In reply to Postmanpat:
If they are definitely not in iCloud unless Apple help to recover from their backups of data*, then I think the only options are 1. From local backup if they are backed up elsewhere also, or 2. Use recovery software.
Does she backup to iTunes? If so, she can select a backup to restore from. Backup first just in case and then restore from an earlier backup.
Has she recently done an update? Could this have caused a display issue? The contacts must still be in the memory somewhere if they auto complete. If she backed up now and restored could this help?
Ive not used recovery software so at your own risk, but, for example,
https://www.imobie.com/phonerescue/ advertise recovery of lost contacts.
* I read somewhere that Apple have a window of time where recovery of data is possible from server backup. May have picked this up wrong though so don't rely on that!