iPad Pro 5th gen iOS 18.7.1 20k+ photos disappeared randomly

I noticed today thousands of photos and favorites have disappeared off of my iPad 5th gen iPad os 18.7.1. They were mainly photos air dropped over from my previous iPad Pro and iPhone. I did not delete them, I did not accidentally hide them. They are just gone. All remaining images showing up are now listed as “recently saved”. I believe it is mainly older import images that are gone. (20k+ gone 11k remain) Many images I had favorited, the heart icon is now unchecked. Some are gone some were simply de-favorited but are still there. I have been unable to determine what they all had in common.

Plenty of free space still on the iPad 1tb+ General storage settings still shows what I think is the correct amount of space being used. I do not use iCloud, never have, never will, and will not turn it on. I’m pretty sure the images are all there, just not showing up. Is this an ownership/permissions issue the OS is imposing on the images? How do I reset it?