The stepmother of a 7-year-old New Hampshire girl who has been missing for more than two years was arrested Wednesday on a charge of felony welfare fraud.

Kayla Montgomery, 31 of Manchester, New Hampshire, allegedly obtained more than $1,500 in food stamp benefits illegally, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said. The complaint alleges that Kayla Montgomery failed to remove the missing girl, Harmony Montgomery, from the family’s account with the state’s Division of Family Assistance once she was no longer living with her and her husband, Adam Montgomery.

Kayla Montgomery is scheduled to to be arraigned Thursday morning in the Hillsborough County Superior Court North.

Adam Montgomery was arrested Tuesday on charges related to his daughter’s disappearance. He faces one charge of felony second-degree assault, one charge of interference with custody and two charges of endangering the welfare of a child. Harmony Montgomery was last seen in late October 2019, but wasn’t reported missing until December 2021.

In the latest developments in the missing girl’s case, prosecutors in New Hampshire say they have evidence that Adam Montgomery showed a pattern of abusing of the girl, allegedly telling his brother, “I bashed her around this house.” 

A police affidavit says that when officers told Montgomery that Harmony hadn’t been seen in two years, he did not show much emotion.