Airlie Montgomery: Devastated father says six-year-old found dead in Nowra ‘had no sense of danger‘
The devastated father of a six-year-old girl found dead after wandering away from her Nowra home has revealed heartbreaking details that may have contributed to the tragedy.
Airlie Montgomery was found at the base of a rock ledge known as The Grotto, about 800m from her Nowra home, after a frantic four-hour land and sea search on Sunday.
She had severe Autism and was non-verbal. Police say her death was a tragic accident.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Video showing Airlie wearing a pink jumpsuit on a street near her home at about 2.15pm on Sunday are the images of the little girl.
Her father, Corey Montgomery, was at work, six hours away, when he received the phone call from his partner, Katie Amess, that Airlie had gone missing.
He believes Airlie may have thought she was heading off on an adventure when she left home.
“She had no sense of danger, no sense of what the world was all about. She lived in her own little world,” Mr Montgomery told The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Montgomery said Airlie had never left the yard on her own before.
“It’s not like we’d ever had near misses with her, this was the first time anything like this had happened.”
“She would play in the yard all the time. She’d sit in the leaves and throw them, or play with rocks … that was her happy place. She wasn’t a wanderer, she had never wandered off.”
She had visited the Grotto where she was found once or twice previously with her family.
A GoFundMe set up to help Airlie’s heartbroken family has so far raised nearly $27,000.
On Monday, friends of the family told reporters that Airlie was seen crying on the day of her death and that was out of character.
Local neighbour, Cathy, told The Daily Mail, Airlie was crying and “no one knows why”.
“She was a lovely little thing, non-verbal, but a happy girl always smiling and blowing kisses when she saw you,” Cathy said.
“Except yesterday she was crying, no one knows why... and then I didn’t see her.
“She must have wandered off. Everyone in the neighbourhood was so good. We all went out to look for her.”
Shoalhaven Mayor Patricia White said the community was devastated by the news.
“This is just an absolute tragedy,” Ms White said.
“Words cannot describe how horrible this is.
“Hold your kids tight, chat to your neighbours to see if they’re okay.
“We are a town in mourning.”
Airlie’s funeral is set to be held next week.
