Thieves locked me out of my Apple ID account

I was mugged and the thieves forced me to unlock my iPhone. They then went ahead and changed the Apple ID password and set up Recovery Key (I did not have this enabled before). Without the device, password, or Recovery Key, Apple Support is suggesting that I have no way to reset the Apple ID or even block access to the thieves.

Is there no means of identity validation I can provide (government proof of identification, proof of purchase, old backups tied to that Apple ID, etc.) here? It seems insane that not only did I lose access to all my data and accounts, but that Apple is allowing the thieves to operate as me as they seek to drain my bank accounts and maintain access to all my Apple data.

Any advice here would be much appreciated--this is a nightmare situation and I can't bear to think I've lost my entire digital identity to these thieves.