what the heck is happening

[p_a_m_i_e 0]

my brother filled out a I130 on his step son (a minor) my brother is a US Citizen by birth, the step son is living in Mexico. My brother had to go to the Dept of Homeland Security in Atlanta on behlaf of this petition and answer some questions and such. He received a letter later from the Dept of Homeland saying it was a "Notice of Approval of Relative Immigrant Visa Petition" with an approval date and file # on the form but the only box check on the form was the last one that said: "Remarks: Your petition will be retained in the permanent file". Then they received a letter from USCIS saying the I130 was approved and sent to the NVC...........NVC said they never received so they sent out a search for the forms and contacted us that "The petition is located at the USCIS office in National Records Center. The petition was consolidated into A File (gave file #) and to please contact USCIS for more info. I contacted USCIS they just say the petition is still pending but they have been saying that since the beginning even when the petition was lost. What in the heck is the procedure and has anyone else had anything else like this happen?

~Pam