RICHMOND, Va. β A beloved cat who has called a Richmond Lowe's home for eight years has gone missing, prompting a community-wide search effort that's gaining attention across social media.
Francine, known as the "Lowe's cat" to shoppers at the West Broad Street store, disappeared after apparently wandering onto a delivery truck.
"Pretty much everybody in this area knows that she lives here and runs the place," one shopper said in a video posted to the home improvement YouTube channel. "Like all my friends always say, 'Oh, let's check out the Lowe's cat when we come here,'" one shopper said.
One year ago, Francine gained wider fame when she was featured in that YouTube video that has garnered 17,000 views. But locals have considered her a celebrity for years.
"She threw out the first pitch at the Flying Squirrels game," Chas Nabi said. "Or at least she was supposed to," added Elise Gilmore with a laugh.
Gilmore and Nabi say visits to the Lowe's store on West Broad Street always meant a friendly encounter with Francine, a feline that wandered into the store 8 years ago and has been cared for by employees ever since.
"She always loves a little pet. She's always there to greet you with a little meow, and she just brings joy to everyone's face. She's very special," Gilmore said.
But on Friday, the two discovered that Francine was missing. They say store employees seemed just as baffled about her whereabouts.
So, the two started an Instagram account and within a few hours, it had 400,000 views.
"We had a Lowe's employee act as a whistleblower and spill the whole story that they had seen her last on security footage walking onto the back of a semi truck at this landing dock behind us on the 18th and had been driven to the regional distribution center in Garysburg, NC," Nabi said.
Gilmore says she spoke with a manager at the distribution center on Sunday morning.
"And they said they actually did have a cat that they saw on the 20th on the truck. So they say they first saw the cat and they shut the doors," Gilmore said. "Their plan was to get the SPCA involved to come and pick the cat up, but then an employee, who was not aware of the situation, opened it up and she ran out into the distribution yard."
Word is quickly spreading on the "Where's Francine" social media account. Even Richmond's mayor and Virginia's governor have been tagged. On Sunday, the Richmond SPCA offered to send volunteers and a psychic medium reached out.
"I called her a meow-ium. Well, actually that was his term," said Gilmore. "Yeah, a meow-ium," Nabi added.
The Richmond SPCA says it plans to send volunteers if it can get permission from Lowe's to set traps.
WTVR CBS 6 has submitted requests on Sunday for comment from both the Richmond Lowe's store and corporate headquarters.
The pair remains hopeful about finding Francine and returning her to her Richmond store home.
"It's been really amazing to watch the entire community come together with this outpouring of support for Francine. She means a lot to Richmond," Nabi said.
"I mean, Francine is the glue that holds Richmond together," Gilmore said.
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