Has there been a mass catnapping in the American northeast, or is something else at play?

Some 20 cats have gone missing without a trace in Bangor, Maine, leaving residents and officials perplexed and disturbed at the disappearances.

Authorities have not discovered any remains in the search for the missing cats.

The situation was realized in late August, as up to 16 cats were reported missing over the course of a month. The number of missing cats soon increased.

“There was never this kind of spike of this kind of activity,” Matt Morgan, the owner of missing feline Eloise, told WCSH-TV, “and the animals that disappeared were either found later, or it just wasn’t at that rate.”

For the owners, the disappearances are a source of anxiety and unease.

“There’s really a hole in my heart without her,” Anne Foster, the owner of another missing cat, Frankee Blue Eyes, told WCSH of her missing cat.

“It’s like you’re in grief,” she later continued, “but you can’t really grieve, because you don’t know if they’re actually gone.”

Trisha Bruen, Bangor’s animal control officer, told WCSH that wildlife is to blame for the city’s unprecedented spike in cat disappearances.

According to Bangor Daily News, Bruen pointed to a bobcat that was recently hit by a car, suggesting it could have been responsible for many of the cats’ disappearances.

Owners of the missing cats, and at least one government agency, are casting serious doubt on the wildlife theory.

“The question is, where’s her collar?” Foster asked. “Where’s her remains, if it was an animal?”

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife dismissed the wildlife theory altogether, pointing out that the area has been a longtime home for predators, but only recently became something of a Bermuda Triangle for cats.

“We do not believe that wildlife is responsible,” MDIFW Communications Director Mark Latti told Maine Wire.

“The neighborhood has had foxes, coyotes and fisher there for years without incident, yet during this recent time period of about two months, 16 cats disappeared.

“If it were wildlife-related, you would not have seen that sudden surge of cats disappearing.”

While one of the vanished cats has since returned home after being reported missing, the locations of the other 19 remain unknown.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.