I had the same thing happen with my claim out of Detroit. One day ebenifits said "Gathering Evidence" the next was Appeal is Possible
Decision Notification Sent...when I called the VSO/Attorney's office to ask what was going on, they called the VBA. VBA told them a claim under my SSN was never filed. When informed that the claim was sent certified mail to back up the efiling someone did a tap dance and said it must have been lost...keep in mind this claim was viable though ebenifits. Then when the VSO rep introduced herself as a retired Brigadier, the claim was magically found and reentered at the original filing date. It's been over a year and still in the gathering evidence stage. It has gone to the developmental letter process three times. From what I understand multiple "letters" can be developed and if more information is needed the claim will go back to the previous development stage...so it can be a back and forth process. Although I would love to hear about a decision, I'm glad they are not just pushing it throug with a denial just to clear back log.