now harassing him, making false reports to DCYF.

On August 21st, another complaint is made to the Manchester Police Department about reported squatters in the house, again discussing the generator and saying that there was trash everywhere. The dispatcher notes that they received numerous calls about the home.

On September 11th, the Manchester police respond to a dispute between Adam Montgomery and Adam's grandmother, again the owner of the house. In this report, the police note that the home is filled with clutter, including food and empty food containers. They also note that the power was shut off, but the generator was powering the fridge and they had running water. The report also mentions that the home does not appear to be unsafe and the children were properly dressed.

Now, the last time DCYF visited the Montgomery home while Harmony was still there was in October 2019. This was in relation to the call about the black eye. That was the third and final visit I discussed earlier. Not long after this visit, Kevin Montgomery calls the Manchester police to ask for their assistance in facilitating he and his mother in collecting some of their belongings from the home on Guilford Street. There were no noted issues with this.

But Harmony was mentioned in their report, and Kevin Montgomery remembers seeing her as well, so we know she was there. According to Manchester Police Chief Alan Aldenberg, this is the last confirmed sighting of Harmony, though there will be some unconfirmed sightings not long after, before the sightings stop altogether. On November 27th, 2019, the Montgomery's are evicted from their home on Guilford Street.

At this time, the family begins living in their two vehicles, a silver 2010 Chrysler Sebring and a dark blue 2006 Audi S4. Now, there are unconfirmed sightings of Harmony for a few days after the eviction, but by December 6th, people began reporting seeing Kayla, Adam, and their other children all together without Harmony.

So where was Harmony? Well, according to Kayla Montgomery, sometime around Thanksgiving, before work one day, Adam decided to take Harmony to live with her mother Crystal in Massachusetts. And she never saw Harmony again, or ever heard much about her. The problem is, Crystal's story says that never happened. And at that time, she was still looking for her daughter.

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We've reached the winter of 2019. After months of calls to DCYF and the Manchester Police Department about Kayla and Adam squatting in their home with young children, and a specific call about Harmony being abused, no action is taken. Then the Montgomery's are evicted from their home and begin living in their two vehicles. There are unconfirmed sightings of Harmony with the family after the eviction, but not for very long. The

Between December 6th and December 10th, there are sightings of the Montgomery family without 5-year-old Harmony. Of course, we know that there will be no investigation into Harmony's disappearance for about two years. But based off the information I just told you, investigators believe Harmony likely went missing sometime between November 28th and December 10th, 2019.

On January 8, 2020, quote, a referral was received by New Hampshire DCYF regarding the Montgomery household, but did not reference Harmony Montgomery. When the CPSW asked about Harmony Montgomery, Adam Montgomery advised them that she was again residing with her mother, Crystal Sori, in Massachusetts, and had been there since approximately Thanksgiving 2019, end quote.

On January 21st, a voicemail is left for Crystal to confirm Harmony's alleged new living situation. DCYF says Crystal never returned the voicemail, while Crystal says she never received it. What we know for sure is that there were no further attempts to contact Crystal or locate Harmony documented by DCYF.

And in another what-the-hell-is-happening moment, an entire year goes by with DCYF just being completely fine that Harmony is not where she's supposed to be. On January 13th, 2021, DCYF is called again about the Montgomery household. This was a general call, and not about Harmony in particular. But at least this social worker realizes that an entire child is missing from the household and asks about it.

Adam says Harmony is with her mom, and he hasn't seen her in a year. This seems to be a totally fine explanation for DCYF, and again, nothing happens. In March, there's another call to DCYF about the Montgomery household, and once again, nothing happens. Now, at some point, the Montgomery's transition out of living in their vehicles and move in with Kayla's mother, Christina Lubin. A

According to a police report, eventually Adam is asked to leave due to, quote, domestic violence on her from her husband, end quote. Her, of course, meaning Kayla.

On June 2nd, 2021, almost two years after Harmony is no longer in her care, Kayla files to remove Harmony from her account with the Department of Human Services Division of Family Assistance. Basically, she was no longer claiming Harmony to get extra SNAP benefits, or food stamps as many people know it.

In July of 2021, Crystal's story reportedly posts Harmony's picture in a TikTok video saying she will never stop looking for her daughter. In the comments of the video, someone asks if Harmony was missing, and Crystal responds, quote, She's not quite missing. Her father has her and hasn't let me see or talk to her in two years. For no reason, just to hurt me, end quote.

Then, on July 2nd, 2021, Kayla's mother, Christina Lubin, files a restraining order against Adam Montgomery, after he was allegedly lingering outside her home. At this time, neighbors reported seeing him knock on the window near the front of the home. Now, what's really scary about this is two days later, Christina's boyfriend was out in the front yard, and he found a steak knife on the ground near where Adam was seen tapping on the window.

Christina Lubin said, quote, "...Adam for the first couple years was some sweet guy, and he's not. He's pure evil. He is pure evil." End quote. I have to say, based on Adam's extensive violent criminal history, they probably avoided a very bad situation that day. Finally, in September, people begin asking questions about where Harmony is again.

At this time, someone close to Crystal's story calls DCYF and informs them that Crystal hasn't seen Harmony since 2019, and she's not able to get a hold of Adam. Remember, according to Crystal, and according to the reports from DCYF being at the house, this is far from the first time that they are hearing that Harmony is not where she's supposed to be.

But now, in September 2021, almost two years after Harmony was last seen, DCYF finally takes one extra step to check in on Harmony. And they confirm that she has never been registered for school. By this time, Harmony would have been 7 at this point. So well into elementary school here in the U.S.,

On September 14th, Harmony's case is finally assigned to the Manchester DCYF District Office. They spoke with Crystal and confirmed that Harmony was not in her care. So, the goal now was to find Adam.

But to the shock of probably no one at this point, not much happened. So on November 18th, Crystal calls the Manchester police. She says she hasn't seen her daughter since Easter 2019. And they actually start to investigate it. But it's still not an official investigation or a missing persons case. The Manchester PD starts knocking on doors looking for Adam.

They contact child protective service workers, who begin reaching out to Adam's family members to try to locate him as well. Now, according to an affidavit, it wasn't until November 27th, almost two years to the day that Kayla Montgomery says Adam took Harmony to live with her mother, that DCYF finally connects with the Manchester PD. And an official investigation into Harmony's whereabouts is launched.

The case is now assigned to Detective John Dunleavy of the Juvenile Division of the Manchester PD. But again, you guys, not much happens. Basically, they just look for Adam. They call friends and family members as far away as Florida, but no one seems to know where Adam Montgomery is. Harmony's picture is not on the news, people are not passing out flyers, they're just looking for Adam.

Then, Crystal makes a decision that will change the case forever. She decided to make some noise. On December 29th, 2021, Crystal Story sends a letter to the mayor of Manchester, Joyce Craig, requesting help and saying if she doesn't get help, she's going to the media. Quote,

Hello, Mayor. I am a single mother of three. I currently only have two of my kids. My oldest daughter, Harmony, she's seven years old. Her father, Adam Montgomery, has physical custody of her, and he is homeless and under the influence. DCYF has had an open case for my daughter and didn't remove her when they witnessed her bruises, and the house at the time had no running water.

Now it's a year later and DCYF has done nothing to help me find her. She's supposed to be in first grade, and he never enrolled her into school this whole time. She's missed important doctor's appointments she's had since a baby due to her disability in her eye. Please, I'm begging for help in finding my daughter, before she ends up like that little boy that just passed away due to neglect through the department."

My next step is going to the media to get whatever help I need to find her and bring her home safe. My phone number is, Please help. Thank you for your time and happy holidays. End quote.

As luck would have it, or maybe inspiration if you will, the very next day on December 30th, the Manchester PD is able to get a hold of Adam's younger brother Michael. Michael confirms that Adam was physically abusive, end quote, super short, end quote, with her. He also says he heard about Harmony's black eye, and it was well known to their family. They also get in contact with Kevin Montgomery, Adam's uncle who reported the black eye.

He says he hasn't heard from Adam since late 2019. Then, on December 31st, just two days after Crystal's email, they find Kayla Montgomery, Harmony's legal stepmother. She's still married to Adam at this point, but they're separated. She maintains that Harmony's black eye was from playing with her sibling, but she says she hasn't seen Adam since October.

and she hasn't spoken with him since november she was under the impression that adam was living in a sober house and then went to live with another woman in maine but then it finally happens they find adam montgomery

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After over a year of trying to alert authorities about not being able to locate her daughter, Crystal Sori writes a letter to the mayor of Manchester with an ultimatum. Help me find my daughter or I'm going to the media. So, the Manchester Police Department finally springs into action. Within just two days, they locate Adam's brother, uncle, and wife. Then, on New Year's Eve 2021, they find Adam.

It's about 4pm in Manchester when they find Adam living in his car on Harvell Street. The area wasn't far from his home on Guilford Street where Harmony last lived. Police also discover that he's not alone. He's now living with his new girlfriend, Kelsey Small. Kelsey Small says she has no idea where Harmony is.

She also says she'd been romantically involved with Adam for over a year and knew he had four children, but he wasn't in touch with any of them. Then they talk to Adam. When first asked about Harmony, Adam says he'd seen her recently. Then he changes his story and says he hadn't seen her since around Thanksgiving 2019.

He also said he didn't drive Harmony like Kayla Montgomery reported. He says Crystal picked up Harmony and took her back to Massachusetts to live with her. After this, Adam basically stops talking and outright says, I have nothing to say to you, and if you aren't going to arrest me, I'm going to leave. Adam informs them that he doesn't have a phone number, but if they want to get in contact with him, he sometimes checks his email. So they go their separate ways.

That same day, DCYF changes the status of Harmony's case from an investigation to find a family who likely moved, to locating a missing child. The Manchester Police Department also finally announces that Harmony is missing, and asks the public for help in locating her. I feel like I need a breath. I mean, two years.

Two years this little girl going missing went unnoticed by police and child services. This is despite the calls from Crystal. Despite them talking with Adam and him saying, oh yeah, that kid I'm supposed to have custody of, the one that you guys didn't want to go with her mom, well, she's with her mom, I just gave her over. No concern about who has decision-making rights, no concern about who has custody, no concern that this little girl is not in school.

Despite all of that, it took Crystal threatening them with bad press to finally move this case along. It just shouldn't be this way. Families shouldn't have to rely on the media and public pressure to get these agencies to care. If a missing five-year-old isn't enough to make them care without the threat of media pressure, that's a huge problem.

But let's finally get into the investigation into the disappearance of Harmony Montgomery. That same day, police visit Crystal's house to ensure Harmony wasn't there, obviously. Here they speak with Crystal's boyfriend, Joseph Eckert. He lived with Crystal since 2019, so about a month before Harmony supposedly went missing. Joseph says he'd never met Harmony in person, ever.

As far as I can find, the police are not focusing on Crystal being involved in the disappearance in any capacity. Just a few days later, on January 3rd, 2022, the Manchester Police Department holds their first press conference about Harmony.

They're pretty tight-lipped and emotional, but they ask the community and journalists to share Harmony's picture everywhere they can. We also learned that DCYF was assisting with the investigation, the FBI was ready to assist should they need it, and 30 to 35 detectives were working around the clock to locate Harmony.

To their credit, things happen pretty fast after this. On January 4th, the Manchester police and the FBI search the home on Guilford Street where Harmony used to live. They even dig up the backyard. But it doesn't seem like anything came of it.

But then, on that same day, at 8.34pm, Adam Montgomery is arrested on one charge of felony degree assault. This is from when he gave Harmony the black eye. He also has a misdemeanor charge of interference with custody for knowingly concealing Harmony from DCYF, and two counts of misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child. This

This is for purposely violating a duty of care, protection, or support that he owed Harmony as her caregiver, and for failing to have physical custody of her. The second count was for preventing DCYF from obtaining custody. It seems like they basically get at him for everything they can at this time. It seems like a great step in the right direction, but as far as I can tell, he isn't providing any answers about what happened to Harmony.

Adam is still in custody as of recording this episode. Two days later, on January 6th, Kayla Montgomery is arrested on one felony charge of welfare fraud. This is for receiving about $1,500 in extra benefits for Harmony until June of 2021, when she was removed from the account. It's also worth noting that Kayla did reapply for benefits when Harmony was out of her care.

So it's not like she just forgot to remove Harmony. She knowingly kept her on the account after she was gone. On January 11th, the charge was dropped, and they slap her with a new felony theft charge related to the benefits she received. In March, Adam's former girlfriend, Kelsey Small, is found dead. Now, according to police, her death was not suspicious.

She wasn't facing any charges when it came to Harmony, but obviously this sparked a lot of crazy headlines and theories. As far as I could find, Kelsey Small had absolutely nothing to do with any of Adam's children. And if she knew anything about Harmony, she didn't talk about it before she passed.

In April, both Adam and Kayla were slapped with new charges related to stolen firearms. Police suspect the alleged crimes occurred between September 29th and October 3rd, 2019 in Manchester. There has been no connection made between these charges and Harmony. But obviously, this is concerning that they possibly had stolen guns shortly before they say she went missing around November 2019.

Like I mentioned, Adam is still in jail. But just this month, in May 2022, Kayla Montgomery was released on bail. She's waiting for her day in court. But until then, she is ordered to have no contact with Adam, she's required to check in daily with the Manchester Police Department, and she's not allowed to leave the state of New Hampshire. Unfortunately, the Manchester Police Department says Adam and Kayla are not cooperating with their investigation to find Harmony.

As of recording this episode, the searches for Harmony continue. On May 14th, 2022, a group of volunteers and canines, led by private investigator Conrad McKinney, searched a large wooded area on the west side of Manchester. As far as I could find, the team was not able to locate Harmony or anything else of interest. But McKinney says he plans to continue conducting searches in the future. And that's basically where Harmony's case is today.

This is an incredibly difficult case to discuss. The subject matter is obviously extremely difficult. We don't know what really happened. And no one is taking responsibility. Also, the timeline is just massive. Before I move on to exploring how Harmony fell through the cracks of multiple systems like this, I want to take a step back to January 2022, when the case broke and was everywhere in the media.

This is when the finger-pointing started. On January 9th, Governor of New Hampshire Chris Sununu announces that there will be an internal investigation within DCYF. And he's confident it isn't his agency's fault. The Manchester Police Department argues that they can't investigate something they weren't aware of. The governor's office puts out a report in February.

CPCS puts out a report in April in response to a draft report they received from the OCA. Then finally in May 2022, the Office of the Child Advocate releases the huge 101-page report about how this happened and their recommendations to prevent it from happening again. So let's finally address the elephant in the room. How did this happen? And how do we make sure it never happens again?

This might sound harsh, but this was not a simple mistake. It wasn't as if one overworked social worker just made a mistake. Because to their credit, they are often incredibly overworked.

But this was a clear, repeated pattern of behavior by multiple agencies that led to Harmony falling under the radar for years. So let's revisit some critical points in the timeline. First is Harmony's experience in the foster care system before Adam Montgomery was awarded full custody.

Like I mentioned in Part 1, the Office of the Child Advocate in Massachusetts is supposed to be a neutral governing agency, and they released the most comprehensive report about Harmony to date, so I do think it's fair to put some weight into their findings. I also think their overall summary about how Harmony came to be in Adam Montgomery's care makes a lot of sense. Quote,

the key and central finding in this investigation and report are that harmony's individual needs well-being and safety were not prioritized or considered on an equal footing with the assertion of her parents rights to care for her in any aspect of the decision-making by any state entity

This includes the work that the DCF case management did with the family as they prioritized multiple reunifications of Harmony with Ms. Sori. The result, however, was significant placement instability for Harmony as she was moved back and forth between Ms. Sori's home and the home of her foster parents multiple times, causing significant trauma and delaying permanency for Harmony.

The DCF case management team was unable to secure Mr. Montgomery's agreement for a complete assessment of him and his ability to care for Harmony in light of her unique needs.

Harmony was also not prioritized in the legal case regarding her own care and protection. The judge and the attorneys in the case did not put Harmony's needs, safety, or well-being at the center of the discussion of custody. Nor was there a discussion on how Harmony could safely transition to Mr. Montgomery's care.

The court awarded cross-border custody without the compliance with the requirements of the ICPC, relying on New Hampshire case law over Massachusetts case law. Harmony's strengths and vulnerabilities should have been the central focus of the case given the prior finding of the father's unfitness and his absence from Harmony for most of her life.

So basically, Crystal and Adam simply wanting Harmony to be in their care was prioritized over Harmony's actual needs.

But that's just how Harmony came to be in the care of Adam Montgomery. So let's keep digging into the timeline and look at some key points that I personally think could have changed everything.

Of course, we have the July 29th, 2019 investigation into Harmony's black eye. As a refresher, the first assessment of Harmony was done very quickly while Adam Montgomery was loading her into his vehicle. In this report, they say that there is no visible bruising on Harmony's face. Then, DCYF comes back a week later, and the healed bruising under her eye is noted.

After a week, of course, Adam, Kayla, and Harmony have a united story about Harmony being hit in the face with a lightsaber, so the case is closed. The thing is, from my experience working within the foster care system here in Arizona, and from what I've seen in Harmony's case, the goal seems pretty clear that they don't want to separate families unless absolutely necessary.

So if these agencies cannot prove the abuse that's being reported, it's unlikely that the child will be removed from the home. So as much as I hate to say it, this single report from Kevin Montgomery likely wasn't enough to remove her from the home.

But I do think it's important to revisit this point as we look at all the visits over time. In January 2020, a social worker visits the Montgomery household again and asks about Harmony. When they're told that Adam basically just gave Harmony back to her mom, they leave one voicemail for Crystal. And then they move on with their lives.

A year later, in January 2021, again a social worker visits the home and asks about Harmony. Adam admits that he hasn't seen her in a year, and again just kind of informally, without any type of approval or transfer of custody or decision-making rights, says Crystal has her, and again they don't investigate.

Social services are involved again in March, and nothing happens. In September 2021, a concerned friend of Crystal's contacts DCYF and says, "'Hey, I'm worried about my friend's kid because apparently no one has seen her in over a year.'"

Although the case is assigned to the district office, and they speak with Crystal to confirm this, nothing happens, and they certainly don't act with urgency. Now, I see all of this as a huge missed opportunity to help find harmony.

There were at least four occasions between January 2020 and September 2021 in which DCYF was made aware that Harmony was not where she was supposed to be. And they did next to nothing to investigate. On November 18th, 2021, Crystal calls police for the second time and they do little investigating.

According to their own affidavit, there's not an official investigation into Harmony's disappearance at this point. It's not until DCYF finally calls the police on November 27th, 2021, that they finally take it seriously and launch an official investigation.

But even then, not much happens. It isn't until the very last days of 2021 when Crystal Sori writes the mayor of Manchester and says, hey, you need to investigate this or I'm going to the media, that they even talk to Kevin Montgomery, to Adam's brother, to Kayla, and they finally find Adam Montgomery.

Obviously, I think the police could have done more. The Manchester Police Department has defended their investigation, saying they can't investigate what they don't know. But Crystal says they notified them just months after she last spoke with Harmony in early 2019. The unfortunate thing is I don't have documentation to back up either claim.

my thing is a mom who does not have custody of her child and is concerned about their whereabouts could have had her concerns eased with a simple welfare check had one officer just offered to conduct this check i think that the investigation into harmony's whereabouts would have started a lot sooner than two years after she was gone

Above all, I personally, just my opinion, speculation, I think everyone failed Harmony. DCF, DCYF, the Manchester Police Department, Crystal, Adam, and Kayla. I don't believe the responsibility falls on just one person. If parents fail to care for their children and the state removes them from their custody, it is then up to the state to ensure a safe placement for them.

That being said, I do want to discuss a rather heartbreaking missed opportunity that I think would have changed Harmony's life for the better. In the first part of my coverage, I discussed Harmony's little brother, Jameson. As a refresher, Crystal's story had a hearing for Harmony and Jameson on the same day, and she attended Jameson's hearing instead of Harmony's. Well, Jameson ended up getting adopted by Blair and Jonathan Miller.

Now, Blair Miller is actually a news anchor in D.C., so he's been pretty outspoken about Harmony's case. After the report from the OCA was released, he posted a statement on Twitter. Quote,

We agree the system failed Harmony, and there were steps along the way that could have changed the course of Harmony's story. As the dads of her brother Jameson, we have always believed that he and Harmony should have stayed together, and that it would have prevented where we are today. We also agree that reunification is not always the best option for the child. The goal should always be to protect children, whether that's adoption or reunification."

It's important to note Harmony was given to her father in February of 2019, when Jameson was still in the process of reunification with his mom until May of 2019.

We were matched to foster to adopt Jameson in June of 2019 and officially adopted him in November. We were told about Harmony but never given the opportunity to adopt her. The caseworkers in Jameson's case were different than in Harmony's case, and we are forever grateful for their guidance in adopting our youngest son. We often think of the relationship Jameson and Harmony would have now if she stayed in her foster home or was adopted with Jameson.

Unfortunately, Harmony was sent back with her biological father by people meant to protect her before we ever became involved in Jameson's story. The OCA stated that the preference for custody should be with more of a blood relative. In Harmony's case, she was sent to live with her father, yet she had spent less than 40 hours with him at age 4 1⁄2.

Her brother Jameson was the most constant thing in her life because of their placements in and out of foster homes together. Yet that was never considered. That should change. We also believe that the OCA's investigation reveals that more should be done to incorporate universal ICPC laws across states and not just for parents considered unfit.

we have adopted three boys and in every case we have faced extensive icpc rules and home studies which we welcome and encourage why wasn't harmony given the same harmony and jameson deserved better

All children in DCF deserve better, and we will fight to make sure that happens. It will be our family's mission to fight for a Harmony Law that will allow for ICPC to be federally mandated and universal across states, and a Jameson Law that will focus on siblings remaining together or having sibling visitation rights. We often daydream what it would look like if Harmony and Jameson were able to stay together.

we are angry and saddened our five-year-old son will one day know that his sister was not protected blair and jonathan miller i'm not going to lie this crushed me

And as much as I don't enjoy getting into what-if situations, I believe a few months or being removed from Adam's custody after the allegations of abuse, just as Harmony was removed from Crystal several times, would have changed her life forever. It's hard not to imagine what her life would be like, safe and happy with her little brother.

I also just want to send so much love to Blair and Jonathan Miller for taking steps towards preventing another child from falling through the cracks of the system. That being said, let's talk about the OCA recommendations for change. This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series, Back in Crime.

If you're a follower of true crime, you're probably familiar with some of the most shocking stories from our history. Horrific tragedies like the Columbine Massacre. And notorious criminals like cult leader Charles Manson.

In a scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird religious rite, five persons, including actress Sharon Tate, were found dead at the home of Miss Tate and her husband, screen director Roman Poliansky. But what if we were to turn back the hands of time and relive these events as they unfolded? Follow along each week as we take a fresh look at crimes from the past. Back in Crime is available now.

In their report, their recommendations are listed per agency. So let's start with DCF. DCF should develop a comprehensive plan to ensure both parents are adequately assessed and receive the support and access to services needed so that their children can achieve permanency. Pretty much the rest of the recommendations are for the Massachusetts legal process, and there's quite a few of them, so stick with me.

There should be a working group established to hold policy discussions that map out how a child's welfare and best interest considerations are currently presented in care and protection cases, and what changes may be needed so that a parent's rights are appropriately balanced with a child's needs.

Recommendation number two, DCF and CPCS should identify care and protection cases where a party is involved in more than one care and protection case in different divisions of the juvenile court. And each agency should develop an internal process of review to determine under what circumstances a request for consolidation of the care and protection cases is appropriate on their client's behalf.

Juvenile court judges should consider what information must be presented to the court to ensure that there is adequate consideration of the scope of a child's family composition and support system to inform judicial decision-making in care and protection cases.

Recommendation number three, DCF should conduct a comprehensive review of their legal advocacy with a focus on a continuous quality improvement system for the training, ongoing litigation support, and supervision of their attorneys.

Recommendation 4. CPCS should conduct a comprehensive review of the suitability of the standards of advocacy provided to children in care and protection cases, and the adequacy of CPCS's supervision over the quality of this representation.

Recommendation 5. DCF should review a statistically significant sampling of children who have been in the custody of DCF for more than 2.5 years who have not achieved permanency to determine the barriers to permanency that can be addressed through policy, practice, or legal advocacy.

recommendation number six through the pathways initiative the juvenile court should review and determine the length of time from permanent custody to a final adjudication of adoption guardianship or return to a parent for a child in order to ensure that the case achieves a safe and expedient resolution

Recommendation number seven, DCF and CPCS should engage in a facilitated discussion about how to support children and families when a child's legal custody is transitioning from DCF to another custodian, end quote. And as if seven recommendations for the Massachusetts legal system were not enough, they have an entire other recommendation section for them too. Stick with me, this one's only three long, quote.

Recommendation 1. The juvenile court judges and all attorneys who practice in care and protection cases should be offered trainings on the ICPC. Recommendation 2. DCF should continue to engage with our neighboring New England states to determine where there are gaps in information sharing across borders that could be rectified by a multi-state memorandum of understanding.

Recommendation number three: Massachusetts should consider adopting the new interstate compact on the placement of children. End quote. I know that was a lot. Trust me, it was a lot to say. But I think it's important to go over not just how these terrible things happen, but how to do our best to prevent them from happening again in the future. And honestly, some of the things on that list seems like common knowledge, like common sense, but obviously it's not happening.

And as a side note, yes, there is a new interstate compact on the placement of children, the ICPC that we've been talking about, but it hasn't been adopted by the required amount of states to make it legal in all states. Basically, this thing hasn't been changed since the 60s, and this new law is just sitting there waiting to be adopted.

Again, there were so many people that failed Harmony, but I really think if they had the new ICPC, or my gosh, even just went through with the old ICPC and had someone go to Adam's house to make sure it was a safe environment, I don't think that Harmony would have ever been placed there.

I know that some of you guys out there are lawyers, social workers, and members of law enforcement. You message me and tell me all the time. And I have to imagine if you listen to this podcast, you're already pretty solid people doing whatever you can to help children in bad situations. But I do want to remind you that you have more power than most of us to help, which brings me right to our call to action.

Although there are obviously people in more relevant positions of power to help these cases and reform this very flawed system, every one of you listening right now can help Harmony. Now, I wasn't able to find anything from Blair Miller just yet about Harmony's Law or Jameson's Law, but once I do, I will absolutely be calling on you guys to take action. For now, please share Harmony's picture.

If you can listen to both of these episodes, you can take 15 seconds to hop over to my Instagram or Twitter or Facebook page and share Harmony's picture. I know these calls to action can get a little repetitive because oftentimes there aren't petitions, GoFundMes, or other actionable items to help.

But I promise that sharing these pictures helps more than you know. You guys, before I had a petition for Alyssa, before I asked you to call the county attorney's office, all I had was her story and her photo. It might sound cheesy, but her story getting traction literally started with just one person sharing her story. So please share.

Also, if you made it this far, I just want to say thank you for listening. I know these cases can be incredibly difficult to listen to, but they are so important. In that massive report from the OCA, after the table of contents, there's a quote from Nelson Mandela. Each of us, as citizens, has a role to play in creating a better world for our children. I truly believe that.

As a reminder, Harmony Montgomery was only 5 years old when she went missing from the Manchester, New Hampshire area sometime between November 28th and December 10th, 2019. She would turn 8 next month, in June 2022. She is a white female with blonde hair and blue eyes. She does require eyeglasses to see as she is blind in one eye.

When she went missing, she was just about 4 feet tall and weighed approximately 50 pounds. The reward fund for Harmony is always growing, but as of recording this episode, it's up to $150,000. Anyone with information is urged to contact the dedicated tip line at 603-203-6060. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney. For more information about the podcast, to suggest a case, to see resources used for this episode, and to find out more about how to help the cases I discuss, visit VoicesForJusticePodcast.com. And if you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show in your podcast player.

It really does help more people find the podcast and these cases in need of justice.