Don't I just feel like a complete ignoramus; well played universe...well played.
I had just spent over two weeks on a single picture, and I somehow not only deleted the file, but the copy file of one of the characters that in the shot. It also had to be the one that I had spent the most time on, due to it being so difficult to work out the pose, colthes, etc. Got it looking how I wanted and was even happy with it........then poof! I don't know when or even how it happened but while I was working on the last character said character vanished without a trace.
Even though I know better; I like the complete featherbrain that I am I did not save