A peacock that escaped from a Milford farm has become a local sensation, appearing in backyards and farms across the area.

Watch the report in the video player below: Escaped peacock 'Bob' becomes local celebrity in Milford after leaving farm

Debbie Foster, owner of D&D Farms, has owned peacocks for 16 years and currently has about 35 peacocks and peahens on her property.

Last month, Foster took one of her peacocks out of its pen to treat a sinus problem when the unexpected happened.

"He jumped up and hit me in the face so when he did that, I jumped back and he went off into the woods," Foster said.

In the three weeks since the escape, dozens of people across Milford have spotted the peacock, sharing photos and videos on Facebook. The community even gave him a nickname.

"There was a guy on Facebook who kept calling him Bob, so my husband goes 'that sounds like a good name. His name is Bob,'" Foster said. "So that's how he got his name."

Foster has received about 50 calls about Bob, who has mostly been visiting farms or finding bird feeders in residential areas. One of those visits was to Diana Ellis' backyard, approximately 5 miles from D&D Farms.

"I look up, here it is, giant peacock right on the railing," Ellis said.

Ellis' encounter with Bob happened just over a week ago when her cat alerted her to the unusual visitor. She quickly snapped photos of the peacock on her back porch.

"It's definitely the most interesting thing that's happened around here in a while," Ellis said.

While Foster appreciates the community's excitement about Bob's adventures, she's hoping to bring him home soon.

"He's greeted all these people. A lot of people haven't seen peacocks before. Guess what? It's their first encounter and they've loved it," Foster said. "It's kind of cool that everybody gets to see him, but we're ready for him to come home."

If you spot Bob the peacock, Foster asks that you do not try to catch him yourself. Instead, call her at 248-249-3657.

This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Changes are coming to Corktown, with Michigan Avenue set to get an overhaul.

The road will be completely redone from Campus Martius Park to I-96. The project plan was first met with some criticism from Corktown business owners and residents. Among the issues were a lack of parking, limited lanes and removal of the iconic bricks.

Watch our September coverage on the plan in the video player below: Progress vs. preservation: Michigan Avenue reconstruction plan discussed in Corktown

However, after months of working toward a solution, Michigan Department of Transportation and city of Detroit officials presented updated plans to the community.

We modified the design to put in two traffic lanes in each direction. The other thing we heard was make Michigan Avenue safer slow traffic down, make the sidewalk crossings shorter, just make it more of a main street than a thoroughfare, MDOT spokesperson Rob Morosi said. Right now, it's thoroughfare. You see a lot of big trucks rumbling through here, you see a lot of vehicles at high speeds coming down Michigan Avenue thats going to stop.

MDOT and the city held another community meeting Wednesday night, presenting their current plan to Detroiters. It includes more pedestrian crossings, bike lanes, wider sidewalks with outdoor cafe seating and coils in the road to wirelessly charge electric vehicles. It comes as the design is nearing the finish line.

Michigan Avenue is getting older. The more you delay, the older it gets, the more expensive it gets," Morosi said. "So, we want to get this project moving.

Construction is expected to start in 2026 and the total cost of the project will be $70 million. Officials say a redo of the road is much needed and hope it spurs further investment in the growing Corktown area.

Anyone who has driven down Michigan Avenue over the last couple years probably has recognized it's pretty beat up. The bricks are not in great shape, it's a pretty bumpy ride, it's not exactly an inviting street to cross, said Sam Krassenstein, deputy director of Public Works for the city of Detroit. "It's gonna be all new infrastructure, so new sidewalks, new roadway and it's gonna be a lot nicer than what's out there today.

Krassenstein says they secured a $25 million grant to help fund the project, with the recently finished Michigan Central Station project being a major catalyst. The Detroit City Football Club is also soon building a new soccer stadium in Corktown.

Related video: Corktown reacts to new Detroit City Football Club stadium coming to their neighborhood Corktown reacts to new Detroit City Football Club stadium coming to their neighborhood

The timing is really perfect for us to come in and reinvest in all that infrastructure around the corridor to make it easier for people to go and patronize all these great businesses, bars and restaurants and to be able to get in and out of the downtown, Krassenstein said. We think that our investment is going to help drive further investment and development in the area.

Taurean Thomas was one of the few dozen local residents who showed up to the meeting.

I'm actually excited about it," said Thomas, who grew up in the area and now owns Corktown Originals, a local business that also supports local organizations. "It does need a change, it does need a refresh, but that refresh has to be done appropriately.

Those in attendance all came with their own concerns.

I'm concerned about the protected lanes," said Detroit resident Jacob VanDyke, who relies on his bike for transportation. "I worry about sight lines at intersections.

Bob Roberts owns McShanes Irish Pub, located on Michigan Avenue in the heart of Corktown. He was also in attendance and has been following the project closely.

Every restauranter knows as soon as you put a 'road closed' sign in front of their business or construction sign, you lose 40 to 50 percent right off the bat, Roberts said. "It's really, really scary with small business right now.

Roberts is also president of the Corktown Business Association, which had pushed back on MDOT's original proposal to reduce lanes and street parking. However, months of debate led to a mutual decision.

We're extremely happy with it. We had eight major issues with MDOT and they solved seven of the eight, Roberts said. They are doing everything they can to ensure Michigan Avenue is never shut down.

The one remaining issue is the iconic bricks on Michigan Avenue, which will still be removed. However, they will instead be reincorporated onto sidewalks or different areas along the corridor. New bricks will be added to some parts of the road.

"We're happy that theyre going to bookend Michigan Avenue with it (bricks)," Roberts said. You'll get that same feel that rumble under your tires.

July 2024 coverage: Corktown business owners, residents fear MDOT'S plan to rebuild Michigan Ave. will ruin nostalgic vibe Many fear MDOT plans for Michigan Ave. will ruin Corktown's nostalgic vibe

Theres just going to be new bricks on the road. So, it's just going to be in a narrower section, but they're still going to be out there, and the bricks that are out there today, we're looking at how can we repurpose those and salvage those," Krassenstein said. It's part of the aesthetic and character and one of the many things that makes Corktown stand out."

What they have right now I think is really cool with the bricks pulled up and being used in other places, Thomas said. "It's the last piece of the original Michigan Avenue. It's a really important part of our history here in Corktown.

While many of these stakeholders like the new plan, business owners still worry about the two years of construction still ahead.

We're excited but in order for us to truly celebrate, were going to have to survive the next couple years, Roberts said. "We understand what's at the end, but we want to make sure everyone that's here now is here to enjoy the end."

A Mount Clemens family is thankful to be alive after Macomb County prosecutors say a teenager broke into their home in the middle of the night and detonated an explosive device.

Seven people were inside the home, including three young children. Thankfully, everyone was able to escape unharmed, but the home now has extensive damage.

It happened round 3 a.m. on April 10 at a home on Eldredge Street. Delvon Lee was in the home at the time with his 9-month-old son.

You just hear a big old boom, like it was just loud, Lee said. It sounded literally like someone threw an M-80 in there. Just it blew up. When I went downstairs, first it was like a little fire. It wasn't nothing big.

But that fire spread quickly and engulfed the front of the home. Lee, his son, his son's mother and grandmother, a 2-month-old, along with a cousin and her 9-month-old all ran out the back door and hopped a fence to safety.

You just see the whole front of this just burst in flames," Lee said. "It was crazy."

Videos and photos taken after the fire show the extensive damage inside the home. The babies were checked out at the hospital, but everyone was OK.

My main concern was making sure my son was good and everybody was out the house, Lee said.

Soon after the escape, it became clear the fire was intentionally set. Five days after the fire, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office announced a 17-year-old was taken into custody, accused of breaking into the home and lighting an explosive.

Lee says the teen had briefly been talking with the female cousin who lived in the home and she refused to go out with him earlier that night.

This is a kid ruining his life over a girl he met five days ago, Lee said.

The home was a rental, but the family lost many of their belongings that were burnt inside the home. Theres now an online fundraiser to help support.

The teen accused of being responsible for this is still in custody at the Juvenile Justice Center. Prosecutors are discussing charging him as an adult. Hes due back in court on April 17.

We will make a determination about the totality of charges against the alleged perpetrator following a thorough review of all available evidence, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said. This was an extremely serious crime that endangered the lives of seven people and caused substantial damage to a home. I am especially outraged that the lives of two infants were put a risk. The Macomb County Prosecutors Office will not tolerate this reckless disregard for human life and private property.

A new initiative in Waterford Township is putting scammers and residents on alert.

Police have placed large warning signs next to Bitcoin ATM machines at nearly 20 local business, cautioning customers before sending large sums of money to potential scammers.

It comes as more scammers are directing their victims to use Bitcoin ATMs, which makes the transactions nearly impossible for police to trace.

Owner of Crescent Lake Mobil Tony Attisha is used to seeing his customers bring in cash but a few weeks ago, one customer caught his eye.

She had a stack of cash, stack of $100 bills, Attisha said. When you see an older lady walk in with stacks of cash, looks like she just came from the bank, your instincts go off.

Attisha watched as the woman went straight to the Bitcoin ATM machine and quickly began depositing money. He knew a scammer was likely behind it.

Theyre told not to talk to anybody, so as we try to tell them hey, be careful, it's a scam, they refuse to talk to you, Attisha said.

Getting nowhere, he called Waterford police and Detective Austin Moll showed up in minutes.

I came right here, I identified myself, she stopped and we were able to get her back $7,000 she put in the machine. She was in the process of putting over $16,000 in the machine, Moll said.

Moll says these cases happen at least once a week in Waterford. Scammers make contact with victims, often elderly, and convince them to take money out of their bank.

In that specific case, they told her the people at her bank were in on it, and they told her not to tell anybody why she was there, not to talk to anybody that approached her, Moll said.

Molls cases have ranged from $500 to $500,000 and the money is almost always lost. Since cryptocurrency is harder to trace, its gaining popularity with scammers.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, scams using Bitcoin ATMs have increased tenfold, with $114 million stolen in 2023. People age 60 and older were more than three times as likely to fall victim.

They have little warning signs on the machine already, but nobody is looking at them, so I wanted to make something big and bold that people will actually look at, from the police department, Moll said.

In the last week, Moll has put up signs in front of every Bitcoin ATM in Waterford. He says each local business owner has been in full support, hoping the scams come to an end

Could be my mom, could be anybody with all the money in their life theyve worked really hard for their entire life, Attisha said. We trained all our workers to look out for it so hopefully, it doesn't happen again.

Here are some tips to avoid scams:

Never click on links or respond directly to unexpected calls, messages or computer pop-ups Slow down: scammers want you in a rush Never withdraw cash in response to an unexpected call or message Real businesses and government agencies will never demand money in only Bitcoin or gift cards