What a great post. One of our cats went missing a few months ago and we did everything we could think of to find him. We put up posters with a photo, contact number and offering a reward, I wrote out loads of flyers to post through all the doors in our road and surrounding roads, we looked every night calling for him, knocked on everyone's door, posted messages on a Facebook local for sale group, called every local and neighbouring vet and rescue centre, called the microchipping place (Petlog?), joined a lost and found site... By the time it hit a week (and I know that's not hugely unusual but it was for him) I honestly thought that was it. Then we got a call late that night from a lady working at a nearby bar saying she'd seen him just then so hubby went to look and talk to her too. He'd gone by the time he got there as a car spooked him. He knocked on the door of the Samaritans to ask them if they'd seen him and the cheeky devil walked up to hubby meowing at him as if to say "you gonna take me home or what" ha! I cuddled and cuddled him and didn't want to let him go when they came home! He was a bit scratched up so we kept him indoors for a bit, reluctantly let him out about a week later. He hasn't wandered off since. We live in a square with a Salvation Army community centre in the middle, he usually sticks to the back here but he must have wandered off and got confused. I was terrified because he has a silly habit of sitting under cars and he'd been run over (luckily and amazingly without injury aside from a big scratch) just before we moved so I was thinking the worst.
I love all our cats but he and I have a closer bond, and it's unusual for him to stay away longer than the night. He usually returns home each evening but occasionally stays out the night but never ever has he been away that length of time.
I sincerely hope he doesn't do this again or any of the others!