PRESS RELEASE – On Wednesday, April 9, 2025, the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of a case involving a missing child under the age of two from Missouri.

Lt. Heather Mecillas made contact with a Detective from Harrisonville, MO who advised that they had a missing person case involving a mother and a child from February.

Missouri also advised that the father had been awarded custody in the state of Kansas in an emergency hearing in March and was also given a writ of assistance to get the child back due to the mother’s mental health issues.

Multiple investigators and deputies began working the case assisted by the Tallapoosa Police Department.

A copy of the court paperwork from Kansas was received and was sent to the court and the District Attorney’s Office for Polk and Haralson Counties.

District Attorney Jaeson Smith authorized the Sheriff’s Office pursuant to Georgia Law, to take the child into protective custody.

Investigator Nicole Wilson, Sgt. Ricky Parks, Cpl. Jon Henderson, Deputy Seth Entrekin, Tallapoosa Police Department Chief Gene Brown and members of the Tallapoosa Police Department assisted in going to the location where the mother was and taking the child into protective custody.

Harrisonville PD and the father were both notified that the child was in custody and that the mother had been located.

Missouri authorities advised that they only needed to verify the mother was safe so she could be taken out of the national system.

The child is safe and was placed in protective custody of the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office overnight but was happily reunited with her father earlier today.

“This was the best outcome we could have had for this case,” states Sheriff Stacy Williams. “This child’ safety was so important, and I want to thank the person that saw her and sent in the tip because of the missing person’s post. I always say that working together, we can achieve great things across Haralson County, and this time, we rescued a missing child. I would like to thank everyone involved in this incident today that worked diligently to recover this child safely. I am glad that the child is safe and is back with her father. Our hope is that the mother of the child gets the help she needs for this child’s future.”