What to think about my cat...Dead or ran away PLEASE HELP!?

I took in a stray cat a few months ago, most adorable cat I have ever seen. He loved us, had a routine of coming in and out...was always @ the window in the morning to be fed. I've had problems with my neighbor...let me rephrase SERIOUS PROBLEMS! He is an older man who is psychotic, threaten me with a golf club. One day my cat disappeared..a few days after an incident which involved me calling the police. This cat was well known for being around the complex if not in my apt. He was not neuteured and it is that time of year females are in heat. The vet told me he maybe out with a female cat. So what do I think...My cat disappears last see the morning of his disappearance around my window. My neighbor is psychotic and would probably do something to hurt me. Somebody guide me the right way...I don't care how brutally honest you are, if it seems like he is dead after reading this I would like to know.