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Mom of three who went missing 24 years ago arrested after being found 'alive and well'
A North Carolina mother who went missing more than two decades ago was arrested just days after being located “alive and well".
Michele Hundley Smith, now 62, made national headlines when investigators confirmed she was alive following a 24-year mystery that began in December 2001.
But the shocking discovery quickly took another turn when deputies arrested her on a decades-old charge that had been sitting unresolved since the year she vanished, WDBJ 7 reported.
Arrest tied to 2001 DWI charge
The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said Smith was taken into custody by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office on Monday (February 23) after police requested she be served with an outstanding warrant for failure to appear.
That warrant dates back to a DWI charge from November 11, 2001. According to officials, Smith failed to appear in court on December 27, 2001, prompting an order for arrest that remained active while she was missing. The citation was originally issued by Eden police in North Carolina.
After her recent arrest, Smith posted bond and is scheduled to appear in Rockingham County District Court on March 26, per The Independent.
Disappearance That Shocked Her Family
Smith was reported missing on December 9, 2001, when she was 38 years old. At the time, she was the mother of three children: a 19-year-old daughter, a 14-year-old daughter, and a 7-year-old son.
Her husband told police she had left their home in Eden to go Christmas shopping at a Kmart in Martinsville, Virginia, and never returned.
Despite countless hours of investigative work, several leads, and extensive searches that involved local, state, and federal authorities, the sheriff’s office said it was unable to locate her for more than two decades.
A breakthrough finally came in February when Smith’s information was entered into a national database, helping detectives track her down.
Deputies made contact with her on February 19 and 20 and confirmed she was “alive and well,” and had been living in North Carolina outside Rockingham County.
Records show she now resides in St. Paul's, about 20 miles south of Fayetteville.
When she was located, Smith asked that her whereabouts remain undisclosed.
Mom of Three Reveals Why She Left
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said Smith told authorities she left due to ongoing domestic issues at the time; however, no prior official reports had confirmed such issues before her disappearance.
Rockingham County District Attorney Katie Gregg told WFMY News 2 there is not enough evidence to file charges related to Smith’s disappearance, such as abandonment.
Daughter speaks out after emotional reunion news
For Smith’s family, the news has brought a flood of complicated emotions.
Her daughter Amanda, who was 14 when her mother disappeared and is now in her late 30s, created a Facebook page in 2018 to keep the case alive.
After learning her mother had been found alive, she took to the platform to share a deeply personal message, writing: “I am ecstatic, I am pissed, I am heartbroken, I am all over the map!”
“Will I have a relationship once more with my mom? Honestly I can't answer that bc I don't even know... My initial reaction would be yes absolutely but then I think of all the hurt... But even then ... My mom is only human just as we all are," she continued.
"Everything I have been through in life, I can absolutely understand taking off and leaving... I am not saying that she gets off scott free without accountability or responsibility bc she absolutely needs to do that... What I am saying is that I am a runner as well and while this isn't something to be proud of at all, it's a part of being human."
"Each one of us humans have our faults, we each have a shadow part and we each deserve the chance to better ourselves and to heal from our past," she added.