Missing Nellessen family dog recovered

An 8-year-old shih tzu belonging to the Nellessen family of Arlington Heights that went missing during Tuesday night’s thunderstorms has since been found, a family friend said Wednesday.

Arlington Heights police said the dog, named Chip, was home when George Nellessen was bound, gagged, beaten and killed last Tuesday.

Authorities have charged Nellessen’s 19-year-old son, Mathew Nellessen, and three others — Chicago residents Marlon Green, 20, Armon Braden, 20, and Azari Braden, 19 — with first-degree murder and armed robbery.

After Arlington Heights police placed the dog in the care of a Schaumburg animal hospital, a family friend claimed him and was providing care when the dog escaped around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The friend, who asked not to be named, posted fliers throughout the Arlington Heights neighborhood where George Nellessen lived and at local animal hospitals hoping someone would turn him in.

A Prospect Heights woman found Chip and dropped him off at the Care Animal Hospital in Arlington Heights shortly before noon Wednesday. Employees there recognized Chip from the flier and name tag.

“That dog went from North Arlington Heights all the way to the Prospect Heights library, crossed Palatine Road and Rand Road and almost made it home, which is absolutely amazing to me,” the family friend said.

Arlington Heights Police Cmdr. Kenneth Galinski said Chip was in good condition when police found him in George Nellessen’s bedroom. The dog was initially seen by the person who called 911 sitting in front of the closed door of the basement family room where Nellessen was murdered.

“He was scared, there was no doubt,” Galinski said.