Remi, Maywood police dog who sniffed out and found hundreds of missing people, has died
MAYWOOD — Remi, Bergen County's first K-9 bloodhound, who helped find hundreds of missing people in the last five years, died this month after she was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Remi was a community staple and "the missing's lifeline," outperforming drones and helicopters with the ability to locate missing people with just her nose. She ended her career with 311 saves.
Remi's K-9 handler, Detective Christopher Nichols, said in a social media post that he is brokenhearted and devastated over the loss. Remi died at 5:30 a.m. on June 19 in Nichols' arms.
"After 5½ 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, I had to make the most painful decision of my life," he wrote on Facebook.
"There is a hole in our hearts that will never be filled and our family is forever changed," he wrote. "We miss her terribly already."
Related: Meet Remi, the wonder dog who helped sniff out 75 missing people in Bergen last year
Nichols and Remi received awards for their work. The Maywood Police Department was one of the first in the nation to use scent kits to help bloodhounds find people who are lost or sometimes wander due to dementia or autism.
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In 2019, Remi was credited with finding 75 missing people. She also helped locate a 13-year-old girl who said she wanted to run away from home and went missing for 10 hours.
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Remi recently visited fifth graders for a demonstration on the last day of the Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence program on June 10, and she attended training in Maryland in April.
Nichols and Remi became a team in 2016 with the goal to perform their duties and also bring more attention to the breed and the work they can do. It's estimated that bloodhounds' scent receptors are 40 times more powerful than humans'.
"As we go through our careers, hundreds of hours of training finally come together, the mass amounts of callouts flow, and we do what we do without really taking time to think about it. Time seems endless, until it’s not," Nichols posted on social media when he informed the public of Remi's diagnosis, the day before her death.
"Remi is larger than life, not only being an amazing trailing dog that brought so many home and gave closure in the most tragic of circumstances, but also by bridging the gap between law enforcement and the community on nearly a daily basis," he said.
Kristie Cattafi is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: cattafi@northjersey.com
Twitter: @KristieCattafi
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Maywood NJ police dog Remi dies, found numerous missing people
