Kitty Post September 2026

Magnolia with her new parents, Kaylei and Bryan!

Beltsville kitten used as decoy in attempted bank robbery now has forever home!

You may have heard our crazy story on the evening news recently – someone stole one of our rescue kittens and tried to use it as a decoy in an attempted bank robbery. This all happened on July 13 at the Pet Supplies Plus store in Beltsville, where Beltsville Community Cats (BCC) has an adoption center to showcase adoptable kittens and cats – including sweet young Magnolia, a 3-month-old tuxedo kitten. A man who had been visiting the store for a couple weeks decided it was a good idea to grab the habitat key when staff were busy elsewhere in the store, grab our kitten, run out of the store and across the parking lot to a nearby bank, hand Magnolia to a bank manager as a diversion, and write a note to a bank teller saying, “Give me all your cash.”

When BCC got the call that morning that Magnolia had been stolen, we immediately rushed over to the store and saw many police cars with lights flashing going to the same shopping center. We followed the police cars and soon found out that our kitten was inside the nearby PNC Bank.

BCC president Stephanie Stullich said, “Once we had Magnolia back safe and sound, her story turned from a potential tragedy into one that entertained millions of people all across the world. Everyone seemed to have a one-liner – from those who claimed that “Magnolia was the mastermind” behind the attempted robbery to those who responded, “No, Magnolia is innocent!”

One TikTok personality named Scott Cagle even created a “southern rap” song to tell the story of Magnolia’s bank caper (https://bit.ly/4qqGMob). He then followed that up with a second, very sweet song encouraging people to support BCC’s work with community cats (https://bit.ly/46cbQi0), which Magnolia’s followers might enjoy as much as we do!

BCC is thrilled to report that Magnolia’s story has a happy ending: She was adopted into a forever home with two loving parents and another young kitten to play with.

BCC thought Magnolia’s initially terrifying experience might have a silver lining – surely some of the millions of people worldwide who were amused by her story would find their way to BCC’s website and be inspired to make a small donation to help provide medical care for “Magnolia’s friends.” That did not happen. But we are still hopeful that Magnolia’s unbelievable story will tug at a few heartstrings among the Beltsville residents who know our work best.

BCC receives many calls from local residents asking us to take in kittens born in backyards, behind apartment building dumpsters, and in industrial areas. Left outside, most of them wouldn’t survive. We also find abandoned cats who clearly want to find their way back to a safe indoor home like they once had. Some are sick, some are injured, some are traumatized. All need and deserve love and care.

BCC is a network of volunteers who collectively do their best to help these cats. Those that are adoptable (https://bit.ly/4ghS3lT) are placed in foster homes, to the extent that we have space available. Feral cats that don’t want to be “rescued” are neutered and vaccinated and returned to their outdoor homes. To do this work, BCC and other animal rescue groups all need community support, especially from people who can foster or adopt rescue kittens and cats or donate funds to help provide life-saving medical care (https://bit.ly/45CudN2) for cats that need it. If you feel so inspired, you can visit us at www.beltsvillecats.net!

In the meantime, Magnolia is now happily living a quiet life with her new family. Despite receiving 21 adoption applications for Magnolia, BCC chose to stick with the local couple who had applied to adopt Magnolia before she became an internet sensation. Her new parents Kaylei and Bryan said, “Magnolia has retired from her life of crime, and she will not be giving any more interviews!”