25 Investigates: Authorities to distribute missing NH girl’s image beyond New England

Harmony Montgomery was last seen in Manchester, NH  in late 2019. But no one reported her missing to police for two years; not her family, friends or the child protection agencies her family interacted with in the years and months before she fell off the radar.

Manchester Police were finally notified of Harmony’s disappearance this past New Year’s Eve. And that two-year delay creates major challenges in her search. It means word of her disappearance and her image needs to spread outside the New England area, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

25 Investigates has learned authorities will distribute Harmony’s image along the east coast via billboards, posters, and gas station pump tv screens.

“It is uncommon to have a child go missing for two years where no one knows the child’s whereabouts. And it’s certainly difficult for law enforcement,” said John Bischoff who’s with NCMEC. “They’re playing a two-year catch-up game. A missing child case is difficult enough even if it’s two minutes, two hours, two days after a child goes missing. Now law enforcement is faced with a two-year catch-up and it’s extremely difficult for them to put the timeline together.”

In the days after her disappearance was announced, NCMEC helped Manchester Police spread the message to video gas pumps and posters in most of New England. The center has also been using all of its social channels to draw attention to Harmony’s image across the country and the globe.

“One of the harder things is what are people recalling? When was the last time this child was actually seen? That’s why keeping her image out in the media. It is so important at this phase because we’re trying to drive leads and we’re trying to assist in that and driving leads to [police] to help them better their timeline,” said Bischoff.

Manchester PD already set up billboards across New Hampshire. Now, NCMEC says it is actively working with partners and law enforcement to expand billboards to the surrounding states. And with the help of partners “who donate services,” NCMEC says gas station TV ads with Harmony’s image are already running in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine.

“One of the most public things that we do is keep the image out there in the public eye with posters poster distribution. We also have a fair amount of case managers who assist law enforcement in the ongoing case as long as the child is missing,” added Bischoff.

“The National Center will never forget about a missing child we’ll continue to work with law enforcement and apply the most modern of technologies that we have added in our toolbox to them for free to help find this child quickly and as safely as possible.”

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