Francine the Lowe's cat found 100 miles from Richmond
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Francine, the beloved resident shop cat at the Fan District Lowe's, has been found inside a Lowe's regional distribution center in Garysburg, North Carolina.
- She's now safely back in Richmond after nearly 20 days missing.
Why it matters: It took professional trackers, video surveillance, thermal drones, the work of five animal shelters across two states, one tireless two-person task force and Richmonders' collective nonstop attention to find her.
Here's how it happened, according to Lowe's corporate office.
For weeks, Lowe's staffers had been scouring feeds from the 246 cameras at the Garysburg distribution center, which was Francine's most likely location after she hopped on a Lowe's truck headed there in mid-September.
- In addition, a Lowe's maintenance worker there was checking the humane traps set out by a North Carolina animal rescue nightly. Lowe's also brought in thermal drones to scan the center.
- It was crickets, for weeks.
Until Saturday, when a white kitty with a gray and brown tail and face was spied on one of the feeds.
- Francine.
A team from the Fan Lowe's — manager Mike Sida and Wayne Schneider — made the 90-minute drive down to North Carolina Saturday, taking Francine's favorite food (Delectables lickable cat treats) and her food dish in an effort to lure her out.
- But no dice.
Then, just before midnight Sunday, the good news came: Francine had walked into one of the humane traps.
- Sida and Schneider got up at 4am Monday and made the drive yet again, but this time when they arrived, Francine "jumped into the waiting arms" of Schneider, per a social post from Lowe's.
- "She looked at us and gave this big meow like, 'What took you so long?'" Schneider said, per the post.
What they're saying: "She's more than our store cat — she's part of our family," Sida said.
And now she's back in Richmond with her whole family and ready to get back to her regular schedule of napping on Lowe's merchandise — and bringing joy to RVA.
What's next: Francine spent Monday at the vet (clean bill of health, per Lowe's), Elise Gilmore, one half of the Where's Francine task force, tells Axios.
- She'll be back to her schedule on Tuesday, and the task force is planning a Francine Fest for Wednesday at Mainline Brewery.