The inurnment service for Elizabethton K-9 Officer Yoris was held in Johnson City Friday morning.
More than 40 vehicles joined the motorcade. It left Tetrick Funeral Home in Elizabethton around 10:30 a.m., and arrived in the Washington County Memory Gardens just before 11 a.m.
Bristol Tennessee Patrol Officer Chesney Griffin and nine-year-old Auzia came out to show their support. Like Yoris, Auzia is a Belgian Malinois trained in narcotics.
"These dogs are such a big part of our lives that, to come out and honor him is the least we could do," Griffin said.
K-9 Officers and their handlers lined the parking lot as Patrolman Shane Darling, carried his partner’s ashes to their final resting place in the Adored Pets Cemetery.
The inurnment ceremony lasted less than 10 minutes. It was simple, somber, and difficult to watch -- for the Darling family in particular.
“[Yoris] was a member of the family, and of course now I feel like we've lost a member of the family," Darling said.
Yoris, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois, escaped from his kennel outside the Darling home last month and wandered to a field on Sunset Drive in Elizabethton.
Once there, the dog encountered a group of teenagers playing “air-soft,” a shooting game that uses toy air rifles.
What followed that initial encounter is under review by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Three boys were injured as a result, and Yoris was euthanized due to stab wounds.
T.B.I. Spokeswoman Kristin Helm could not offer any new information Friday. She said field agents will present their findings to 1st Judicial District Attorney General Tony Clark once their investigation is complete.
Clark will take the case from there, and decide if it merits any criminal charges.
For a video version of this report, click the play icon above.
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