A family dog in Alabama has dragged home human remains four times in less than a year after finding them in nearby woods, turning a quiet neighborhood into the frontline of a chilling homicide probe.

Deputies responded on Aug. 9 after a homeowner in the Center Point area reported that their 2-year-old German Shepherd mix, Chicarin, had once again brought home what appeared to be part of a human skeleton, according to WVTM-13, AL.com and WBRC.

The remains were recovered and sent to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office. Investigators also searched a nearby wooded area, where they found additional remains, WVTM-13 reported.

AL.com reported that Mejía found the bone in the front yard of her home and recalled thinking only one thing: “Oh, she did it again.”

It’s the latest twist in a series of grim discoveries involving Chicarin. The investigation began on Aug. 20, 2024, when Mejía’s husband spotted the family’s two dogs, Chicarin and another named Chicarone, who is no longer with the family, playing with a skull on the roadway next to their home, AL.com reported.

“He just saw her with the other dog playing with a skull,” she told the outlet. “My husband was like, ‘This does not look right.’”

“He called the police,” she added. “They didn’t believe it was human remains until detectives came out here.”

An autopsy revealed the skull had a gunshot wound, per the outlets. A DNA profile was created but did not match anyone in national databases.

Then, in December 2024, Chicarin returned with a human tibia — which forensic testing confirmed belonged to the same person as the skull, the outlets reported.

On April 10, Chicarin was found with a femur in the yard, and a search of the property also turned up a human mandible — or jawbone — that also belonged to the same victim, according to AL.com.

Authorities are now testing the Aug. 9 remains to determine whether they also belong to that same victim, the outlets reported. Investigators have placed a tracking device on Chicarin to try to pinpoint where she’s finding the bones, according to WVTM-13 and WBRC.

“I am actually very surprised and proud of them because they have helped for over a year to help discover this body,” Mejía told WBRC.

Mejía described the ordeal to AL.com as “upsetting.” “You don’t know who the person is, or how long he has been missing for my pup to be bringing this stuff home all the time,” she said.

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She also told AL.com, WBRC and WKRC that she and her husband, Orlin, had been cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation — but then, a little over a week ago, she said, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained him and took him to a facility in Louisiana.

“Now it’s my time to experience it [finding the remains],” Mejía, who was born in Texas, told AL.com. “It’s been very hard.”

Chicarin has become something of a local celebrity, with social media users making jokes ranging from the dog joining the police force to being somehow responsible for the death. “There are comments saying, ‘Oh, the owners may be the killers,’” Mejía told AL.com. “That’s definitely not fun.”