Its not as if she was dead but it's that she CHOSE to disconnect even though she was at a better place at the later part of the story. She only "reconnected" when she saw that news article in the original story, if it weren't for that she even wouldn't bother looking for him. Plus she kinda blamed him saying "you also didn't look for me even though you had the chance". Blaming the kid you abandoned is such a bad move imo