Representational image
Representational image

As investigation for the missing seven-year-old Harmony Montgomery extends to other states, the child's biological mother has expressed concern that the girl's father might have sold her.

"She's afraid the father sold the [then] five-year-old little girl… Think about a little girl that tiny being sold, and she's blind in one eye and in every picture, she's smiling," said a report by Fox News.

According to Fox Nation host Nancy Grace, Harmony's stepmother is facing nine new charges, after being arrested on charges of welfare fraud for allegedly obtaining $1,500 in food stamps.

"The stepmother, Kayla Montgomery, is having her welfare fraud charges thrown out and replaced with nine new charges, one being felony theft and eight misdemeanors," Grace was quoted by the news outlet. "This is because it's alleged she continued taking government money in Harmony's name and never saw Harmony."

She added that the police were seen searching at Harmony's Manchester home last week. "That is where you can see police bringing in this huge tank of a machine to thaw the ground, so they could, I guess, use ground-penetrating sonar and look for a disturbance among the soil," Grace said. "That only means they're concerned she could be buried somewhere."

This comes as Manchester Police is considering extending the search for Harmony to other states though she was reportedly last seen in New Hampshire in 2019.

"I can’t just focus on Manchester, New Hampshire for this investigation," Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg said during a news conference Wednesday. "As broad of a net as we can cast, that’s what we intend to do."

He said there were billboards in other states as Montgomery previously lived and went to school in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, reports quoting New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said he has asked the Division of Children, Youth, and Families to conduct an internal review into the handling of the case.

"Our top priority remains finding Harmony and we are turning over every stone we can to bring her home safe. From the beginning, the state has been as open and transparent as we are allowed to under the law. I have already instructed DCYF to begin an immediate review, and anytime there is a critical incident involving a child, a cross-agency review is triggered and completed," Sununu told Boston 25 News in a statement.

Harmony's biological father Adam Montgomery is also currently behind bars for assault charges. He reportedly "bashed" the then-5-year-old Harmony "around this house" for not taking care of her little brother in July 2019.

Crime scene

Photo: AFP / Johannes EISELE