Missing New Hampshire 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery declared legally dead

March 12 (UPI) -- A judge in New Hampshire declared 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery -- who has been missing for more than four years -- legally dead Tuesday, granting her biological mother's request and clearing the way for wrongful death claims.

Harmony's mother, Crystal Sorey, was in court Monday to argue that despite her daughter's remains never being found, no one has seen the young girl since 2019.

Tuesday's ruling states that there will be no death certificate, because Harmony's body has not been found. The ruling says Harmony is "presumed dead" and that her death declaration is conditional upon an authenticated jury verdict in her father's murder trial.

Adam Montgomery was convicted last month in Boston of murdering Harmony after he admitted to abusing her corpse. He was convicted of second-degree murder, second-degree felony assault, abuse of a corpse, falsifying physical evidence and witness tampering. Investigators believe Harmony was murdered in December 2019.

Sorey, who lost custody of Harmony in 2018 due to a substance abuse issue, was also named Tuesday as the administrator of Harmony's estate, as she considers pursuing wrongful death lawsuits against the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

"I'm Harmony's voice, and I'm her warrior basically, so everything I do is for her," Sorey told the court as she blamed child-welfare systems in the two states. "I can't let people forget. I can't only let those two people be held accountable because it's not fair, it's not true."

Montgomery's estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, testified that she was present when Harmony was killed and also testified that she helped her husband hide the child's body. Officials said Kayla Montgomery continued to claim Harmony as a dependent and unlawfully received $1,500 in food stamp benefits between 2019 and 2021.