Why would AirTag in busy location suddenly stop updating location?

i am aware that an AirTag needs a FindMy device near. But as my title and post explain, we live in a busy area. There are people walking/biking/driving in almost every possible area. So it really doesn’t make sense that the AirTag is in the middle of all this and isn’t updating, or my cat wouldn’t move, or even if she was deceased again the AirTag should’ve updated

Hey sorry I never found my cat but I actually did end up finding the AirTag. It was in a fenced construction lot w lots of trees and bushes they were starting to bulldoze, AirTag about 1/4 mile from the sidewalk and fence (on her collar that got snagged on a branch). They weren’t doing active construction so that was why it never updated. A few weeks after this post I suddenly got a notification the AirTag was live, I drove over and construction ppl let me track the AirTag and I found it in the middle of the site. The site manager said he himself was walking around the site after some of it had been bulldozed and so his phone while he was walking slowly was what had to update the AirTag.

so from I learned from that was the workers driving past the AirTag on the bulldozer did NOT connect to the AirTag. I also did some tests myself to see how AirTag updates, driving 5-10 mph w the AirTag on the sidewalk also did NOT update it. So someone literally has to be there in the vicinity for at least a few seconds/minutes

-before the construction site stuff I had printed the map of her AirTag, it showed like a 2 mile circle and said the AirTag is somewhere in this circle (turned out to be right around the middle of that circle). I marked off what streets I physically walked on, walking very very slowly or walking 15 ft at a time and stopping for a few min to give the AirTag a chance to update.

so my only input to you would be to look at a map of your neighborhood, and where there are maybe wetlands, fenced off private areas, that are bigger than 30x30 yards and go through those areas (with your phone ofc) to see if the AirTag is there. But also don’t completely depend on the AirTag info either, I had focused the majority of my posters on the wrong side of a large street, I wish I had put posters up on the other side (and posters were the only thing that got me help. Nextdoor, Facebook, Ring sites I posted frequently but EVERY. Single one of my phone calls about 1 a day were from ppl that saw my actual posters)