Gents- many thanks for the feedback and support! I returned to the site and the construction superintendent was kind enough to assist; I focused at the point the drone lost connectivity.
The good news: Found it next to a pile of construction rubble.
The bad news: It hit a building at 35 feet and crashed to the concrete below- fairly heavy repairs needed.
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Four mistakes I made:
1. At 42 flights I have enough basic skill mixed with overconfidence that I flew NLOS.
2. As an RF engineer of 25 years (unlicensed radios), I had brain lock and pushed the radios way beyond their capability. Details upon request but in hindsight, I should have known better than to push the radios that hard.
3. When the controller requested to RTH because the drone lost connectivity, I cancelled. I thought I was better than the smarts built into a Mavic Pro.
4. I read the flight map wrong- it showed a green line to Home, but it never left the point where it lost contact and crashed. I was searching in the wrong places.
A bit of an expensive lesson, but less than a lost drone. Lessons learned, I'm humbled, and will now be more conservative in my flying. You break the rules at the peril of your drone and wallet.
Thanks again gents for your support and experience. Fly safe and fly smart!
Neil
Dallas, TX.