Thank you very much for the reply and your posting as well!
Who knows there very well could be an issue that is recent, which has not been seen before and would yet need to be investigated as to why users may be experiencing this issue.
It seems that while some symptoms are not the same, some others do appear to have produced a similar result for you.
Again as always, I will just reiterate the importance of regular backups for any important information, hopefully to multiple locations.
Any example or thought of data loss is always a stark reminder of this critical step of taking control of your own data.
Appreciate the info 