Have you ever hitchhiked in a truck? Well, this cat has…
Francine, a calico cat who has called the Lowe’s in Richmond, Virginia, her home, recently went missing—only to turn up in the company’s distribution center a whole state away.
Originally a stray, Francine was drawn to the business by the mice. A store for home improvement, Lowe’s owns many items that attract mice and rats, such as grains and seeds. With the amount of mice piling up, Francine was drawn over, and now, she has called the Richmond Lowe’s her home for over eight years. She has been a beloved fixture there, where customers are always lined up to meet her. Often seen prowling around at the store’s seasonal area or the customer service desk, she goes out of her way to play with buyers and take pictures, offering love and affection wherever her paws lead her.
However, amidst the Christmas supply season in mid-September, she was found to have gone missing. For a few weeks, employees studied the security cameras, catching footage of her escape and coming to a conclusion that the chaos of supply season caused her to flee and board a truck. Over 250 cameras, drones, and animal-safe traps set up by the North Hampton Country Animal Control were utilized to find her, until one day, a camera caught her almost two hours away, at the Lowe’s Distribution Center in Garysburg, North Carolina.
Finally, on October 6, 2025, Francine was brought back home to the Lowe’s team, and thrown what they called a “Francine Fest”, which included loads of food, performers, and raffles. She was welcomed back to her home with open arms—a true symbol of family.
