Francine, sporting a new Apple AirTag, returned to her adopted home — Lowe’s on West Broad Street — in early October. (Photo courtesy Lowe's Corporate)
Francine, the Lowe’s cat who went missing for more than two weeks, is safe and back to ruling her dominion on West Broad Street, most likely somewhere in the garden center.
But not before giving Richmond a collective heart attack.
The DIY kitty disappeared in mid-September after climbing onto a delivery truck headed to a company distribution center in Garysburg, North Carolina. In response, seemingly all of RVA freaked out. A Reddit thread dedicated to her disappearance began galvanizing community members; then an Instagram page, @wheresfrancine, launched and bonded thousands — more than 39,000 followers and 17 million views as of mid-October — in the search for the city’s lost paws.
Employees at Lowe’s were at first reluctant to discuss the missing calico, according to Francine advocate Elise Gilmore. So, naturally, Gilmore and Chas Nabi, another friend of Francine’s, created @wheresfrancine to get the word out. They also made the 90-minute trip to the distribution center in late September and started a petition demanding that Lowe’s use more “tactical measures” — including thermal drones — to find Francine.
A couple of days later, that’s exactly what Lowe’s did.
“It was really empowering and encouraging to see a community stand up for something that we all cared about,” Gilmore says of the search and rescue effort. “Richmond is a city that is full of weirdos and freaks, but there is one thing that everyone cares about — and that’s Francine.”
The Richmond SPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, SOS Cats RVA, Richmond Animal Care and Control, and dozens of volunteers worked to bring Francine home, says Tamsen Kingry, chief executive of the Richmond SPCA, who credits Gilmore with spearheading the search.
“Animals are really a unifying force, and Richmond is a community of animal lovers,” Kingry says. “We’re all desperate for good news.”
Francine struck such a chord with the Richmond community that roughly 4,000 people showed up for Francine Fest — an event to celebrate her return held in early October — at Main Line Brewery on Ownby Lane.
In a world filled with so much anger and division, it seems Francine offered not only a momentary reprieve, but a reason to come together.
“I think people really like looking for the light in the dark,” Gilmore says, “and Francine is the light.”
