I think I need a queen. I had a hive that swarmed over the last couple of weeks, don't know when ...
Without knowing when the colony swarmed, it's hard to know when to expect the replacement queen to begin laying. Assuming it swarmed just before the virgin emerged, it's usually around 2 weeks before she matures, mates, and begins laying. A few rainy days and it may be 3 weeks.
no eggs, what looked to be capped brood but I dont even know if the brood was still alive.
Why would you suspect that the capped brood wasn't alive? If the colony swarmed within the last two weeks, I wouldn't expect open brood, but would certainly expect capped brood. If the brood was dead, the bees would be cleaning out the cells.
So I think my virgin might have not made it back from her flight.
Too early to tell.
Remember I am doing increases so if I do find I have a queen later I will just make a nuc or figure something out.
You need to figure something out BEFORE you install a replacement queen or you may be wasting 20 bucks. If the colony has a newly-mated queen who hasn't started to lay yet, they will likely kill your replacement queen.