Missing Golden Retriever of West Springfield, Remi found dead, “family finally has some closure”

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Remi, a missing Golden Retriever who was last seen in January was found dead in West Springfield on Tuesday.

The 7-month-old puppy of West Springfield was last seen on January 3rd in the Cooks Park playground area and was wearing a red collar with white bones on it with his leash still attached.

Many community members rallied to help the Blaser family find him. West Springfield Police and Hawkeye Aerial Systems used their drones to conduct searches in areas where he may have been hiding without any success. A reward was also set up in the chance that someone may have taken him in thinking he was a stray.

Family in West Springfield searching for missing Golden Retriever

Police urged homeowners to check their properties and to be on the lookout. “Check your property, look under the deck, look behind the shed, look in the bushes. Remi could be trapped or stuck with the leash,” said Sergeant Joe LaFrance of the West Springfield Police Department.

The family also worked with Missing Mutts Search & Rescue, along with Missing Dogs of Massachusetts. On Wednesday morning, the nonprofit organization, Missing Mutts Search & Rescue of Somers, Connecticut posted on Facebook that Remi was found dead in a West Springfield backyard.

CEO Melissa Vancini told 22News, “He was scared. When people were seeing him, he was shaking in the middle of the road. He was on the road every time he was seen. if he’s hiding under a structure or under a thick blanket of like a pine tree or something like that, the thermal drone will not pick up his heat signature. >

According to the post, Remi was found on Tuesday behind a garage, between a fence and under a pile of thick brush. When he was brought to a veterinarian where they determined he may have been hit by a vehicle and ran to hide in a small space. They also indicated that he had been deceased most likely since the first couple of days he was missing. “The chicken hopped the fence and found Remi in the back of this person’s shed,” said Vancini. “If the chicken had not hopped the fence, nobody would’ve found Remi, the owner came over to get her chicken and that’s how she went under the brush and found him there.”

“They said he had back-end trauma from being hit by a car and where he was, it just looked like he had just run so fast and tucked away,” she adds. “He tried to get through a fence and he couldn’t and he just stayed there.”

The sad, unfortunate news has brought closure to the Blaser family and stated to Missing Mutts Search & Rescue, that they “thank everyone for EVERY SINGLE OUNCE of love, prayers, and searching of the many areas we needed to clear.”

Vancini added, “You don’t do a search party, you don’t call out your lost dog’s name. They get scared, they think they’re in trouble. every crinkle, every leaf, they think it’s somebody coming after them so they’re going to hide.”

West Springfield Police Sergeant Joe LaFrance told 22News that the department is “very sorry to hear the news about Remi, but it’s good the family finally has some closure.” Vancini wants the community to remember to report any sighting you see of any dog running, take pictures and if you happen to hit a dog and don’t see where they went, report it. Searches like these need the cooperation of the community.

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