1 of 2 | A cat named Francine is back at home at a Lowe’s store in Richmond, Va., after stowing away in a truck for an 85-mile ride to a distribution center in North Carolina. Photo courtesy of Lowe’s
A beloved cat living at a Lowe’s store in Virginia is safely back at home after stowing away on a truck to a distribution center in North Carolina.
Employees at the Lowe’s store on West Broad Street in Richmond said the cat, Francine, has become a beloved member of the team and a local celebrity since the former stray found her way into the store eight years ago and became its unofficial mascot.
Francine went missing from the store in mid-September, and workers soon determined she had stowed away aboard a truck that departed the store and headed to the Lowe’s distribution center in Garysburg, N.C., about 85 miles away.
Workers and thermal drone teams searched around the distribution center, but there was no sign of Francine until her face was spotted on a security camera Oct. 4.
“I can’t describe the feeling when we realized it was her,” Richmond store manager Mike Sida said in a news release. “We all just lit up.”
Humane traps were set outside the distribution center, and Francine was captured just before midnight Sunday night.
Sida and store associate Wayne Schneider made the drive to Garysburg on Monday to bring Francine home.
“She looked at us,” Schneider said, “and gave this big meow like, ‘What took you so long?'”
Employees asked Francine’s public admirers to give her a couple days to rest and recover from her adventure before dropping by for a visit.
“From the start, we knew we’d do whatever it took to bring Francine home,” Sida said. “She’s part of who we are here.”
