My cat escaped. Please help cheer me up.

Ladies, my cat escaped tonight. I live in Seattle (West Seattle, to be exact). She jumped off the 2nd floor balcony of my apartment and went into the alleyway behind my building.

She was spotted under the dumpster of my building, so I went to try and catch her, to no avail. Some passer-by tried to help me but the two of us scared the kitty off. She went running through a neighbor's yard and disappeared.

My cat is 7 years old, never goes outside, except the balcony. She is a peke-faced Persian, tortie-shell with a lion cut. She has severe allergies and is covered in scabs right now from an outbreak.

Here is the craigslist ad I put up to hopefully find her. http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pet/3129739207.html

Any type of help is appreciated. I love this cat with all my heart and soul. I just started a new job two weeks ago, and cannot even take the day off tomorrow to help search for her.

:(

Edit: I poked my head into the alleyway just now, and saw her. There was a group of drunks in the back end of the bar next door and they ran across the street to see what I was looking for with my flashlight. Of course they scared her off.