The stepmother of a missing New Hampshire girl, who has been accused of lying that the child was living with her to collect welfare benefits, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to new, unrelated charges that she received stolen firearms, days after the girl’s father was arrested on similar charges.
Kayla Montgomery, 31, is accused of receiving a rifle and a shotgun between Sept. 29 and Oct. 22 of 2019, knowing that they had been stolen or believing they had probably been stolen.
Montgomery, who was arrested Tuesday, waived arraignment. A bail hearing hasn't been scheduled.
She's been in jail since January on a felony theft charge, to which she also pleaded not guilty. Montgomery allegedly told state Health Department workers that her stepdaughter, Harmony Montgomery, was a member of her household from November 2019 to June 2, 2021, and that she received food stamp benefits for Harmony.
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Authorities say Harmony Montgomery vanished sometime in late November or early December of 2019 — but authorities didn’t know she was missing until last fall.
Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, recently pleaded not guilty to eight unrelated firearms theft charges from 2019. He’s also been in jail since January on an assault charge, alleging that he struck Harmony in July 2019.