Thanks for posting the story, I love a happy ending. He was hanging it out for as long as he could, enjoying his bit of freedom, but wanted to be with you really.
They don't get lost. I takes a lot of faith to believe that if you leave them alone they will come home when they are hungry but I'm sure it would happen providing they avoided predators. Casper seems to know exactly where he is even when we take him out in the car. If we are going somewhere he has been before and likes, or when we are coming home he gets excited when we are close.
I think those that don't come home know exactly what they are doing and prefer, for whatever reason, not to be with the people who love them. Just my opinion.