Missing North Carolina woman found ‘alive and well’ after 24 years

Daughter was ‘heartbroken’ after Michelle Hundley Smith requested her location not be disclosed to family she had walked away from

A North Carolina woman says she was simultaneously “ecstatic … pissed … [and] heartbroken” to learn authorities recently found her mother living safely and well – while also wanting her location kept secret – more than 24 years after she suddenly vanished from her family.

“I am all over the map!” Amanda Smith, the daughter of Michelle Hundley Smith, wrote in a lengthy statement on a social media page dedicated to searching for her mother. “Will I have a relationship once more with my mom? Honestly, I can’t answer that [because] I don’t even know.

“My initial reaction would be yes absolutely but then I think of all the hurt … Even then, my mom is only human, just as well all are.”

Amanda Smith’s search for Michelle had previously received national media attention as recently as 2020, when the daughter – among other things – told NBC News that “nothing was ever the same” after her mother seemingly disappeared from their home in Eden, North Carolina, on 9 December 2001.

Michelle’s husband reported she told him she was going Christmas shopping in nearby Martinsville, Virginia, according to authorities. Only neither Michelle, then 38, nor her 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport minivan ever returned; and her husband reported her missing to the local Rockingham county sheriff’s office on New Year’s Eve 2001.

Rockingham deputies over the years said they collaborated with multiple state and federal law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and Virginia. But despite spending “countless hours” pursuing numerous leads in the “troubling” case, Michelle’s whereabouts remained unknown, the sheriff’s office said.

That was until Thursday, when the agency said it “received new information regarding Michelle Hundley Smith and her disappearance”. Investigators said they immediately followed up and a day later had made contact with Smith, who was “at an undisclosed location within North Carolina and alive and well”.

“At her request, her current whereabouts will remain undisclosed,” a statement from the Rockingham sheriff’s office said. “Her family has been notified that she has been located and informed of this request as well.”

The news outlet People later reported being told by Rockingham sheriff Sam Page that Michelle left her family because of alleged “ongoing domestic issues”.

Page told People that his office had no records pertaining to domestic issues involving Michelle before her disappearance.

His office had reportedly referred the case to local prosecutors to determine whether any criminal charges – including abandonment, possibly – should be filed. However, no action had been taken on that front as of Tuesday.

Amanda, who was 14 when she had last seen her mother, shared her reaction to the news about her mother in a post on the Facebook page “Bring Michelle Hundley Smith Home”.

One of the first things she described was relief that her father “had been proven innocent” of accusations that he somehow “was involved” in Michelle’s disappearance. She also acknowledged her parents had marital issues – though, without elaborating, she made it a point to say, “My mom did not leave simply [because] of a bad marriage.”

She continued: “My father has been through so much and I want it made clear that while their marriage had issues (just as many marriages go through) … my mom did not leave simply [because] of a bad marriage.”

Then, after mentioning her complex emotions about the closure of her mother’s missing persons case, Amanda wrote that she “can absolutely understand [someone] taking off and leaving” after “everything” with which she has dealt in her own life.

“I am not saying she gets off scot-free without accountability or responsibility [because] she absolutely needs to do that,” Amanda continued. “What I am saying is … please remember that each one of us have made mistakes in life, each one of us has hurt souls [whether] intentional or not.

“Please remember that each one of us has done things that we are not proud of.”