devoid mailbox status for mail reloaded from a tape backup

[Stephen Lidie]

dovecot --version
2.2.10

I've only be able to status a mailbox for currently existing users, is it 
possible to status a mailbox reloaded from tape to an alternate location?  The 
user may or may not exist at this time, but I still need to inspect the mailbox 
... thank you,

Steve