EDEN, NC – A North Carolina mother who vanished without a trace in December 2001 has been found alive after 24 years, with investigators confirming she had been living under a new identity while her family searched for answers.
Michele Hundley Smith, now 62, disappeared at age 38 after leaving her Eden home to go Christmas shopping, abandoning three children ages 19, 14, and 7. The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday that Smith had been located “alive and well” following a multi-agency investigation that included the FBI.
Investigators received new information related to Smith’s case on February 19 and made contact with her the following day, according to a sheriff’s office release. Smith has requested that her current location not be disclosed to the public or her family.
“I kind of want to go outside and scream, ‘she’s alive, she’s alive,'” Smith’s cousin Barbara Byrd told local media. “For years, we didn’t know if we were grieving or waiting… My biggest question is to her, ‘What happened all those years ago in December? What made you leave? What happened?'”
Smith’s daughter Amanda posted an emotional statement on Facebook following the news, expressing conflicted feelings about her mother’s reappearance. “As far as my opinions and feelings on my mom…I am ecstatic, I am p***ed, I am heartbroken, I am all over the map,” Amanda wrote.
The family had maintained a Facebook page titled “Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home” throughout the decades-long search. The page described how Smith had been driving a forest green 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport van when she disappeared, which was never recovered.
“Michele would have never left her children by choice,” the family had written on the page. “We are desperate for answers and we are asking for community support and assistance in trying to find the truth on what happened to Michele.”
Barbara Byrd said she respects Smith’s decision to maintain distance from the family. “I understand and respect that she doesn’t want any of us to contact her,” Byrd said. “I’m not angry…The biggest answer I had today was she was alive. Nothing else matters right at this moment.”
The missing person case had remained active for more than two decades, with multiple law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation. The family plans to repurpose their Facebook page to help with other missing persons cases.
