Judge says federal investigators should probe Harmony Montgomery's death
Former judge wants deeper investigation
Erskine wants investigators to look at New Hampshire's Division of Children, Youth and Families and whether the department's workers falsified records.
A New Hampshire jury found Harmony's father, Adam Montgomery, guilty of murder and other charges in connection with Harmony's death.
Investigators also found Harmony was placed in her father's care even though there was evidence she would not be safe there.
Erskine said she feels New Hampshire's legal settlement with Harmony's motherwas an attempt to make the case go away. Harmony's mother, Crystal Sorey, filed a negligence lawsuit in 2024. She accused social workers of ignoring signs that Harmony's father physically abused her. Earlier this year, New Hampshire agreed to pay Sorey $2.25 million to settle the lawsuit.
Massachusetts and New Hampshire fail Harmony
"There were 17 other reports of abuse that, for the most part, weren't investigated, and family members and neighbors and people were calling, and DCF - DCYF - wasn't investigating. So that was an issue for me," Erskine said.
Erskine wrote a book about Harmony's case, which specifically details failures within Massachusetts, while her new probe looks at failures in New Hampshire.
Harmony was moved between the homes of her mother and her foster parents multiple times in Massachusetts before Adam Montgomery received custody in 2019 and Harmony moved to New Hampshire.
The director of the Office of the Child Advocate in Massachusetts previously said Massachusetts DCF employees had requested what's known as an ICPC check, which would require New Hampshire to guarantee that Montgomery was sober, had a safe place to live, was employed, and was ready to parent Harmony, who had special needs and serious medical issues, including total blindness in one eye. That check never happened, and the Massachusetts judge in the case granted Montgomery custody without even a guarantee that he had a place to live.
Once in New Hampshire, investigators believe, Harmony was killed in December 2019. Police did not learn she was missing until 2021.
"I still firmly believe that some people in some other agencies need to be held accountable," Manchester Police Chief Adam Aldenberg said in 2024. "I'm asking for that. This little 5-year-old girl, she deserves somebody to be held accountable that failed along the way. We wouldn't be standing here today if other people had done their job."
The couple who adopted Harmony's brother have asked the Massachusetts to overhaul the DCF system and better protect foster children.
Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire have made several policy changes as a direct result of Harmony Montgomery's death.
Search for Harmony Montgomery
Adam Montgomery is serving a minimum of 56 years in prison after being convicted of murdering Harmony and moving her corpse around for months before disposing of it. Her body has not been found.
Prosecutors said an analysis of a U-Haul truck used by Montgomery suggests Harmony's remains are somewhere along a 26-mile stretch between Manchester, New Hampshire, and the Revere/Chelsea area outside Boston. Investigators have searched wetlands along Route 107 in Revere.
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