Yes, this sort of thing happens, and we have rules in place because of it. If the current "chief" (owner) has not been active (no logins) for 3 months or longer, and is not a BES participating blogger (Aspirant or Professional plan), anyone can claim that tribe on a first come first serve basis and continue on from there. No previous posts or members are removed from a tribe during exchange of ownership. To be fair to our valued moderators, active moderators of an abandoned tribe have first priority to claim the tribe (after 2 months of the chief's inactivity), followed by all other Snapzu members (after 3 months of the chief's inactivity). You can claim a tribe by posting to the /t/reclaimtribe tribe, or if you want to do it privately, you can PM /u/teamsnapzu directly.