Locked photos - how find, unlock

Question

Hello,
Using iPhoto '11 (9.2.1) under Lion 10.7.2. 
Am encountering problems with "locked" jpg files -- for example, I have one event that shows 90 images and I go to merge another that has 12 images -- I would expect to have 102 in the merged event, but end up with 300 -- the excessive 198 have only an icon, not a thumbnail -- I can click on them to display, and see them, but they're older images I intended be trashed. I have found older discussions pre-Lion pre-iPhoto 11 but thought I would repost the questions:
How do I find all these locked photos?
How do I "unlock" them? Am really unclear about this; please be explicit.
How do I permanently get rid of them, forever gone, not to come back and haunt me from one trash or the other? (OK, I'm a little frustrated; bear with, please...)
Thanks, in advance
PS -- additional variables include using 5 different Sony cameras, all of which start numbering images from scratch with DSC00001 (grrr....), Also having Aperture installed (no similar problems there)...

Answer 1

Hello, Terence,
Thanks again for responding.
For description, let's call these locked files "ghosts."
Are they Trashed? -- yes, I thought so -- sort of.
The Size:  10,000+ images in iPhoto library. 30,000+ in external hd (see below)
The Timing -- this seems to be all post install of Lion. I received a "You must update your iPhoto database" message subsequent to upgrading to 10.7.2  and clicked yes -- this problem has appeared since then, also.
The workflow --
    1.      jpgs are loaded from camera or old storage into a folder based filing system on an external harddrive (actually, many are still remnants of MS days, 6 years ago).
     2.     As desired, jpgs are drag & dropped into iPhoto....and then re-classified into narrative description Events (rather than date based). Most are then kept in iPhoto but not deleted from external harddrive.
     3.     Often times, when doing projects (including CDs to snailmail to others), jpgs are dragged from iPhoto to Desktop, and then burned from there.
     4.     The ghosts have all either
               a)     previously been trashed in iPhoto, and iPhoto's trash has been emptied, OR
               b)     drug from Desktop to normal Trash and it also has been emptied, AND
               C)     oftentimes both, but perhaps not always.
     5.     A Spotlight search for the ghosts discloses that (for many of them, but I haven't checked all 198) jpg files with the same camera based name (DSC000XX) can still be found on the external harddrive (yes, I would like to keep them there).
So, "Sort of" means "yes, trashed in iPhoto, yes, trashed from Desktop, but not trashed from external drive."
Continuing Questions
    1.     How does a jpg get "locked?" (Is this new to Lion? I've never seen before.)
     2.     Database repairs -- first, the only convenient backup for the iPhoto database is Time Machine (I don't have any more external hds with adequate space....I could be convinced to acquire another before Repairing). Does the "Backup App" still function?
     I am nervous about the future steps -- while I'm certain the original jpg images are on the external hd, I do not relish having to re-organize/re-catagorize in events the existing iPhoto library of 10,000+ images.
     Thanks for your thoughts.