Titan Quest- Where did my character go???!!!!

So, I've been playing TQ for about a month. I was nearing the end of the game (I assume) and I got a typical lockup. I get these about every third time I play and it is not that big of a deal as it has always saved everything I had done up to the moment of the lockup. However, not this time. I LOST EVERYTHING! My character no longer shows up when I start the game back up. It tells me I need to create a new character. Please tell me there is a way to find/retrieve my my last save. I looked throught windows explorer and could not find anything that looked promising all though I am unsure of what I need to look for. Any help would be greatly appreciated.