BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - What began as an unusual call to police about a dog discovering human remains has grown into something much more personal for one Center Point family.Paulina Mejia says she and her husband, Orlin, were doing everything they could to follow the rules, even helping law enforcement after their dog, Chicarin, uncovered what turned out to be human remains in their neighborhood. But two weeks ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Orlin, taking him hundreds of miles away to a facility in Louisiana.“We didn’t expect this to happen again,” Paulina said.For her, those words carry two meanings. The first is about her husband’s detention — the second, about their dog’s uncanny pattern of making gruesome discoveries.At home, Paulina is left caring for their young daughter. “It’s hard for her not seeing her father around,” she said. She notices her daughter searching for her dad whenever his voice comes through a phone call.“Yes she has because we have audios of videos of all of us together and when she hears him or once he calls us she starts looking around the house looking to see exactly where he’s at,” Paulina explained.Her little girl turns 1 on Tuesday. Instead of a joyful family celebration, Paulina is trying to figure out how to mark the milestone without her husband there.“He was released on parole back in 2022 I believe or 2023. He was adjusting his status. We were trying to get everything done the right way,” she said.According to Paulina, Orlin is now being held in the same ICE detention facility where he spent five months back in 2022. In the middle of her interview with WBRC News, his call came through.Chicarin’s latest discovery adds another layer to the story. The dog has found human remains in the neighborhood four times. Paulina says she and Orlin had even been working with police to add trackers to their dog in case it happened again. Normally, Orlin handled those situations. This time, she was the one meeting officers at the scene.“She would just bring it out to him and I was never there when that happened until this time,” Paulina said.On top of caring for her child, she is also running the couple’s home remodeling business on her own.“He was a big help to me and our community and our small business. We do home remodeling and it affected us very much. He left about five houses behind and I have to be in charge of that now,” she said.Paulina says she isn’t asking for much, just support for Hispanic and Latino families like hers as they work to reunite loved ones.Get news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here.Copyright 2025 WBRC. All rights reserved.