‘Where’s Francine?’ $2k offered for missing Richmond cat suspected to be at NC home improvement store

GARYSBURG, N.C. (WNCN) — A missing cat from Richmond, Va. has a team of people looking for her in North Carolina.

There’s a $2,000 reward for her return, but the catch is, the people looking for her think they know exactly where she is.

Her name is Francine. She showed up to a Lowe’s Home Improvement Store on Broad Street in Richmond years ago and has lived there ever since.

Locals there said Francine is a staple in their community, drawing in customers to the Lowe’s store, and even running for mayor one year. But earlier this month, she went missing.

Richmond local Elise Gilmore is one of the people behind wheresfrancine on Instagram, a page dedicated to finding the cat. They gained over 10,000 followers in three days.

“Just having to walk past the garden center was so depressing,” Gilmore said. “She’s always so easy to find, just sitting on top of a box, having her little cat nap.”

Gilmore and others looking for her believe she hopped onto a truck headed toward the Lowe’s Distribution Center in Garysburg. They think she’s somewhere on that property now.

A group of them traveled to Garysburg to personally look for Francine. But because of company safety concerns, they can’t go on to the property to look for her. They said they’re working with Lowe’s and local animal control to find their beloved community cat.

Chas Knabi, another Francine fan, said, “Renovation stress, dealing with the contractor, every time I needed to go to Lowe’s and pick something out or pick out tile or something, [it’s] really nice to just take a quick break and go pet this sweet cat who’s just curled up on boxes and ready to take a treat or play. She’s precious, always there to greet you.”

In a statement to CBS 17 News, a Lowe’s spokesperson wrote:

“We are pet lovers at Lowe’s and Francine holds a special place in our hearts. She is a local celebrity and dearly loved by everyone in the community, from our customers to our store associates. We’re doing everything we can, including bringing in experts skilled in this work, to help us find her and bring her home safely.

“We are grateful for the outpouring of support from people who love her as much as we do. Due to safety concerns, we have to limit the number of people we allow on the grounds of our working facilities. The store team had Francine microchipped to help in case of a situation like this. We thank everyone for keeping an eye out. If anyone sees her, we urge them to contact the store.”

Gilmore and Knabi want to get more people on the property looking for Francine. Right now, they say there’s only one trap there set for her.

“If we were to have more people on the ground in North Carolina at the distribution facility, we could have people checking the traps every two hours,” Gilmore said. “If we had 30 traps [instead of] four, the likelihood that she’d be in them is way higher.

If you have information on Francine or want to help, you can reach the group looking for her on their Instagram account wheresfrancine.