Local’s favorite stray cat suddenly vanished overnight — then they found a major clue from a warehouse security footage

Locals at a Richmond home-improvement store were used to seeing a familiar cat weaving through plants and resting on bags of soil. So her sudden disappearance quickly became a quiet mystery among those who cared for her. She had been part of the store’s daily rhythm for years, always slipping between aisles as if she belonged there more than anyone else. The usual routine shifted when she vanished without warning, leaving workers to wonder where she might have wandered. The story was later shared when the search had already taken unexpected turns. What began as a simple hope to find her became a determined effort shaped by clues, guesses, and one crucial piece of warehouse camera footage. 

As reported by CBS News on Friday, December 5, 2025, store manager Mike Sida had long considered Francine a special part of the team. He remembered how “she wasn’t quite as friendly in the very beginning,” but in time she became a store favorite. Wayne Schneider, the employee who cared for her most, felt something was wrong the moment she went missing in September 2025. "I just had a gut feeling that she was gone," he told the outlet. He suspected she had slipped onto a freight truck headed for Lowe’s massive distribution center in Statesville, North Carolina. Schneider explained that if she had escaped the facility, “we would never find her,” yet he was determined not to give up. Warehouse managers Preston Bullock and Taylor Taconet joined the search, saying they treated it like “a missing family member.” Taconet further added, "Our mission is to solve problems. So we're going to jump on top of it." They tried everything to catch the feline, from a Fancy Feast to a thermal drone and a high-end 360-degree camera, hoping for the smallest sign she was still there.

For days, nothing worked, until a piece of surveillance footage finally showed a glimpse of Francine near a line of cargo trucks. That grainy image was enough for Bullock and Taconet to track her down, a moment Taconet admitted left her emotional. "I could have cried, I'll be honest." Schneider said he was “so overjoyed” that he teared up. According to Lowe's, Sida and Schneider headed to North Carolina with their small rescue team, bringing the feline's favorite food and her dish to tempt her. They set up cameras and seven traps, hoping she would wander in. Close to midnight, she finally walked into one, and they carefully loaded her into their car and brought her home on October 6, 2025. Now she is once again roaming the aisles, slipping past customers, and settling into her old spots. "It's good to see her back where she belongs," Sida shared.