Cat hunt: Oliver, four, vanished from his home in Boothby Graffoe last October and has not been seen sinceHis picture went up on ' missing' posters for miles around.
Every shed, garage and rooftop in the village was checked, and checked again. But they never found any trace of Oliver the whiteface tabby, not even a paw print.
That was seven months ago, and most owners would long since have given up hope of ever seeing their beloved cat again.
But not Sue Machen. She sent for the pet detectives.
In a matter of hours, a crack team from Animal Search UK was conducting door-to-door enquiries, interviewing people in local shopping centres, and using mobile phones and two-way radios to co-ordinate Britain's biggest and most extensive missing moggy hunt.
The search went global with snapshots on the organisation's website, while appeals were also made in local newspapers.
In a move that mirrors recent police operations to find missing children, they even drafted in a psychic.
The mystic Sarita Gupta, from Bangalore, was asked to conjure up a picture of where Oliver was likely to turn up.
Meanwhile all the resources of the specialist pet hunters - who have previously been called in to track down a missing pet spider, a boa constrictor, a peacock, ferret and runaway donkey - were focused on what happened after Oliver disappeared one Saturday in October from the rural Lincolnshire community of Boothby Graffoe (population 392).
Pet detectives: Sue Machen, centre, has paid £1,000 for this team of sleuths from Animal Search UK. They have also hired the services of Bangalore-based psychic Sarita GuptaYesterday as the men in orange coats regrouped to pursue the latest potential leads in an ever widening hunt, Sue said she was prepared to blow all her savings if necessary on the massive operation to bring Oliver home, which has already clocked up something in excess of £1,000 at a rate of £15 an hour plus VAT and expenses.
'I don't mind what it costs,' she told me. 'The money isn't as important as getting him back. He's never been away for more than a couple of hours at a time but there's been absolutely no sign of him since the day he disappeared.
'I just feel he is being looked after somewhere or adopted by someone who doesn't realise he's not a stray. I can't accept that something awful has happened to him.'
Sue, a 56-year-old nurse, took on the five-year-old cat after a relative of one of her patients said they could no longer look after him.
She initially used Animal Search UK after Oliver went missing to get his mugshot on its website and to help with posters and adverts.
When that proved fruitless, she called them back to mount a pro-active investigation.
In an operation not unlike that conducted in the Ace Venture Pet Detective movie, founder Tom Watkins, a former West Midlands police officer, assembled a four-strong team to spearhead Operation Ollie.
Founder Tom Watkins, a former West Midlands police officer, assembled a four-strong team to spearhead Operation Ollie 
Mr Watkins and an assistant chat to passersby who may have seen the felineSo far they have spoken to hundreds of people, minutely searched an area several square miles, and driven around a wide area fanning out from the village.
He admits that calling in a psychic 'might sound a bit strange', but explains that she has a proven track record on a previous case.
'We did a search in Birmingham recently where the owner contacted her and was told the cat would be found where children play.
'We then got a call from somebody - and when we searched a local garden, the cat was found trapped in a Wendy house. It was quite remarkable.'
Sarita is helping Operation Ollie from afar - gratis - by liaising from India through the previous clients.
Her vision is that Oliver is in a household where the man is away a lot, possibly on RAF duty.
Hence Mr Watkins and his team are visiting RAF bases in Lincolnshire to ask if they've recently acquired a mascot.
Mr Watkins, who started the business in 1999, conducts each hunt like a missing person inquiry.
But he concedes: 'It's not rocket science. It begins at the last known sighting of the animal and gradually expands, both geographically and investigatively.
'For us, it's professional,' he said. 'But for the owner of a missing pet it can be a very emotional time. For some people, their pet is their life.
'The best possible outcome for us, of course, is to find the pet safe and well. The best moment for the owner is when we are able to reunite them.
'We also have a confidential telephone number for people to ring. If someone runs over an animal, we don't really want them ringing up the owner and saying "I squashed your cat last week''.
'So they can call us, and we try to find a way of preparing the owner gently for the bad news.'
And Ollie's chances? 'We have high hopes,' he said. 'And we'll leave no stone unturned. We're just waiting for that one call that will bring a happy ending.'
source: dailymail
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