tamsicle You can look at your Account Settings to see if messages are set to automatically delete from the trash when you close Thunderbird. If that option is not selected, look in "Trash" to see if your messages are there. Look in: Tools > Account Settings > Server Settings > Message Storage If that box "IS" checked (Empty Trash on Exit), then Thunderbird will empty the trash when you exit the program. In that case, the messages are gone - forever. If that box is "NOT" checked, then you should simply review the "Trash" folder (single left click on the icon) to see if your messages are there.