Question about Outlook Express

I just logged into my account after being away for a while and all of my emails have been deleted.

I have been using your service for over 16 years and my account had many important and sentimental messages. I never expected my entire account to be deleted and am absolutely devastated.

Please let me know if there is anyone at Hotmail who can help. I read on the forum about there being an inactivity period, but there must be backups somewhere.

Thank you!