My daughter s 6 year old cat went missing about a week ago. We assumed he ran away but now there s an awful smell. Is it him?

He s an indoor cat, neutered & chipped. He s only 6 & was acting normal so there was never any health concerns. He did love being outside on our patios & has occasionally hung around the front door for a peek of the outside world. Naturally, though we didn t see him escape, when he disappeared & didn t turn up for dinner or water or to use the litter box, we started to believe he had run away. We did check the usual hiding places, including an open closet, but turned up nothing. Over the past couple of days, I ve noticed a very odd odor coming from said closet. I looked again but didn t see anything. My daughter mentioned he d used the bathroom in there (unbenounced to me) so I know I need to do a deep cleaning very soon. But now I am starting to get really fearful & cautiously curious - what if he curled up out of sight & died & the smell coming from the closet is him? There s no flies or bugs hovering around that I ve seen. I am also feeling guilty about how I hadn t noticed anything was wrong if that s the case. And I am afraid of what I will see & how sickened it may make me if I find him. Not to mention, I am a full time working single mother. My daughter is always with me & I don t want her to see her beloved pet like that.

Sorry, this got long. But can anyone offer any advice or words of experience in how to possibly find him, what to do with him & how to cope? I m ashamed & embarrassed to ask people I know. Am I alone in this experience??