All the more reason to notify your neighborhood when you pet goes missing and ask them to check garages and sheds. Also, talk to neighborhood kids and to your mail carrier. They get all over and might spot your pet. ALso notify Animal Control and go there and check IN PERSON frequently. When a friend's dog went missing, I also found out who picked up dead animals along the roads (Hwy Dept) and gave them a copy of her flier. Help your pet find their own way home by puting something you have worn or a used litterbox outside in a weather protected area like a porch or car port to give them a scent trail to follow. If your pet is microchipped (and it SHOULD be!!!!) notify the microchip registry that you pet is missing so they can flag the file. If you don't find your pet and give up on getting it back, if you ever move or change your phone number be sure you notify the microchip registry . Pets have been found years later and states away! And by all means, notify everyone and take down your posters when your pet is found!
I've heard of those GPS tracking collars and I wish I could afford one but they're realy expensive. If I could afford one, next time I trapped a nursing mother cat, I could follow her to find the kittens!