Deceased/Not Found NH - Harmony Montgomery, 7, Manchester, Oct 2019 *reported missing Dec 2021* *REWARD* *Arrest* #2

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

New Posts

Status
Not open for further replies.
FEB 3, 2022
NH officials provide insight into review of Harmony Montgomery case
The Office of the Child Advocate is an independent agency that oversees DCYF. As pressure is mounting on several state agencies to explain how a 7-year-old girl can disappear for two years, the OCA is asking for patience from the public.

An internal DCYF investigation like the one currently happening in Harmony's case is not unusual, according to Moira O'Neill, head of the OCA. They're known as critical incident reviews.

[...]

But she added that strict federal and state laws prevent the release of specific details to not only protect the child, but also the integrity of the police investigation.

"When it's time and the police investigation is completed, if we find information that we think that the public would be in their interest to know, we'd certainly share that information," O'Neill said.

Police said Thursday there are no new updates on the search for Harmony. They said her case remains their No. 1 priority.

[...]
 
ChatteringBirds said:
I say scream loud and advocate louder. Harmony did not disappear for 2 years on her watch. That's on DCFS and Harmony's father and his partner, because they had responsibility and custody. To try to place any blame on Harmony's mother for something that happened after she lost custody is an attempt at blame-shifting from where it actually belongs.
Click to expand...

Understand where you're going there. (And agree. Still trying to.wrap my head around how dad and his environment was considered to be a safe place for ANY child to flourish) The only part where my thinking differs a bit is I don't feel it's blame-shifting to acknowledge that having a child in DCYF custody and parental rights being terminated to begin with is a failure in itself and acknowledging that there were many failures by many people; a long chain of events that have led to Harmony being totally failed doesn't absolve DCYF (or any person related to this mess) of their part in it. Many people and agencies played a part in this, in various degrees.

I am glad mom is advocating for Harmony. I'm really glad the adoptive parents of Harmonys brother are advocating too. I think it speaks to the importance of sibling relationships. So much of the focus is often on the importance of maintaining the parent-child relationship, (often at any cost- just look at Harmonys dad and stepmom and that awful placement) but sibling relationships are also very important and this case is a great example of how keeping the two siblings together would have been far more beneficial....especially for Harmony.

2 years. I just don't understand that. My heart breaks for little Harmony.
 
ChatteringBirds said:
I say scream loud and advocate louder. Harmony did not disappear for 2 years on her watch. That's on DCFS and Harmony's father and his partner, because they had responsibility and custody. To try to place any blame on Harmony's mother for something that happened after she lost custody is an attempt at blame-shifting from where it actually belongs.
Click to expand...
Agree 100%. But not for bio mom would we even know Harmony is actually missing?
 
txsleuth70 said:
My point was that maybe mom thinks she's alive because she suspects Adam sold her for drugs or trafficked her. It had nothing to do with what you thought he was or wasn't capable of - just to clarify. MOO
Click to expand...

Also, i would think , imo, that mom feels a lot of guilt, among other things, and it would be normal she wants to believe Harmony is alive, and that despite the proof of what this guy is, he wouldnt be capable of this.

But both throughout her addictions, and even now, she doesnt seem to have great judge of character.
 
amaraya said:
Also, i would think , imo, that mom feels a lot of guilt, among other things, and it would be normal she wants to believe Harmony is alive, and that despite the proof of what this guy is, he wouldnt be capable of this.

But both throughout her addictions, and even now, she doesn't seem to have great judge of character.
Click to expand...

I disagree, and find her to be a good judge of character today.

She can see that her birth-son J is thriving in a stable family. The agency that placed her birth-son J in a stable family had the option of placing her birth-daughter Harmony in a stable family, but instead placed her with a violent ex-con. A violent ex-con who will not explain where her birth-daughter is today.

That Harmony could be in that same stable family now, preparing for the Cherry Blossom Festival, adds another layer of horror to the scenario.

Why was J's placement so very, very different from Harmony's???

jmho ymmv lrr
 
Last edited:
If Harmony's mom had to decide which custody courtroom to go to, perhaps she didn't want to do anything to slow or thwart the pending adoption. Or disappoint the prospective adopters.

No way could she have guessed that the other case would proceed as it did. Defaulted to the father. It's almost like the decision was immediate. Blood relative, done. I have to believe if it was a grandparent or a distant cousin, they'd do some kind of home visit/assessment! Did he say he was married, had children, had a home, and they just checked the boxes and sent Harmony to live in a foreclosed home with a sea of extension cords and a violent criminal?

I think we can all agree there were huge fails here. No oversight. No attempt to assure a healthy transition for Harmony.

I remain heartbroken over this.

Her name was Harmony.

And of this small thing I am certain, if our world needs anything, it needs more Harmony.

She needs to be found.

JMO
 
There are just too many of these kinds of cases on here right now. Heartbreaking. I was checking in on another case for updates (Oakley) and was confused because I thought this was her story at first. Serenity, Harmony, Oakley. Horrible.
 
CastlesBurning said:
Working for an urban school district in CT, I can confirm that social services does have fraud investigators who reach out from time to time, wanting to see if their info matches up with ours - address, custody, does the child attend school regularly, etc. I'm sure, though, that there simply isn't enough staff to look into all the potential problem cases, which is horrible when it leads to cases like Harmony's.
Click to expand...

The caseworkers and department will be vilified, but the truth is, their caseloads are just too much for the number of people they have. Government social workers are always overworked, understaffed and underpaid.

The whole system needs an overhaul. :(
 
Laughing said:
I disagree, and find her to be a good judge of character today.

She can see that her birth-son J is thriving in a stable family. The agency that placed her birth-son J in a stable family had the option of placing her birth-daughter Harmony in a stable family, but instead placed her with a violent ex-con. A violent ex-con who will not explain where her birth-daughter is today.

That Harmony could be in that same stable family now, preparing for the Cherry Blossom Festival, adds another layer of horror to the scenario.

Why was J's placement so very, very different from Harmony's???

jmho ymmv lrr
Click to expand...
^^bbm
Besides the obvious, seems J's father did the right thing by consenting to end his parental rights whereas AM did not -- making Harmony ineligible for adoption. MOO
 
mooseandcoffee said:
The caseworkers and department will be vilified, but the truth is, their caseloads are just too much for the number of people they have. Government social workers are always overworked, understaffed and underpaid.

The whole system needs an overhaul. :(
Click to expand...
Agree! The system needs an overhaul AND we need to prioritize our kids and put the proper budgets and staffing in place to do what CPS is designed to do - protect kids!
 
A lengthy paywalled article. Hopefully, I've summarized all the key info.

FEB 5, 2022
For years, the mother of Harmony Montgomery rang the alarm about her missing daughter. Few listened. - The Boston Globe
  • CS says her search for Harmony has spanned three years, two states, and numerous government agencies which has been met with indifference that she attributes to her past.
  • She says she's always going to own the fact that she played a part in this, but she never gave up on Harmony; never washed her hands of her.
  • Like Harmony, CS grew up in chaos and went through the system - child welfare, social services, and the courts.
  • She is consumed by guilt and anger. She has endured personal attacks on the internet although she has been thoroughly investigated by LE.
  • She attends group meetings twice a week to maintain her sobriety and has stayed clean for 2½ years.
  • She says she still has to focus on her recovery and be a mom through all of this. She is raising her 1-year-old son on her own.
  • Her older brother, TF Jr., compares their upbringing in Haverhill to that of the fictional Showtime series “Shameless,” - a dysfunctional and poverty-stricken family struggling to get by.
  • As a teenager, he often raised CS and her twin sister (toddlers then) as their parents were in and out of jail and treatment programs, deep into addiction.
  • CS later experienced the same - drugs, arrests, courtrooms, treatment programs.
  • Some of her siblings struggled with addiction and she lost a brother to an overdose.
  • CS met AM when she was 20, through a mutual friend in NH. Both were heavily involved in drugs. By the time she became pregnant with Harmony, AM was physically abusing her.
  • But the birth of Harmony changed something in her.
  • She named her Harmony, because it reminded her of music.
  • She says that before she had Harmony, she didn't really have a reason to get clean and hated herself.
  • AM was in jail at the time of Harmony’s birth, and not long after, CS and AM split up. She says she just didn't like him as a person once she got sober.
  • Harmony left an impression in the sober living programs where she lived for two years with CS.
  • A friend of CS's who lived with them at a sober house in Roxbury called Harmony a "little spitfire."
  • A relapse in 2018 cost CS custody of Harmony, and the following year, a Lawrence juvenile court was to decide Harmony’s placement.
  • CS says she pushed for Harmony to remain with the MA foster mother she was living with, at least until Sorey could regain custody. Instead, in Feb 2019 a judge granted custody of Harmony to AM.
  • CS says she made a promise to Harmony that she would get better and that she would stay better.
  • CS says she had three in-person visits with Harmony over the next three months. Then, during a video call shortly before Easter 2019, CS and AM got into an argument and AM cut off all contact.
  • CS continued to try to reach Harmony but when she called NH's child welfare agency, she was told she sounded like a scorned ex.
  • By the spring of 2019, she’d alerted New Hampshire’s child welfare agency.
  • Later, she drove the streets of Manchester herself in search of the girl and turned to social media for help.
  • When she lived in Lowell, she drove past NH schools where she thought her daughter might be enrolled and paid for online search tools to access addresses associated with AM.
  • Last July, she posted photos of Harmony on TikTok, saying she’d never stop looking for her daughter.
  • When someone asked if Harmony was missing, she responded that AM has her and hasn't let her talk to her or see her in two years.
  • Last November she called police in Manchester.
  • Child welfare officials in MA and NH have declined to discuss any details about Harmony, including CS’s attempts to locate her.
  • Not long ago, someone told CS they remember seeing AM panhandling in Manchester, with Harmony on his lap.
 
PommyMommy said:
A lengthy paywalled article. Hopefully, I've summarized all the key info.

FEB 5, 2022
For years, the mother of Harmony Montgomery rang the alarm about her missing daughter. Few listened. - The Boston Globe
  • CS says her search for Harmony has spanned three years, two states, and numerous government agencies which has been met with indifference that she attributes to her past.
  • She says she's always going to own the fact that she played a part in this, but she never gave up on Harmony; never washed her hands of her.
  • Like Harmony, CS grew up in chaos and went through the system - child welfare, social services, and the courts.
  • She is consumed by guilt and anger. She has endured personal attacks on the internet although she has been thoroughly investigated by LE.
  • She attends group meetings twice a week to maintain her sobriety and has stayed clean for 2½ years.
  • She says she still has to focus on her recovery and be a mom through all of this. She is raising her 1-year-old son on her own.
  • Her older brother, TF Jr., compares their upbringing in Haverhill to that of the fictional Showtime series “Shameless,” - a dysfunctional and poverty-stricken family struggling to get by.
  • As a teenager, he often raised CS and her twin sister (toddlers then) as their parents were in and out of jail and treatment programs, deep into addiction.
  • CS later experienced the same - drugs, arrests, courtrooms, treatment programs.
  • Some of her siblings struggled with addiction and she lost a brother to an overdose.
  • CS met AM when she was 20, through a mutual friend in NH. Both were heavily involved in drugs. By the time she became pregnant with Harmony, AM was physically abusing her.
  • But the birth of Harmony changed something in her.
  • She named her Harmony, because it reminded her of music.
  • She says that before she had Harmony, she didn't really have a reason to get clean and hated herself.
  • AM was in jail at the time of Harmony’s birth, and not long after, CS and AM split up. She says she just didn't like him as a person once she got sober.
  • Harmony left an impression in the sober living programs where she lived for two years with CS.
  • A friend of CS's who lived with them at a sober house in Roxbury called Harmony a "little spitfire."
  • A relapse in 2018 cost CS custody of Harmony, and the following year, a Lawrence juvenile court was to decide Harmony’s placement.
  • CS says she pushed for Harmony to remain with the MA foster mother she was living with, at least until Sorey could regain custody. Instead, in Feb 2019 a judge granted custody of Harmony to AM.
  • CS says she made a promise to Harmony that she would get better and that she would stay better.
  • CS says she had three in-person visits with Harmony over the next three months. Then, during a video call shortly before Easter 2019, CS and AM got into an argument and AM cut off all contact.
  • CS continued to try to reach Harmony but when she called NH's child welfare agency, she was told she sounded like a scorned ex.
  • By the spring of 2019, she’d alerted New Hampshire’s child welfare agency.
  • Later, she drove the streets of Manchester herself in search of the girl and turned to social media for help.
  • When she lived in Lowell, she drove past NH schools where she thought her daughter might be enrolled and paid for online search tools to access addresses associated with AM.
  • Last July, she posted photos of Harmony on TikTok, saying she’d never stop looking for her daughter.
  • When someone asked if Harmony was missing, she responded that AM has her and hasn't let her talk to her or see her in two years.
  • Last November she called police in Manchester.
  • Child welfare officials in MA and NH have declined to discuss any details about Harmony, including CS’s attempts to locate her.
  • Not long ago, someone told CS they remember seeing AM panhandling in Manchester, with Harmony on his lap.
Click to expand...

Does the article give an approximate time frame for the sighting of HM panhandling with AM?
 
PommyMommy said:
A lengthy paywalled article. Hopefully, I've summarized all the key info.

FEB 5, 2022
For years, the mother of Harmony Montgomery rang the alarm about her missing daughter. Few listened. - The Boston Globe
  • CS says her search for Harmony has spanned three years, two states, and numerous government agencies which has been met with indifference that she attributes to her past.
  • She says she's always going to own the fact that she played a part in this, but she never gave up on Harmony; never washed her hands of her.
  • Like Harmony, CS grew up in chaos and went through the system - child welfare, social services, and the courts.
  • She is consumed by guilt and anger. She has endured personal attacks on the internet although she has been thoroughly investigated by LE.
  • She attends group meetings twice a week to maintain her sobriety and has stayed clean for 2½ years.
  • She says she still has to focus on her recovery and be a mom through all of this. She is raising her 1-year-old son on her own.
  • Her older brother, TF Jr., compares their upbringing in Haverhill to that of the fictional Showtime series “Shameless,” - a dysfunctional and poverty-stricken family struggling to get by.
  • As a teenager, he often raised CS and her twin sister (toddlers then) as their parents were in and out of jail and treatment programs, deep into addiction.
  • CS later experienced the same - drugs, arrests, courtrooms, treatment programs.
  • Some of her siblings struggled with addiction and she lost a brother to an overdose.
  • CS met AM when she was 20, through a mutual friend in NH. Both were heavily involved in drugs. By the time she became pregnant with Harmony, AM was physically abusing her.
  • But the birth of Harmony changed something in her.
  • She named her Harmony, because it reminded her of music.
  • She says that before she had Harmony, she didn't really have a reason to get clean and hated herself.
  • AM was in jail at the time of Harmony’s birth, and not long after, CS and AM split up. She says she just didn't like him as a person once she got sober.
  • Harmony left an impression in the sober living programs where she lived for two years with CS.
  • A friend of CS's who lived with them at a sober house in Roxbury called Harmony a "little spitfire."
  • A relapse in 2018 cost CS custody of Harmony, and the following year, a Lawrence juvenile court was to decide Harmony’s placement.
  • CS says she pushed for Harmony to remain with the MA foster mother she was living with, at least until Sorey could regain custody. Instead, in Feb 2019 a judge granted custody of Harmony to AM.
  • CS says she made a promise to Harmony that she would get better and that she would stay better.
  • CS says she had three in-person visits with Harmony over the next three months. Then, during a video call shortly before Easter 2019, CS and AM got into an argument and AM cut off all contact.
  • CS continued to try to reach Harmony but when she called NH's child welfare agency, she was told she sounded like a scorned ex.
  • By the spring of 2019, she’d alerted New Hampshire’s child welfare agency.
  • Later, she drove the streets of Manchester herself in search of the girl and turned to social media for help.
  • When she lived in Lowell, she drove past NH schools where she thought her daughter might be enrolled and paid for online search tools to access addresses associated with AM.
  • Last July, she posted photos of Harmony on TikTok, saying she’d never stop looking for her daughter.
  • When someone asked if Harmony was missing, she responded that AM has her and hasn't let her talk to her or see her in two years.
  • Last November she called police in Manchester.
  • Child welfare officials in MA and NH have declined to discuss any details about Harmony, including CS’s attempts to locate her.
  • Not long ago, someone told CS they remember seeing AM panhandling in Manchester, with Harmony on his lap.
Click to expand...
Tragic. Children who grow up in traumatic situations often repeat what they know. Perhaps she might have been able to get Harmony back, although the irony is that losing Harmony may have been what saved her mom.
 
PommyMommy said:
A lengthy paywalled article. Hopefully, I've summarized all the key info.

FEB 5, 2022
For years, the mother of Harmony Montgomery rang the alarm about her missing daughter. Few listened. - The Boston Globe
  • CS says her search for Harmony has spanned three years, two states, and numerous government agencies which has been met with indifference that she attributes to her past.
  • She says she's always going to own the fact that she played a part in this, but she never gave up on Harmony; never washed her hands of her.
  • Like Harmony, CS grew up in chaos and went through the system - child welfare, social services, and the courts.
  • She is consumed by guilt and anger. She has endured personal attacks on the internet although she has been thoroughly investigated by LE.
  • She attends group meetings twice a week to maintain her sobriety and has stayed clean for 2½ years.
  • She says she still has to focus on her recovery and be a mom through all of this. She is raising her 1-year-old son on her own.
  • Her older brother, TF Jr., compares their upbringing in Haverhill to that of the fictional Showtime series “Shameless,” - a dysfunctional and poverty-stricken family struggling to get by.
  • As a teenager, he often raised CS and her twin sister (toddlers then) as their parents were in and out of jail and treatment programs, deep into addiction.
  • CS later experienced the same - drugs, arrests, courtrooms, treatment programs.
  • Some of her siblings struggled with addiction and she lost a brother to an overdose.
  • CS met AM when she was 20, through a mutual friend in NH. Both were heavily involved in drugs. By the time she became pregnant with Harmony, AM was physically abusing her.
  • But the birth of Harmony changed something in her.
  • She named her Harmony, because it reminded her of music.
  • She says that before she had Harmony, she didn't really have a reason to get clean and hated herself.
  • AM was in jail at the time of Harmony’s birth, and not long after, CS and AM split up. She says she just didn't like him as a person once she got sober.
  • Harmony left an impression in the sober living programs where she lived for two years with CS.
  • A friend of CS's who lived with them at a sober house in Roxbury called Harmony a "little spitfire."
  • A relapse in 2018 cost CS custody of Harmony, and the following year, a Lawrence juvenile court was to decide Harmony’s placement.
  • CS says she pushed for Harmony to remain with the MA foster mother she was living with, at least until Sorey could regain custody. Instead, in Feb 2019 a judge granted custody of Harmony to AM.
  • CS says she made a promise to Harmony that she would get better and that she would stay better.
  • CS says she had three in-person visits with Harmony over the next three months. Then, during a video call shortly before Easter 2019, CS and AM got into an argument and AM cut off all contact.
  • CS continued to try to reach Harmony but when she called NH's child welfare agency, she was told she sounded like a scorned ex.
  • By the spring of 2019, she’d alerted New Hampshire’s child welfare agency.
  • Later, she drove the streets of Manchester herself in search of the girl and turned to social media for help.
  • When she lived in Lowell, she drove past NH schools where she thought her daughter might be enrolled and paid for online search tools to access addresses associated with AM.
  • Last July, she posted photos of Harmony on TikTok, saying she’d never stop looking for her daughter.
  • When someone asked if Harmony was missing, she responded that AM has her and hasn't let her talk to her or see her in two years.
  • Last November she called police in Manchester.
  • Child welfare officials in MA and NH have declined to discuss any details about Harmony, including CS’s attempts to locate her.
  • Not long ago, someone told CS they remember seeing AM panhandling in Manchester, with Harmony on his lap.
Click to expand...
They really shouldn't have that behind a paywall. I wonder if Adam was the panhandler in front of Baked who used to ask for money for gas for his car that he and his kids were living out of.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

DNASolves

Who is DeKalb County John Doe (2022)?

Members online

... and 74 more.
Total: 3,492 (members: 75, guests: 3,417)

Online statistics

Members online
75
Guests online
3,417
Total visitors
3,492
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
603,299
Messages
18,154,515
Members
231,702
Latest member
Rav17en
Back
Top