What does it mean when `ls` shows a numeric user id?

Solution 1:

1002 is the UID for the user that owned the file. Having a numerical value instead of a username means that the user that owns the file no longer exists in the /etc/passwd file.

If you run cat /etc/passwd you'll see a list of all the user accounts on the system.

root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/bin/sh

The first integer is the UID, or the user's unique numerical identification. The second is the GUID, and this pertains to the user's primary group number.

Did you make any changes, or remove the user that owns the file from the system?