That happened to my sister-in-law a couple of weeks ago. Although they looked all over the property for her, they couldn’t find her, but a day later, they found her under a bush near the backdoor she escaped from.
We really don’t have cats figured out at all, as much as we’d like to think we do. You can call them incessantly, jiggle their favorite toy or food dish, bring out the most fragrant sardines, and they will just sit in hiding watching you make a fool of yourself if it is not in their mind to be found.
They really are from another planet.