Mom of three who vanished for 24 years reveals why she left family after going Christmas shopping

Michele Lyn Hundley Smith was reported missing after going Christmas shopping in December 2001 and never returned home. However, authorities located the missing woman in an undisclosed location on Friday (FBI)

Michele Lyn Hundley Smith was reported missing after going Christmas shopping in December 2001 and never returned home. However, authorities located the missing woman in an undisclosed location on Friday (FBI)

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Michele Lyn Hundley Smith disappeared while Christmas shopping in 2001 due to ongoing domestic issues, but was found alive and well 24 years later.

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A North Carolina mom of three who vanished while Christmas shopping 24 years ago left behind her family because of “ongoing domestic issues,” she told authorities.

Michele Lyn Hundley Smith, then 38, left her home in Eden, just south of the Virginia border, to go Christmas shopping in December 2001, but never returned. However, authorities on Friday announced that Smith, now 62, had been found “alive and well.”

“She was in good health,” Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told People Magazine.

“Let me just say there were no allegations of foul play regarding to her leaving,” Page said. “But according to Ms. Smith, she said she left… due to ongoing domestic issues at the time.”

He noted that she “did not elaborate on that,” and said the sheriff’s office had no record of her reporting a domestic issue before her disappearance.

Michele Lyn Hundley Smith was reported missing after going Christmas shopping in December 2001 and never returned home. However, authorities located the missing woman in an undisclosed location on Friday (FBI)
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Page lauded detectives for a “job well done,” noting most missing persons cases don’t see this type of resolution.

“They went and found this young lady that [has] been missing for many years, 20-plus years. And we don’t see a lot of the missing persons cases like that,” Page said. “But now at least the family has closure and they know she’s okay.”

Smith’s disappearance rattled local authorities over two decades ago, prompting a years-long search that involved multiple agencies, including the FBI. At the time of her disappearance, authorities described her as an “endangered adult” and said she “would not leave her kids by choice.”

The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office on Friday said it found Smith after detectives received “new information” about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance nearly 25 years ago.

Investigators made contact with Smith at an undisclosed location in North Carolina after receiving the tip. Her current whereabouts have not been shared, but her family has been notified of her situation, authorities said.

After the missing woman was located, detectives referred the case to the local district attorney’s office.

“Of course the question was, she had three children when she left, they were with the dad,” Page told the outlet. “Our detectives have been in contact with the district attorney’s office, if there’s any consideration for any charges along the lines of abandonment or anything like that.”

No charges had been filed as of Wednesday.

A missing person posted from when Smith disappeared described her as an ‘endangered adult’ who ‘would not leave her kids by choice’ (Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office)

On Sunday, one of Smith’s shocked children wrote that the discovery had brought on a “whirlwind of emotions” in a post shared to a Facebook page dedicated to locating Smith.

“As far as my opinions and feelings on my mom … I am ecstatic, I am p*****, I am heartbroken, I am all over the map!” they wrote.

“Will I have a relationship once more with my mom? Honestly I can’t answer that because I don’t even know.”

The post continued: “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.”

While Smith’s child acknowledged their mother “chose” a new life, they still shared fond memories of her.

“When my mom was a part of my daily life, she showed me a love and bond that will never ever be forgotten. There were mother-daughter arguments of course, but right now all I can remember are the smiles we shared, the times together that were happy, and the love I felt!” they wrote.

They also pushed back against online sleuths who suspected her father of having some involvement in Smith’s disappearance.

“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) that my mom did not leave simply [because] of a bad marriage,” Smith’s child wrote. “Everyone is entitled their opinions but please remember that my father has been proven innocent.”