A judge has ruled that a 5-year-old New Hampshire girl missing since 2019 is legally dead and her mother can become administrator of her estate, just weeks after the child’s father was convicted of killing her
CONCORD, N.H. — A judge has ruled that a five-year-old New Hampshire girl missing since 2019 is legally dead and her mother can become administrator of her estate, just weeks after the child’s father was convicted of killing her.
Crystal Sorey “has shouldered her burden to demonstrate” that her daughter, Harmony Montgomery, was killed “as a result of a catastrophic event” and that her body has not been found, a judge said in an order made public Tuesday. after Sorey went to court.
Sorey is taking the first steps to prepare for a planned wrongful death lawsuit against the state regarding Harmony Montgomery. Her attorney told the judge that Adam Montgomery’s second-degree murder conviction, plus his guilty plea on lesser charges that he moved his daughter’s body months afterward and falsified physical evidence, was enough to result in a statutory declaration of death .
The attorney also said there was testimony from Adam Montgomery’s estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, that “she had handled the lifeless body of Harmony Montgomery,” according to the judge’s decision.
Sorey’s attorney must still provide a copy of the jury’s verdict, as well as a bond guaranteeing Sorey would fulfill her legal duties as an administrator.
Adam Montgomery and Sorey were not dating when their daughter was born in 2014. Harmony Montgomery lived on and off with foster families and her mother until Sorey lost custody in 2018. Montgomery was awarded custody in early 2019, and Sorey testified that the last time she saw her daughter was during a FaceTime call around Easter that year.
When later questioned about Harmony’s whereabouts, Adam and Kayla Montgomery told authorities that he had taken the child to live with Sorey.
Adam Montgomery, who was in jail awaiting sentencing, chose not to attend the probate hearing via Webex.