Where did it go?

Last night I started to run the Cat 5e cable from the living room down into the basement. That process begins with cutting out a hole in the drywall to put a box into to mount the face plate the connectors will connect to. That hole also allows you to put a drill down into it to make a hole for the cables. I should have known things were going to be bad when I started making that hole and hit a stud.

I put my hand-dandy 54" long drill bit into the hole, making sure to keep it out of vapor barrier of the insulation in the wall (it's an exterior wall), got it roughly vertical and began to drill. All was good, and I stopped when I punched through the wood and hit something that sounded and felt like concrete. Since this is an exterior wall, that makes sense, the foundation walls are poured concrete. Great run into the basement, and find the drill bit, attach the Cat 5e to it, pull the drill bit back out of the hole and I'm in business. Except... Where's the drill bit?

There is a wood I-beam over the foundation wall, and I was expecting to come in behind it, but with only little 1.5" holes every foot in the I-beam, I can't seem to find the drill bit. It seems that there is 6" of insulation behind that I-beam, which is right for the exterior wall (I was fearing that there might be a second wall cavity behind the one I'm looking at), and I see where the heating duct goes up into the living room, so I'm pretty sure I'm in the right spot (measured and everything). I'm pretty sure the bit is back there, just waiting for me to grab it, but after an hour with a coat hanger bent in various ways, and even a new hole drilled in the I-beam, I still can't find the drill bit.

I gave up, drill still hanging in the living room (I certainly don't want to pull it out and then have to try to fish a 1" bit back through a 1" blind hole). I think this has just become a two man operation. Now to find that second man... I suppose a woman would work too, but that's a completely different problem. :-)