Lost Approval Notice, Stuck in China, Please help!

Urgent!! Please help!!

Yesterday when my wife applied for her H-1b in Beijing, she was asked to present her first original H-1b (from F-1 to H-1b) approval of notice. She is with another company now (she has that one). I checked her old company and unfortunately, they lost the original document and we also lost the copy. My wife is stuck in Beijing now and my questions are,

1. I found the approved message in INS case status online checking. Could that be a substitute?
2. Applying for I-824 for duplicate will take at least three months. Can she reenter as H-4 (I am H-1b) and reapply for new H-1b? what's the risk in Ambassy?

I am almost desperated here and your suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!!