My understanding is that Pickett was sought by commanders/ subordinates on that day and was nowhere to be found. It's been suggested that he hid or cowered behind that house that still sits smack in the middle of the open fields his men traversed.
I have heard he fumbled or disappeared later too. Five Forks? If I recall, I read the story in a bio of AP Hill or Winfield Hancock.
The best of the stories is Armistead/Hancock. Although Francis Barlow and John Gordon's exchanges and later friendship are a great tale.
I believe that you are confusing Gettysburg with Five Forks, where when Picketts commanders went looking for him he was nowhere to be found. He had left his headquarters to attend a fish bake hosted by General Rosser. From everything I've read, Pickett was on the field at Gettysburg exactly where he should have been.