I believe bitcoin cannot get corrupted but can be used for corruption.. For example hackers or terrorists asking for ransom to be transferred using bitcoin, this way it is used for corruption and it cannot be controlled or traced. The missing hard drive if it was eventually found would have been useless, because either it might have an outdated software or james would have forgotten his passwords or mnemonic phrases.. Even if it should be hacked the drive might be partially broken and decaying for many years  under those tons dirts