Why can't we copy settings from "missing" photos?

I have most of my files stored on external hard drives in my office. I work on the road frequently, so most of the time, most of my photos are considered by LrC to be missing. Fair enough.

The develop settings are stored in the catalog though, so those details are present with me always. Why can't I go to one of those missing photos and copy the settings in order to apply to another image I do have with me?

The information is there, but Lightroom doesn't allow it. It seems like an unnecessary block and it's frustrating to me. As far as I know, there's one way to do it, which is to create a dummy file, trick Lightroom into thinking the file is on a local drive, and then copy to settings. But then I have to remove the fake file and remember to find the real one when I get back to my archive drives. So this requires a bunch of steps and ends up with Lightroom pointing to files on separate drives apart from the folder they actually belong in. It's doable, but seems like we should be able to copy them directly without the end-around.

I regularly find myself in a position to want to take settings from old photos to apply to new ones, and it isn't always predictable enough to have created a preset ahead of time. I'd love it if that restriction were removed.

It's definitely not a new thought, but rather something I've had in the back of my mind for years and years. Since I've only recently become active in this forum, I bring it up now. I'm curious if this would be useful to other folks or if I'm missing another workaround.