Need a stack of company-owned Activation Locked iPads unlocked?

Prior IT management purchased ~79 iPhones and iPads and handed them out to employees with no MDM or tracking of any kind. Currently, I've got a stack of iPads that are all activation locked to former employees Apple IDs; none of which are interested in answering my emails. These were all purchased through Verizon and our current Business Manager portal seems to know that 79 devices were purchased through Verizon, but there are no details and no useful options.

I am hoping to get some of these unlocked and working, load MDM on them, and redeploy them into the field.

How would you go about unlocking a pile of iPads?