Incredible 2 - Locked, Security Warning

[1670MB]

Hi All, I am hoping maybe someone can shed some light on what is going on with my Incredible 2.  I plugged my phone into a wall charger overnight (it was working fine at the time) and in the morning I found it powered off.  When I turned the phone on, it went to the white bootloader screen with a "LOCKED - SECURITY WARNING" message.  I don't root on my phone and it was not accessible to anyone, so it seemed strange this happened out of the blue.

I took it to the Verizon store and they tried everything including a factory reset.  I was told the phone could not be repaired there.  My phone was over 2 years old and I have an unlimited data plan so I pretty much had the choice with Verizon to upgrade at a subsidized price or purchase a phone full price.

I went to HTC and they basically said that I could send the phone in for repair (out of warranty), which is essentially unlocking the phone, but that they were not responsible for what caused this (implied it was the carrier).

Does anyone have more to the story?  It seems like the phone just locked up suddenly.  I don't mind paying full price for a new phone to keep unlimited data, but I want to know if my phone is really "broken" or if it was locked by Verizon because I hold unlimited data and the existing phone is now out of warranty?