Well the mystery has been solved. It seems that my husband loaned it to a friend (without letting me know) and they kept it for about two years. Had they either returned it or had he remembered, there would have been no mystery but neither was the case.
For the record, this is not the first time he has 'lost' something. Several years ago we bought a camera for our son's birthday. Since all of my hiding places were known, I asked Julius to hide it. Two years later he found it!
After the kids left home we remodeled their rooms and moved things around. I asked him to find a new home for our holiday decorations. Again, two years later, I 'accidentily' found them!
The moral would be not to leave things in his hands but aside from his not always remembering to tell me things, my own memory has faded into his
Truly a sad state of affairs.
I did call my son. He is working on the specific wording of my apology!