So glad you found her! What a little devil. Cats can be so independent, but you could have killed her for a while, all the time not wanting anything to happen to her!
One time I moved to a new home and was going there for the first time with my cat in the car. I had to stop at a small shopping center and he got out. I thought he was dead with all the traffic and he had never been to the new house so expected never to see him again. To make a long story short, about a week later, he showed up at the house. I never knew how he found it, he must have smelled me is all I can think. This cat was very smart, he was like a dog, he would sit, lie down, roll over, sit up and beg all on command-all the tricks a dog would do.