(File photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS) Kayla Montgomery listens to the judge at a bail hearing following her arrest last week on welfare fraud-related charges.

MANCHESTER — Given that the “Tip Line” police set up for calls and texts regarding the Harmony Montgomery case has received more than 300 tips, and that the reward for information that leads investigators to her whereabouts is edging toward the $140,000 mark, it seems almost inevitable that the case will eventually be solved.

But authorities are by no means simply waiting for the information to find them, or for the unusually generous reward fund to finally convince the “someones who know somethings” out there to pick up the phone and place the call everyone connected to the case has been hoping for.

“Someone knows something … somewhere out there is a little girl who needs help,” an at-times emotional Police Chief Alan Aldenberg said at an earlier press conference, the one at which he announced the Tip Line, which is 603-203-6060. Someone will answer the calls and texts; people’s calls will not go to voicemail, Aldenberg said.

At the time, the reward fund had just been established, thanks to a pair of $5,000 donations from local businessmen Dick Anagnost and Arthur Sullivan.

Now, boosted most recently by a $25,000 pledge from a person in Washington State who wished to remain anonymous, the reward fund sits at $137,000.

Adam Montgomery, 31, current address unknown, recently of Manchester

Investigators remain optimistic they will find Harmony alive, Aldenberg said.

“Until someone shows me otherwise, we believe she is alive, and we will do everything possible to find her.”

The chief went as far as to urge people to look very closely at the photos of Harmony and “key in on the glasses and the child’s eye issue,” characteristics unique to the girl, who has been blind in one eye since birth.

Meanwhile, two people arrested in connection to the case — Harmony’s biological father, Adam Montgomery, 32, and his most recent ex-wife, Kayla Montgomery, 31, who is not Harmony’s biological mother — face several charges each, but none of the charges accuse either of them of direct involvement in Harmony’s disappearance.

Adam Montgomery is charged with four offenses that include one count of second-degree assault, a Class B felony; two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Class A misdemeanors; and one count of interference with custody, also a Class A misdemeanor.

(Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via AP) Manchester Police Public Information Officer Heather Hamel, at a recent news conference at Manchester police headquarters, holds two reward posters showing photos of missing Manchester girl Harmony Montgomery. The reward for information leading investigators to Harmony is closing in on the $140,000 mark, and it continues to grow.

The assault charge accuses Montgomery of causing bodily injury to Harmony by striking her in the face — which caused a black eye — between July 1 and July 22, 2019.

The two endangering charges accuse Montgomery of failing to have Harmony in his physical custody since November 2019, while he had legal custody of her; and allegedly preventing Division of Children, Youth and Families representatives from obtaining physical custody of Harmony.

The interference charge accuses Montgomery of concealing Harmony from DCYF officials and refusing to provide police with information leading to her whereabouts, according to the charging documents.

His next court appearance, a dispositional conference, is currently scheduled for March 4.

Kayla Montgomery, meanwhile, was arrested two days later, the result of an investigation into the family’s dealings with the state Department of Health and Human Services.

She was initially charged with one count of welfare fraud, a Class A felony; but the charge was later amended to theft by deception — amount greater than $1,500, also a Class A felony.

Kayla Montgomery was also charged with one Class A felony count of public welfare — failure to disclose; and two Class A misdemeanor charges of public welfare — prohibited acts.

She had been scheduled for arraignment and bail hearing last week, but it was continued to Jan. 24, according to court officials.

Both cases are being adjudicated in Hillsborough County Superior Court North in Manchester.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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