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Richmond, VA – After a harrowing 85-mile journey and a community-wide search, Francine, the beloved feline mascot of the Lowe’s store on West Broad Street, is safely back home in Richmond. The adventurous cat, who had become an unofficial fixture at the store for eight years, managed to stow away on a truck bound for a distribution center in North Carolina, sparking a frantic effort to bring her back.
Francine, known for her friendly demeanor and a knack for making customers and employees alike feel welcome, was noticed missing from her usual haunts in mid-September. Store associates quickly pieced together that their furry friend had hitched a ride on a departing truck heading to the Lowe’s distribution center in Garysburg, North Carolina.
The news sent ripples of concern through the store and among Francine’s many admirers. Employees at the distribution center, along with thermal drone teams, launched an extensive search around the facility. However, the elusive Francine remained out of sight until October 4, when her distinctive face was spotted on a security camera.
“I can’t describe the feeling when we realized it was her,” said Richmond store manager Mike Sida in a news release, expressing the collective relief. “We all just lit up.”
Hope renewed, humane traps were set up around the distribution center. Francine, ever the clever survivor, was finally captured just before midnight on Sunday. The very next day, Sida and store associate Wayne Schneider made the 85-mile drive themselves to personally escort their celebrity cat back home.
“She looked at us,” Schneider recounted, “and gave this big meow like, ‘What took you so long?'”
Now back in her familiar territory, Francine’s human companions are asking her many well-wishers to give her a couple of days to rest and recover from her unexpected road trip. After all, a journey of that magnitude can be quite taxing, even for a seasoned adventurer.
“From the start, we knew we’d do whatever it took to bring Francine home,” Sida affirmed. “She’s part of who we are here.”