Nationwide consideration has targeted on the case of still-missing 7-year-old woman Concord Montgomery, who was final seen in 2019 however solely reported lacking late final yr. Now, consideration inside New Hampshire might be targeted on the state company tasked with youngster welfare.
In keeping with Gov. Chris Sununu (R), the N.H. Division of Youngsters, Youth, and Households is presently topic to an inside overview.
The Montgomery case got here up through the tail finish of a Wednesday press conference in regards to the Granite State’s COVID-19 response.
“[A]ny time there’s a crucial case of a kid, no matter who the kid is or the timing, we at all times do an inside overview,” the governor stated in response to a direct query in regards to the woman’s whereabouts. “And I’ve instructed DCYF to already begin that course of, proper, to do this understanding of not simply the place had been we on this particular case, however was there any level the place info wasn’t being transmitted? Was there any level the place we hit a roadblock and/or didn’t reply to one thing, or something like that?”
The governor went on to say he has confidence within the job the company has carried out to date in helping with the investigation and insisted the DYCF “is simply pulling out each cease they will” to comply with up on any related info associated to Montgomery’s disappearance.
“However we’re doing an inside overview, as we at all times do,” Sununu continued. “And if there’s something to be discovered and discovered from it, after all we’ll deliver that to bear and alter any processes that must be modified.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, the lacking woman was final seen someday in late 2019 when she was 5 years outdated. She can be seven years outdated now. Concord Montgomery’s lacking standing, nevertheless, was not reported till late 2021 by her mom, Crystal Sorey, who misplaced custody of her daughter in July 2018 resulting from substance abuse points when the woman grew to become a ward of neighboring Massachusetts.
Adam Michael Montgomery, 31, was arrested last week for assault fees over an incident that left his daughter with a black eye in 2019. The daddy was additionally charged with a sequence of comparatively minor offenses associated to his alleged therapy of and conduct in the direction of the woman. Particularly, police charged him over his alleged failure to take care of custody of his daughter, for stopping youngster welfare companies from taking custody of her, and for not offering details about Concord Montgomery’s whereabouts when interviewed by Manchester law enforcement officials.
He’s presently being held with out bail.
The woman’s onetime stepmother, Kayla Montgomery, was arrested the following day, Jan. 6, for allegedly persevering with to obtain Concord Montgomery’s meals stamp advantages for a number of months regardless of not having lived with the woman–and allegedly admittedly not having seen her–since a morning in November or December 2019.
A recent report by Boston FOX affiliate WFXT anchor Kerry Kavanaugh notes that police in Manchester visited the Montgomery family some 13 instances between June and November 2019–generally to research the welfare of the kids who lived there. That report says that “native youngster welfare authorities had been conscious of issues on the dwelling” and cites a police report from August 2019 that supplied the next conclusion from the N.H. DYCF: “Everybody’s dwelling, generator is operating, meals in the home, they’re wholesome. All is nicely.”
That state of wellness seems to not have lasted for much longer.
Now, after elected officers in N.H. have raised voluble concerns in regards to the efforts of state companies and the way the woman might need fallen via the cracks, the DYCF is dealing with inside strain.
“Our high precedence stays discovering Concord, and we’re turning over each stone we are able to to deliver her dwelling protected,” Sununu said in a recent statement to WFXT relating to the interior inquiry. “From the start, the state has been as open and clear as we’re allowed to beneath the regulation. I’ve already instructed DCYF to start a direct overview, and anytime there’s a crucial Incident involving a baby, a cross-agency overview is triggered and accomplished.”
Regulation&Crime reached out to the DYCF’s guardian company relating to the contours of the investigation and for touch upon this text however no response was forthcoming on the time of publication. Up to now, DCYF has advised Regulation&Crime it can not present any element in regards to the case by any means, citing privateness legal guidelines.
Have a tip we must always know? [email protected]
