Box 2a in Dividends and distributons on Harbor Funds was $32561 and our end of year was $18,000 less and we never received any money. How can this be

A capital gains distribution is a payment to shareholders that is prompted by a fund manager's liquidation of underlying stocks and securities in a mutual fund or derived from dividend and interest earned by the fund's holdings minus the fund's operating expenses.  You will pay tax on a capital gain distribution even if you never received the distribution in cash. The following link explains more about how capital gain distributions are taxed. How Capital Gain Distributions Are Taxed