THE heartbreaking reason a mother-of-three wasn’t reported missing for nearly a month after she vanished has been revealed more than 20 years later.
Struggling with a secret drinking problem, Michelle Hundley Smith had been prone to disappearing from her home in Eden, North Carolina.
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Michele Hundley Smith disappeared 24 years ago after struggling with a drinking problem
She was located ‘alive and well’ by investigators last week
She had been arrested for driving under the influence just one month before vanishing for the final time in 2001, according to court reports seen by the Daily Mail.
The then 38-year-old mom had also been recently sacked from her job at a veterinary clinic for “drinking on the job” her daughter Amanda Hundley told “The Vanished Podcast”.
Last week police located Smith after 24 years, revealing she had been living a secret new life.
It had not been a strange occurrence for Smith to be absent for long periods of time, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said.
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He said it also explained why she hadn’t been reported missing until New Year’s Eve in 2001 – more than three weeks after she vanished.
Trapped in an unhappy marriage with her then husband Randy, Amanda said her mother had attempted to keep her battle with the booze a secret.
“My dad didn’t like the fact that my mom hid her drinking,” Amanda told the podcast in 2018.
“I knew about it, and I was the only one and I felt, you know, I was young and I felt obligated not to say anything to betray my mom.”
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