Unable to reset password

My wife's phone opened up to a screen that said "the phone was lost or stolen....." Tuesday morning. Have no idea why. There was more info that eluded to the possibility of all data being deleted. I called Apple. Her Apple ID password was marked as invalid. Have no idea why. We got to the point of recovery that required the knowledge of a "trusted phone number". Apple gives you the last 2 digits and you are required to supply the other 8 digits. We have absolutely no idea as to what the 8 digits could be. I have tried all the phone numbers and variations I could think of. No luck. Although Apple Support has been wonderful to work with, the only option they can offer is to establish a new Apple ID and Password. That would work except that all data that was on the phone and will be lost. Although the information is in the cloud it is not available because it is under the original Apple ID. Does anyone know another way to reset the original password?