hope
I have "lost" two rifles (complicated stories) and been lucky enough to have both returned. I "found" my Dad's Ruger Super B. .44 one morning after he left it overnight on a rock at a parking spot where we hunted. So they can be found.
Right before I retired, we searched for a NAA mini revolver that had popped from a guys belt while he was hand picking sweet corn. Several sweeps, including one with a pretty high dollar metal detector. No luck. Pretty sure that one got picked up by somebody, there was a lot of people traffic at that locale.
A pal lost a Seecamp .32 from a coverall pocket in the pasture behind his house while riding an ATV. Not found that one, but it's up there, somewhere. So they can be lost.
Good luck with your dilema, there are few worse feelings.