A method and system for locating and/or eliminating missing parent files within a primary storage device. The method includes identifying a placeholder file on a primary storage device, the placeholder file having an offline reference and being associated with file identification data, identifying a secondary file on a secondary storage device using data in the offline reference of the placeholder file, identifying an online reference of the secondary file, determining if the online reference of the secondary file properly references the file identification data of the placeholder file, and updating the online reference of the secondary file so that it includes the file identification data of the placeholder file.