A 6-year-old Dalton girl is missing, and authorities believe she's somewhere in Mexico.

Her dad won sole custody after an intense legal battle, but it was too late. All evidence points to the mom having fled to Mexico.

Missing posters of 6-year-old Anjalayiah Hicks are fresh off the printer from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Her dad, Shundy Hicks, is working with Dalton investigators and lawyers, to get her back where she's legally supposed to be.

The legal battle reportedly began when the mom bragged about her new husband, who's in this county illegally, adopting her without him knowing.

A judge overturned the adoption. The new husband, Rigoberto Reyes-Rios, was deported to Mexico. Then rumors that the  mom, Brandi Reyes-Rios, was plotting to follow him there started seeming real. The girl reportedly told her dad she was sleeping on a mattress on the floor and there were boxes everywhere.

Next, they stopped showing up for visitation. Hicks went to court to gain sole custody and won, but Brandi didn't show.

A family member reported her abandoned car at a rest area.

He got a court order for the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office to enter Anjalayiah in the national missing persons registry. Sheriff Scott Chitwood says it's a complicated case, but also believes she's in Mexico.

There is an arrest order out for the mom, but… "Everybody's hands are tied until she returns to the U.S. or to somewhere that we can locate her," Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood said.

Sheriff Chitwood says Hicks has done everything possible to find her– constantly bringing in new details that he's tracked down himself. Now he's sending off a Hague application.

Mexico and the U.S. are both signatories of the Hague Convention, which provides a means for returning children from another country when there's been a parental abduction.

If you know any info on where Anjalayiah might be, call the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office.

Veteran coach Andy Akin resigned this morning from his post as Model High head boys' basketball coach, according to Model High Principal Glenn White.

Akin was named the head boys' basketball coach about 3 years ago.

Akin was the girls' coach at Model for 10 years and led the Lady Blue Devils to a number of successful seasons, including a run to the state title game in 1997.

Sixteen people were out of jail by Sunday after their arrests for getting a little too rowdy at the Rome River Jam concert on Saturday.

Capt. Rodney Bailey of the Rome Police Department said the majority of offenders arrested Saturday were cited under city ordinances for misdemeanor offenses such as disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and underage possession of alcohol.

Those arrested live in Rome, Shannon, Cedartown, Adairsville, Roswell and Fort Payne, Ala.

Last week Taylor Burrage and Khaliah Hambrick went by Summerville Elementary to visit their  second grade teacher  — just one day before Taylor graduated with honors from Trion High School and one week before Khaliah's graduation with honors from Chattooga High.  While visiting Khaliah, who is an intern at AM1180 saw an opportunity to interview Rhonda Reece about what it's like to be a long-time educator and having students you taught years earlier graduate.

 Mrs. Rhonda Reece has been teaching for 17 years and has always taught in the Chattooga Co area. She began her teaching career at Lyerly Elementary school and is currently teaching 2nd grade at Summerville Elementary school. Mrs. Reece has taught several different grades but enjoys teaching 1st grade most. She says she loves that age because that’s when children know that they are learning and enjoy it. Mrs. Reece says she loves to see her former students and have them come back and visit her. When asked about her feelings on her former students graduating Mrs. Reece says she feels proud because she knows the struggles that go along with graduating in today’s society.

The campaign signs have been up for weeks. But beginning on Wednesday, we'll find out for sure who's running for office in local politics. Candidate qualifying will be open on Wednesday through Friday, according to the Georgia Secretary of state's office.

That office in Atlanta will register candidates for non-partisan state offices. Qualifying for non-partisan local offices is handled by Election's Superintendent John Payne.

Partisan offices qualify with their respective county political parties.

The primaries will be held in Georgia on Tuesday, July 31.  So far, locally,  no Republicans have publicly announced their decision to run, but we will know more on Friday when qualifying ends at noon.

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No serious injuries reported after a chemical explosion at a Dalton plant Monday morning. 15 employees at the office next door were taken to Hamilton Medical Center for decontamination and others were decontaminated on site. It happened at the MFG Chemical Plant on Callahan Road just before 9 a.m.  The company was making a product called "Coagulant 129", used in water treatment. Dalton fire officials say it can cause skin or respiratory irritation.  So far no one has displayed serious symptoms. Residents in the immediate area where advised to stay indoors. The blast reportedly damaged a portion of the roof at the plant. 

Authorities say snake bites are on the rise in Georgia after the mild winter.
    
Officials say that normally about 400 Georgians are treated for snake bites each year. Already this year, 120 state residents have been treated for bites.
    
Dr. Gaylord Lopez, director of the Georgia Poison Center, says that rate is higher than it typically is.
    
The center usually begins to get reports of snakebites around March 1. Lopez says that this year, the first bite was in January.

Chickamauga Battlefield will be the site of camps this summer titled A Call To Arms:  A Year of Conflict. The Sum,er camps are open to youngsters in grades 4 through 8.

The first camp, July 17-19 is for fourth through sixth graders, with the second, July 24-26 for grades 7 and 8. 

Participants will begin and end each day at the Battlefield Visitor's Center. Lunch is not included. Hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily.

Campers will have the opportunity to participate in many of the same activities soldiers engaged in during the 1862 battle. Registration is limited and the deadline to register is July 19. For more information call 423-752-5213 ext. 117.