thats a real bummer...sorry to hear that. I hate to say it but you probably won't get your stuff back. I've had almost the same thing happen with USPS, they are completely devoid of any accountability for doing a crappy job. they mis-delivered a very expensive thing which just vanished into thin air..
As for how to make money, all I can share is what I did: Learn to program. It's a horrible, frustrating experience, the best way to learn is with a gun to your head when you have no choice. But, if someone said, "I want you to spend 6 months on a really irritating and complicated thing that you might hate at first and won't make sense some times, but after that i'll give you $70,000 (possibly way more) a year for life and pretty much let you make your own schedule", you'd do it right? not only that, but you can make your own games, mod stuff on a whole other level and have a skill that pretty much will always be useful.
Honestly, I went to college for 2 year and got nothing out of it, after that, I locked myself in my dad's house for 6 months with a PHP book and a SQL book and a decent laptop. I built projects as if my life depended on it. My first actual programming job was a stressful nightmare, I thought I was gonna fail every day, but now, 10 years later, that 1.5 years of struggle is still paying off big time. More and more places are hiring developers to work from home, I am never to worried on any job - even if i screw up big time - because there are literally like 10 other jobs I could start tomorrow if I just call a headhunter.
one other thing i'll say, try to make things good with your family, having just lost a family member who i just made nice with about a year prior to his death, i can say i'd be filled with regrets if i had not made peace when i had the chance.
