Volunteers continue to search for remains of Harmony Montgomery in Massachusetts

REVERE – Volunteers gathered Saturday morning to search for the missing remains of 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery, who disappeared in 2019 but was not reported missing until 2021. In February, her father, Adam Montgomerywas convicted of her murder.

Harmony Montgomery never found

Searchers fanned out through the brush and undergrowth of the Rumney Marsh Reservation on the border of Revere and Saugus, with one mission: find the little girl they had never personally known.

“It was a story that really struck me when I first heard about it. And the fact that there is still a body of a little girl that has not been returned to her mother” said volunteer Matthew Parlante.

“I just want to take Harmony home so she can have a proper burial,” Barbara Patti said.

The search was organized by her mother Crystal Soreywho says her intuition led her to the location and that it is not the first time she has asked for help.

“I’ve been dreaming a lot and this area has been in my dreams. I just try to go with my intuition because I think that’s more powerful than anything,” Sorey said.

What happened to Harmony Montgomery?

Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, was convicted of her murder back in February. She was reported missing in 2021, but authorities believe he killed her two years earlier, brutally beating her in the family car and disposing of her remains.

A U-Haul truck he said he rented in March 2020 was pinged on the Tobin Bridge, and Montgomery is from Revere. He has declined to say where the remains are.

“That’s the only power he has left,” Sorey said. “That’s the only bit of control he has left in his life. Why would he give it up?”

But Sorey and the volunteers refuse to give up, and use pink markers for anything that catches their attention off the main trail. Although researchers are not involved today, they have also searched these swampy areas without success.

“It’s time to bring her home. It’s been too long,” Sorey said.

Volunteers say that’s what motivates them today. “If it was my child, I would want everyone here to pay attention, you know. You would think other people would, too,” Patti said.

Sorey says she will continue organizing searches until the weather gets colder, and she usually posts the dates on social media. She also urges anyone with even the slightest bit of information about Harmony’s whereabouts to come forward.

“There is nothing to lose. There is no reason to be afraid anymore.”

Harmony’s death puts the spotlight on state organs

The death of Harmony Montgomery has led to calls for change to make at-risk children safer in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has directed the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to launch a “direct assessment” about the way the case of missing 7-year-old girl Harmony Montgomery was handled.

Police said that by that time, nearly a dozen 911 calls had been made from the home where Harmony lived with her father, Adam Montgomery. The house had no central heating and was littered with trash. Police had previously contacted Child Protective Services.

Meanwhile, the family that adopted Harmony Montgomery’s brother appealed to the Massachusetts House of Representatives to state to overhaul the system and better protect foster children after what happened to the little girl.

Harmony moved several times between her mother’s home and that of her foster parents before Adam Montgomery gained custody in 2019 and moved to New Hampshire.

Manchester, New Hampshire, Police Chief Adam Aldenberg has said he believes agencies in both states should be held accountable because he put Harmony in danger.

“I still believe that some people should be held accountable in other instances,” Aldenberg said in February. “I’m asking for it. This little 5-year-old girl deserves someone who can be held accountable, who failed along the way. We wouldn’t be here today if other people had done their jobs.”