JD-EE et al
I usually find things in "the last place I look", then again if one keeps
on trying other places after finding something it raises questions about mental status.
As to women being better at finding things;
True enough if the objects are in plain sight or where they belong, on the other hand maybe not so much if a true sieve approach is required.
I once found a girlfriends lost pay check which she hid while drunk because she was afraid of theft or that she would misplace it. (I did mention she was drunk...)
Starting at one end of her room I individually examined each and every item larger than a coin. (she could have folded it to fit it somewhere.)
When I began inspecting each tissue in a box of Kleenex she was making great fun of me untill I found the paycheck about 1/2 way through the box.
Even so I almost missed it because of the way the tissues were interleaved - it was a good hidding place indeed.
Guess the point is that in the current context it is impossible to say that the recorders are not somehwere that has already been searched since the "sieve" approach cannot be used.