Dad’s tribute to sweet Airlie Montgomery who wandered to her death at North Nowra

The father of a little girl who fell to her death after wandering from home has bravely revealed how his daughter’s medical condition meant she had no sense of danger when taking “off on an adventure”.

The father of a little girl who fell to her death from a rock ledge after wandering home has bravely revealed how his daughter’s medical condition meant she had no sense of danger when took off on a fatal adventure.

Airlie Montgomery, 6, who was diagnosed with severe Autism and was non-verbal, left the yard of her family’s North Nowra home on Sunday afternoon, sparking a massive air and land search over the next four hours.

Tragically, just before nightfall, her little body was found at the base of a rock ledge at a popular bushwalking spot known as The Grotto. It was just 600m from home.

Corey and Katie Montgomery with their three kids Lawson, Airlie (middle) and Arya. Airlie, 6, died on Sunday when she wandered from her family home at North Nowra and fell from a rock ledge. Picture: Facebook

Her father Corey Montgomery told The Daily Telegraph on Thursday his precious girl “lived in her own world”, and possibly thought she was going on an adventure when she walked out the front gate, around 2pm.

“She had no sense of danger, no sense of what the world was all about. She lived in her own little world,” Mr Montgomery said.

“Everything we did was for her, to make sure she was happy and OK”.

“She couldn’t speak in sentences, you’d ask her “Hey Airlie, how was your day at school?, and she’d say ‘Octopus’,” Mr Montgomery explained.

“But she was a happy girl, and we knew how to communicate with her”.

Airlie Montgomery, 6, “had no sense of danger”, her dad said.

Mr Montgomery was six hours away, working at a mine site, when he got the call from his partner Katie to say Airlie was missing.

The distraught mother then called triple-0 for help, and within moments, Mr Montgomery said about 1000 members of the community converged in the streets surrounding their home to help search for the missing child.

“I didn’t get back in time,” Mr Montgomery said, his voice breaking.

Little Airlie’s body was found in The Grotto Reserve on Sunday afternoon. Picture: Richard Dobson

About 1000 community members joined the search for the missing child. Picture: Richard Dobson

Rescuers found Airlie’s body beneath a rock ledge. Police said her death was being treated as accidental.

“To me, it (The Grotto) was a little place she knew, she’d been there once or twice.

“It was the first time she’d ever left the yard (alone). 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.

So overwhelmed by the support and generosity of the community, Mr Montgomery said it was “driving me to give back”.

“The support that’s come from the community has been unbelievable,” he said.

“We had 1000 people out searching … the way the community came together for us was just so amazing. I’m not sure how, but when things settle down, I want to give back to this community.

A funeral service for Airlie is expected to be held next week. Donations to help the family can be made here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/airlie?qid=db61e55923cfcf6bef09178a533b7e3b

Originally published as Dad’s tribute to sweet Airlie Montgomery who wandered to her death at North Nowra