If someone bought the $39.99 windows 8 license during the first 30 days of Windows 8's release and has since lost the
key, is there a way to have it re-issued to them?

There was a payment and probably an email address used etc, so there has or possibly be a record of it.

I have a friend who has no intentions of writing down or recording anything and now wants to use that license.
His Windows 7 machine died and he even lost/misplaced the windows 7 DVD's. He's hopeless but a nice guy.