diff --git a/scripts/media-verify.py b/scripts/media-verify.py
index 87e2861..346177c 100755
--- a/scripts/media-verify.py
+++ b/scripts/media-verify.py
@@ -27,9 +27,14 @@ beside a running scanner can even fail as "database disk image is malformed".
 
 Neither server holds a row for everything the journal renames: a `.log`, `.cue`
 or cover image has no row to land in, so its absence is not a fault. The report
-therefore breaks the missing rows down by extension, and `--ignore-ext` names
-the extensions this server does not index, which are then counted separately and
-kept out of the verdict.
+therefore breaks the missing rows down by extension, and `--ignore-ext` names the
+extensions this server does not index, which are then counted separately and kept
+out of the verdict. What is left is split by what the filesystem says, because
+the database alone cannot: a file still at its `src` is `REAL` (this pass's own
+damage), a file at neither path is `gone` (a later pass or the server renamed it),
+and a file sitting at its `dst` with no row naming it is simply something the
+server does not index. A row that still names `src` is none of these: it is the
+server's own stale pointer — a phantom — and it costs a re-scan, never a restore.
 
 Exit codes: 0 every move landed; 1 something is stale or missing (the details are
 printed); 2 the journal or the database is not usable at all.
@@ -174,20 +179,37 @@ def main():
         if at_src:
             stale.append(src)
         if not at_dst:
-            missing.append(dst)
+            missing.append((src, dst))
+
+    # The database cannot tell a lost file from one it never indexes: both read
+    # as "no row at the destination". Stat both paths, so the report separates
+    # the classes the runbook names — `REAL` is the only one that is this pass's
+    # own damage, and `gone` is a later pass or the server's own rename.
+    on_disk, real, gone = [], [], []
+    for src, dst in missing:
+        if os.path.exists(dst):
+            on_disk.append(dst)
+        elif os.path.exists(src):
+            real.append(src)
+        else:
+            gone.append(dst)
 
     print(f"{args.db_kind}: {len(moves)} moves checked")
     print(f"landed: {landed}")
     print(f"still at src: {len(stale)}")
     print(f"missing from the DB: {len(missing)}")
+    print(f"  on disk at dst, no row names it: {len(on_disk)}")
+    print(f"  REAL — file still at src: {len(real)}")
+    print(f"  gone — at neither path: {len(gone)}")
     if ignored:
         print(f"not indexed (extension ignored): {ignored}")
     if missing:
         exts = Counter(os.path.splitext(d)[1].lower() or "(no extension)"
-                       for d in missing)
+                       for _, d in missing)
         print("missing by extension: "
               + ", ".join(f"{e} {n}" for e, n in sorted(exts.items())))
-    for label, items in (("stale", stale), ("missing", missing)):
+    for label, items in (("real", real), ("gone", gone), ("missing", on_disk),
+                         ("stale", stale)):
         for path in items[:args.show]:
             print(f"  {label}: {path}")
         if len(items) > args.show:
diff --git a/tests/media_verify.bats b/tests/media_verify.bats
index a230dbf..340e32a 100755
--- a/tests/media_verify.bats
+++ b/tests/media_verify.bats
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ setup() {
         --share "$SHARE" --container /data
     [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
     [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 2" ]
-    [ "${lines[4]}" = "missing by extension: .log 1, .mkv 1" ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"missing by extension: .log 1, .mkv 1"* ]]
 }
 
 @test "--ignore-ext keeps a file the server never indexes out of the verdict" {
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ setup() {
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     [ "${lines[1]}" = "landed: 1" ]
     [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 0" ]
-    [ "${lines[4]}" = "not indexed (extension ignored): 1" ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"not indexed (extension ignored): 1"* ]]
 }
 
 # wal_case <db> — a Jellyfin database whose NEW row lives only in the
@@ -245,3 +245,38 @@ PY
     [ "${lines[1]}" = "landed: 1" ]
     [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 0" ]
 }
+
+# The DB alone cannot tell a lost file from a sidecar: both are "no row at the
+# destination". The tool therefore stats the two paths and separates the classes
+# the runbook names, so an operator never reads a `.pdf` as a lost film or,
+# worse, reads a real loss as a sidecar.
+@test "a file the database does not name that still sits at src is the pass's own damage" {
+    mkdir -p "$SHARE/Movies"
+    echo film > "$SHARE/Movies/Old.mkv"
+    move_row "$SHARE/Movies/Old.mkv" "$SHARE/Movies/Old/Old.mkv"
+
+    run python3 "$VERIFY" --journal "$JOURNAL" --db-kind jellyfin --db "$JFDB" \
+        --share "$SHARE" --container /data
+    [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
+    [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 1" ]
+    [ "${lines[4]}" = "  on disk at dst, no row names it: 0" ]
+    [ "${lines[5]}" = "  REAL — file still at src: 1" ]
+    [ "${lines[6]}" = "  gone — at neither path: 0" ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"real: $SHARE/Movies/Old.mkv"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "a file at neither path is gone, and a file at dst the server ignores is not a loss" {
+    move_row "$SHARE/Movies/Gone.mkv" "$SHARE/Movies/Gone/Gone.mkv"
+    mkdir -p "$SHARE/Movies/Sidecar"
+    echo cover > "$SHARE/Movies/Sidecar/cover.jpg"
+    move_row "$SHARE/Movies/Album/cover.jpg" "$SHARE/Movies/Sidecar/cover.jpg"
+
+    run python3 "$VERIFY" --journal "$JOURNAL" --db-kind jellyfin --db "$JFDB" \
+        --share "$SHARE" --container /data
+    [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
+    [ "${lines[3]}" = "missing from the DB: 2" ]
+    [ "${lines[4]}" = "  on disk at dst, no row names it: 1" ]
+    [ "${lines[5]}" = "  REAL — file still at src: 0" ]
+    [ "${lines[6]}" = "  gone — at neither path: 1" ]
+    [[ "$output" == *"gone: $SHARE/Movies/Gone/Gone.mkv"* ]]
+}