Deleted files

wow, thank you both for responses.

1. Usually every files lives on external hard drive. I did move I am pretty sure
2. Presets. Usually when I have some pre sets for the photos while they are coming in
3. Yes T7 external, and I agree sounds like a move
4. The movement came from the T7 into Lightroom classic
5. I am getting a sinking feeling

I do have adobe cloud and looked to see if any deleted files could be found but could not

When you Import using Move, then the file is not longer in its original location, it is now in whatever location it has been Moved to by LrC. After the delete, you can find the folder you moved the files to, they should still be in there (unless you also told LrC to remove the files from your hard disk, but you said you didn’t chose this option). So look in the folder where they were moved to by LrC. 

Hi, ​@Salty Kitten, I think I need to back up a bit.

1. Where are your LRC images kept: on the external hard drive or on your computer’s hard drive? You state you “usually just move them, not add…” so where do the images actually reside?
2. You state “I had a glitch today in Lightroom classic while importing and so decided to start over again with my oresets.” I guess that’s a typo, what’s an “oresets”?
3. Is the T7 an external hard drive? If not, what? BTW, if you “Moved” a file from any location, it will be gone from that location after the process is complete. If you “Copy” a file, it will end up being in both places. If you “Add” a file, it will remain in the original location and will be active within LRC’s catalog. So, it sounds like you “Moved” them.
4. Did you move, delete, transfer any files in your OS (Mac or PC),” or did you do all movement from within LRC?
5. If you removed files from LRC, but not from the disk, do you know where those files were being stored? If you do, than they should still be there.

Waiting for your answer to these questions.