Virginia Lowe’s cat found after epic 85-mile journey to North Carolina

GARYSBURG, N.C. — Francine, a beloved store cat at a Virginia Lowe’s, is back home after escaping as a stowaway to North Carolina in September.

According to store employees, Francine is a feline employee of the month at their Richmond, Virginia, Lowe’s.

When she went missing, finding her became a top priority. The community-ran Instagram dedicated to her search attracted over 30,000 followers and lots of speculation on her disappearance.

“The community got involved when they found out, because we really didn’t know at first where she was,” Wayne Schneider, Lowe’s department supervisor, said. “We thought maybe she was hiding.”

After checking the store’s cameras, employees discovered Francine had wandered into the back of a delivery vehicle and was on a journey roughly 85 miles away to a distribution center in Garysburg, North Carolina.

“I was pretty confident that we would find Francine,” Store Manager Mike Sida said. “It was just gonna be a matter of time. It was gonna be on her terms, so we had to just be patient.”

Northampton County Animal Control set humane traps at the distribution center, and signs with Francine’s picture were posted throughout the facility.

After an over two-week search, use of thermal drones, setting up several humane traps and scouring over 246 cameras, the cat was found.

Sida and Schneider traveled an hour and a half away to the distribution center with Francine’s favorite food to lure her out. Additional cameras and humane traps were set up, and Francine was eventually captured safely.

“We were so elated,” Schneider said. “It was almost a miracle.”

Francine’s return was celebrated by the Lowe’s team and the Richmond community, highlighting the strong bond between the store and its unofficial mascot.

“She’s more than our store cat – she’s part of our family,” Sida said.

Francine now has a harness with a tracker on it, so her Lowe’s coworkers can keep tabs on her.

ABC News contributed to this report.

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