AOL emails disappeared?

[+ Charlie]

My spouse called a company to find out why something he ordered hadn't been delivered, and they said they had sent an email to his AOL mail acct to explain why. He rarely visits that acct, so I went into it to see if their email was there--and the acct was totally empty!! Not a thing in any folder, except an email in the inbox headed "Welcome to AOL Mail", dated today. Does anyone have an explanation of what could have happened? He has had the acct for a couple of years, and I had no trouble getting in using his regular password.

[Lookin]

Not sure what you mean by "He rarely visits that acct" but, if it's been more than 90 days, this article says AOL stops delivering new emails. If it's been more than 180 days, they apparently delete the mailbox altogether. Not very user-friendly, and I hope that's not what happened to your spouse.

[+ Charlie]

It has probably been a couple of months, but not 180 days. And the mailbox seems to be open and able to receive mail (I sent a message, and it appeared immediately in the inbox), just completely empty--nothing in the inbox, sent mail, spam, etc.

[+ Charlie]

Interestingly, I just checked my gmail acct, which I apparently haven't visited since last year, and it appears untouched.