Can’t use new iPad Pro.

Hi, a few years ago we had a house fire and amongst a lot of other things my wife lost her iPad. She didn’t use it a great deal so we didn’t rush to replace it but this Xmas I bought her a new iPad Pro. She’s tried to get it started up and logged in but can’t remember her password from a few years ago and apparently she’s still signed in to her old one. She’s sent a request which took 24 hours to come back and when it did it says she has to wait a further 13 days for a reset ( or something similar ). I’m all for security but this seems crazy. Surely someone must be able to see that it’s not been used for 3 or so years ? Is there any way around this that anyone could suggest ?

Thanks a lot.