iPad bricked at activation screen

I'm already expecting the whole it's obviously stolen mass response but am still turning to here to try and ask for help.

This is my situation. I work at a wireless store (name being withheld due to legally probably not allowed to say. but we'll go with the red one...) but we have an ipad for store use. Our iPad is second hand from another store that has been completely dissolved. Here starts my issue.

The iPad is locked because I don't know the password for the apple id that a random employee for that store decided to use. Th id makes perfect sense. The store name and number @gmail. Password was never given to us. And even with our company's wide reach, we cannot get a hold of said employee as he no longer works for us and that store as I said is no longer in existence...

The iPad has been completely restored, but being iOS7 it is still linked to the apple id that was previously linked to it. So ok fine. let me get into the gmail account and reset the password.

Not possible. that gmail account no longer exists... so the reset options are being sent to limbo with no way of recovering the password. I am completely up the creek here and am being offered no help from the company. Their idea is to replace the device but that is going to come out of my bottom line. which i really do not want...

Is there anything i could possibly do to remove the link to the apple id which is defunct and doesn't even exist anymore....

That's another problem

dhlizard said:

Nope, it's not bricked !

That's Apple's new activation protection against others using stolen iDevices as their own.

If you have some sort of ownership papers, you could try the Apple Store for assistance.

Click to expand...

There aren't any ownership papers to speak of with the tablet. It's not a massively pressing issue, just annoying and trying to save a couple hundred dollars from this months ledgers lol. The transitioning of product from that store to all others in the district was done with zero regard to any paperwork. I can only assume it is lost or shredded and thrown away at this point.