The Montgomery Family Fund
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We need your help...please...help me save my family and vidicate the death of my husband of almost 20 years, George Montgomery.
My name is Heather Montgomery, and six months ago my husband went hiking to look for a camping spot for him and my son to visit...but he never came home. He was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in a creek along the trail. Here are some excerpts from the newspaper article published following his death:
_______________________________________________
Former ASU football captain's death devastates family
A Peoria man and former Arizona State University football captain found dead along a Sedona-area trail is being remembered as a caring father and a loving son.
George Montgomery, 43, was found dead Thursday morning in Beaver Creek along the Bell Trail in Wet Beaver Creek Canyon near Sedona, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said in a release Friday morning. He suffered a gunshot wound and a firearm was recovered near his body, investigators said.
"He was my best friend, he still is my best friend," wife Heather Montgomery said Saturday. "He's going to leave a hole that'll never be filled."
Montgomery, a running back, played at ASU, where he was captain of the 1993 Sun Devil team. He played professionally in Europe for a few years after his graduation. At the time of his death, he owned a financial planning business.
Heather remembered meeting him at a party during his ASU football years. It was love at first sight.
The two married in Portland, Ore., and were together for almost 20 years. They have two children, Kiele, 14, and Makonnen, 13. Makonnen plans to play football when he begins high school next year.
Neighbors said Montgomery was well known in the Peoria community and they often saw him playing basketball with his children. His wife said he will be missed especially by his children.
"I want to make sure I do what I need to do for our children. I have big shoes to fill," Heather Montgomery said tearfully.
Montgomery's family seeks answers surrounding his death, which has been labeled "suspicious" by the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators recovered Montgomery's body at about 11 a.m. Thursday after hikers found him in Beaver Creek, said Dwight D'Evelyn, spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.
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George was in a car accident in the March preceeding his death in which he suffered a serious head injury. I was traveling extensively for work at the time, and was forced to resign in order to be home to take care of him. He was beginning the road to recovery when he was taken from us. The children and I are struggling every day to survive. We lost our house the week after the funeral, and our financial situation is dire: hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical mounted from George's accident, and our day-to-day is overwhelming. We were homeless for a while, and if you contributed to the original campaign started by my mom that enabled us to change our status from "homeless" to "a roof over our heads," my deepest appreciation and thanks goes out to you. We found a house through someone at our church, thank God, but now that is at risk as well...I have been unable to find work and am unable to pay our bills. As we struggle with this loss, and I support our children through the grieving process, I am forced to reach out for help.
This is, however, not just an immediate need. This is also a cause.
After his death, George's brain was examined by the Brain Injury Institute in Philadelphia. It was determined, post-humously, that George suffered from CTE: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is a long-term, permanent form of brain injury now known to be associated with football players due to extreme, repetitive, and multiple head-impact injuries sustained during play. Concussions and their long-term risk are only now becoming a true hot-button issue, and it is becoming more and more understood that there is a definitive link between tackle football and long-term brain injury. It has been determined that as many as 1 in 3 football players will sustain long-term brain injury.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/concussion-watch/76-of-79-deceased-nfl-players-found-to-have-brain-disease/
The mystery of George's death is one that I will fight to solve. The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office has since ruled George's death a suicide, but there is evidence, forensic, medical, as well as circumstantial, that is not consistent with that fact. Not only will I fight to vindicate George's death, but I will spend the rest of my life in activism, spreading knowledge about CTE and the risk of high-impact sports.
Please help me in my fight for George and the truth, the care and well-being of our kids, and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about CTE. Anything is appreciated, and God bless.
My name is Heather Montgomery, and six months ago my husband went hiking to look for a camping spot for him and my son to visit...but he never came home. He was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in a creek along the trail. Here are some excerpts from the newspaper article published following his death:
_______________________________________________
Former ASU football captain's death devastates family
A Peoria man and former Arizona State University football captain found dead along a Sedona-area trail is being remembered as a caring father and a loving son.
George Montgomery, 43, was found dead Thursday morning in Beaver Creek along the Bell Trail in Wet Beaver Creek Canyon near Sedona, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said in a release Friday morning. He suffered a gunshot wound and a firearm was recovered near his body, investigators said.
"He was my best friend, he still is my best friend," wife Heather Montgomery said Saturday. "He's going to leave a hole that'll never be filled."
Montgomery, a running back, played at ASU, where he was captain of the 1993 Sun Devil team. He played professionally in Europe for a few years after his graduation. At the time of his death, he owned a financial planning business.
Heather remembered meeting him at a party during his ASU football years. It was love at first sight.
The two married in Portland, Ore., and were together for almost 20 years. They have two children, Kiele, 14, and Makonnen, 13. Makonnen plans to play football when he begins high school next year.
Neighbors said Montgomery was well known in the Peoria community and they often saw him playing basketball with his children. His wife said he will be missed especially by his children.
"I want to make sure I do what I need to do for our children. I have big shoes to fill," Heather Montgomery said tearfully.
Montgomery's family seeks answers surrounding his death, which has been labeled "suspicious" by the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators recovered Montgomery's body at about 11 a.m. Thursday after hikers found him in Beaver Creek, said Dwight D'Evelyn, spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.
_____________________________________________
George was in a car accident in the March preceeding his death in which he suffered a serious head injury. I was traveling extensively for work at the time, and was forced to resign in order to be home to take care of him. He was beginning the road to recovery when he was taken from us. The children and I are struggling every day to survive. We lost our house the week after the funeral, and our financial situation is dire: hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical mounted from George's accident, and our day-to-day is overwhelming. We were homeless for a while, and if you contributed to the original campaign started by my mom that enabled us to change our status from "homeless" to "a roof over our heads," my deepest appreciation and thanks goes out to you. We found a house through someone at our church, thank God, but now that is at risk as well...I have been unable to find work and am unable to pay our bills. As we struggle with this loss, and I support our children through the grieving process, I am forced to reach out for help.
This is, however, not just an immediate need. This is also a cause.
After his death, George's brain was examined by the Brain Injury Institute in Philadelphia. It was determined, post-humously, that George suffered from CTE: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is a long-term, permanent form of brain injury now known to be associated with football players due to extreme, repetitive, and multiple head-impact injuries sustained during play. Concussions and their long-term risk are only now becoming a true hot-button issue, and it is becoming more and more understood that there is a definitive link between tackle football and long-term brain injury. It has been determined that as many as 1 in 3 football players will sustain long-term brain injury.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/concussion-watch/76-of-79-deceased-nfl-players-found-to-have-brain-disease/
The mystery of George's death is one that I will fight to solve. The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office has since ruled George's death a suicide, but there is evidence, forensic, medical, as well as circumstantial, that is not consistent with that fact. Not only will I fight to vindicate George's death, but I will spend the rest of my life in activism, spreading knowledge about CTE and the risk of high-impact sports.
Please help me in my fight for George and the truth, the care and well-being of our kids, and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about CTE. Anything is appreciated, and God bless.
Organizer
Heather Joe'l Montgomery
Organizer
Peoria, AZ
