If he was put in a car and transported to a location, even within a mile or two, this would greatly impact the abilities of most dogs. Even being carried could have an impact on the dogs ability to follow his trail. There are a few who can car trail, but this takes specific training and then results are going to be greatly dependent on external factors.
Searching a two mile radius in wild terrain is not the same as searching 2 miles down a street. I'm not defending them, but without knowing the details and seeing the logs and the POD that they were working on I hate to judge too quickly. Searching even a 2 square mile area is searching almost 1300 acres or almost 56,000,000 feet. It's a lot more ground to cover than it seems.
