Hero Dog Tracked NJ Student's Killer 2 Miles To Hudson County Motel

NORTH JERSEY — This fall brought a final chapter in a manslaughter investigation that began back in August 2020, after Tong Cheng of Jersey City fatally stabbed his roommate, a 23 year-old student at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Cheng received a 28-year sentence in state prison in summer, after pleading guilty this past May.

But it was only revealed recently that Cheng might still be on the loose today if not for the long nose of the law.

Officials said Cheng was only captured in August of 2020 because a bloodhound tracked his scent two miles from the Jersey City crime scene to a motel.

The dog's handler got to see justice served at the end of summer, but also had to say goodbye to the dog that helped with this and so many other cases.

To this day, he's still updating a Facebook page dedicated to Remi the police dog and her legacy.

A Killing In Hudson County

The saga began on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. Prosecutors say that Tong Cheng, 26, an alumnus of the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, got into an argument and stabbed to death his housemate in Jersey City Heights, Yuting Ge, 23. Ge was a current graduate student at Stevens.

According to reports, before he died, Ge pleaded for his life in Chinese.

Police responded to the pair's Jersey City Heights apartment at 12:30 p.m. and discovered Ge's body. But they could not find Cheng.

That is until they called for Remi, then a 3-year-old bloodhound who worked with the Maywood, N.J. Police Department.

Remi had been specially trained in searches by land and water.

According to what Remi's handler, Detective Christ Nichols, wrote on Facebook this year, "Remi was given a piece of the suspect's clothing left behind, at which time she led a team of officers two miles through a city environment to a hotel."

There, Cheng was found in a motel room.

The Hudson County Regional SWAT Team arrived and took Cheng into custody "without further incident," Nichols said.

Det. Nichols could only reveal the truth this year after Cheng pleaded guilty and was awaiting sentencing.

But the story doesn't end there.

Good And Bad News

In spring of 2022, the police chief at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, Timothy Griffin, gave K9 Remi and Nichols an award "for their role in the rapid apprehension of such a violent and dangerous offender."

A month later, Det. Nichols got bad news.

He found out that his beloved canine partner — who had assisted in dozens of other criminal and missing persona investigations in New Jersey — had pancreatic cancer.

Remi passed away soon after, in June 2022. But she is still receiving accolades to this day.

Nichols told Patch last month, "Remi was called upon to assist in this [Hudson County] investigation based upon her reputation as highly trained and renowned law enforcement bloodhound."

A memorial service was held over the summer by the Maywood Police to recognize Remi's many achievements.

At the time of Remi's death, she had responded to 312 calls. The Jersey City case was cited in posts about her work.

Bloodhounds generally don't live as long as other dogs, with an average lifespan of 10-12 years.

'Beyond Anything I Could Have Ever Expected'

Nichols said recently that Remi 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 wrote on a Facebook page dedicated to Remi's legacy, "There is a hole in our hearts that will never be filled and our family is forever changed. We miss her terribly already."

On Sept. 29, the Maywood police announced that "the puppy of Remi's half sister," a 9-week-old bloodhound named Phoenyx, had joined the department and would receive several months of state training.

"The best way for our beloved Remi’s legacy to live on, is for it to actually live on," wrote the police.

Meanwhile, Tong Cheng was sentenced in August to 28 years in New Jersey State Prison for aggravated manslaughter. "The State hopes the conclusion of these proceedings provides comfort to the victim’s family as they continue to cope with the loss of a promising young man,” said Assistant County Prosecutor Adam Salzer.

On Nov. 11, Nichols said it would have been Remi's sixth birthday, and he presented some photos from his partner's puppyhood and life.

He wrote, "We miss you ever day, Rem."

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