Meet the NJ police dog that tracked a killer
To say a police officer is close to their partner is an understatement. When their partner is a highly trained police dog it’s a special bond few will ever feel. The pride Detective Christ Nichols feels for the work his partner Remi did over 5 years and 312 calls is immeasurable.
Remi, a bloodhound, was trained to conduct searches. One call that really stands out dates back to August of 2020.
Yutig Ge was a roommate of Tong Cheng in Jersey City Heights. After an argument, Cheng stabbed Ge to death in their home and left the scene. Giving Remi a piece of Cheng’s clothing to get the suspect’s scent, the dog led police on a 2-mile search from the crime scene to a motel. Sure enough, Cheng was there. They got the killer. He pleaded guilty to the murder earlier this year. This summer he was sentenced to 28 years in prison for the crime.
Police don’t know if they could have so swiftly caught up with Cheng if it weren’t for Remi. Both the dog and her handler Detective Nichols received an award for the work they did in stopping a killer.
Here’s the sad news. Around the same time that award was presented, Detective Nichols was finding out that Remi wasn’t well. She had pancreatic cancer. She died in June.
After working so many criminal investigations and missing persons cases together, Nichols had to say goodbye. He said his canine partner died after “5 1/2 years of Remi giving me everything she had, performing beyond anything I could have ever expected, and being my best friend through some of the most challenging times of life."
He’s created a Facebook page dedicated to the legacy of a true crime-fighting hero. On it, the detective wrote, "There is a hole in our hearts that will never be filled and our family is forever changed. We miss her terribly already."
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