Famous Cats' Deaths Confirmed: Michigan Couple Looks For 2 Others

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI – More than a month after a fire destroyed their home and many weeks searching for their world-record holding cats, a local couple has made the sad announcement: Arcturus and Cygnus died in the fire. The cats' deaths were confirmed on Wednesday.

The cats' remains were found as their owners, Will and Lauren Powers, excavated the final room of their basement, the couple announced via Facebook on Wednesday evening.

"Cygnus and Arcturus remained hidden our home and succumbed to smoke inhalation," they wrote.

The couple, however, remain hopeful about their third cat, Sirius, and Yuki, a friend's cat who was staying with them at the time of the fire in November. There was no evidence that the cats were in the home. "Our search for them continues ... there is a significant reason to believe they are both alive," the couple wrote on Facebook.

The Powers' home in the 34000-block of Quaker Valley Lane was destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of Nov. 11. Will Powers woke to fire alarms going off, and scrambled to get the cats out of the house. Unable to find them and needing to escape the fire himself, he left windows and doors open so that they might escape.

In the days and weeks after the fire, the Powerses continued to search for the cats, at one point offering a $25,000 reward for each of the cats. There were sighting reports of them, but they were never found.

These were not normal cats, but famous felines. Cygnus and Arcturus were both in the Guinness Book of World Records. Cygnus, who holds the record for the longest tail, at 17.5 inches long, and Arcturus, the world's tallest cat at 20 inches tall.

In their Facebook post on Wednesday, the Powerses remembered the pair of cats. "They were the best friends in life and it gives us a small amount of peace that they were together at the end of their amazing journey on this earth."

The couple also thanks friends and family for their support over the past month since the fire. "We need positive thoughts more than ever as we continue our search for Yuki and Sirius."

File photos by the Associated Press