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As I understand it, ICANN requires registrars to keep detailed records of any change requests, correspondence, and status changes for domains for something like five years.
I'd suggest posting the domain name here, or on a domain stalking forum; some people monitor domains themselves, and keep records, which might shed some light on what happened.
If it turns out it was a normal expiration, there's nothing you can do, unless the name was trademarked, which I'm sure you would have mentioned. Well...actually you could try an ICANN name dispute anyway, alleging that the person who re-registered it did so in bad faith since you'd used the name for business purposes in the past...I don't think I've seen that approach taken, but if it's an unusual name like "phils-house-of-panties.com" or something (as opposed to a generic name), perhaps it would work; ICANN's arbitrators can be arbitrary.
If it was lost to some reason other than expiration (registrar error, registrant fraud, or whatever), then there are a variety of legal recourses you could try.
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