[defrost]

> This thing has been missing for months.

It was lost in transit at most 20 days ago between January 11 and January 16.

It was logged as missing five days ago on January 25.

> Their current detection strategy is to post a picture of a watch battery on Facebook and hope it just magically shows up.

This is patently false.

> We're a little deficient in technology here in Australia

Perhaps surprisingly Australia is one of the world leaders in international radiometric mapping having expertise going back 50+ years having mapped multiple entire countries (Australia, Fiji, Mali, and a number of others).

See (for example): https://www.publish.csiro.au/EG/EG09025 (2009)

Perth is home to several radiometric mapping companies and capable airframes.