'Fred's Coming Home!' Stolen Pet Rooster Returned to Overjoyed Florida Woman

An officer from the Oviedo Police Department in Florida returned Fred, a rooster who had disappeared from a local shop, to an overjoyed woman on February 2.

Emma Reichert is the owner of My Oviedo Store, and she posted to Facebook on February 1 that someone had stolen her beloved rooster Fred after her staff realized he was not in his cage.

A woman on Facebook reached out to Reichert and informed her that she had seen a man chasing chickens around the parking lot outside her store.

Reichert got in contact with a neighboring store, which was able to provide security footage that Reichert then took to the Oviedo Police Department. The police were later able to identify the bird-chasing man as Adrian Cruz.

In the footage of Fred’s return, a voice yells, “Fred’s coming home!” The rooster is handed to Reichert, who holds him close while she says he must be hungry because he feels like he lost two pounds.

Cruz told the officers he had been chasing the animals because he did not want them to get run over, and Reichert has dropped the charges for theft, according to a police statement. Credit: Emma Reichert via Storyful