Disturbing reasons mom of 3 vanished for 24 years before turning up alive

A North Carolina mother who was reported missing more than two decades ago and was recently found alive was dealing with a tumultuous marriage and struggling with alcohol addiction, according to her daughter.

Michele Lyn Hundley Smith vanished without a trace in December 2001 and was an unsolved missing person case until last week. The woman, now 62, was identified in North Carolina on February 20 after detectives received new information about her case.

In a 2018 interview on “The Vanished Podcast,” her daughter Amanda Hundley said her mother’s marriage was unraveling under the weight of alcohol addiction, infidelity and escalating marital arguments.

Smith, then 38, left home on December 9, 2001, and told her family she was going Christmas shopping in nearby Martinsville, Virginia. He never returned. For years, her daughter believed that her mother had simply walked away.

Smith recently lost his job at his veterinary practice after being fired for drinking at work, Hundley said.

“My dad didn’t like that my mom hid her drinking. I knew that and I was the only one and I felt like I was young and I felt like I shouldn’t say anything that would betray my mom,” Hundley said on the podcast.

According to Hundley, his father suspected he had been drinking but did not fully realize the extent of it until after Smith disappeared.

“‘Do you know where you keep the bottles?’ he said. And I showed them we had a little red building outside and it was full of rum bottles, empty bottles, people who had already drank it,” Hundley recalled. He was 14 years old at the time.

It turned out that the missing mother, who was found alive after 24 years, left due to domestic problems. (Bring Michelle Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)

The couple’s relationship also deteriorated. Both of his parents had affairs during the marriage, Hundley said. He described frequent arguments that “became physical several times.”

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told Fox News Digital there was no record of domestic violence involving the couple.

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In the months before Smith disappeared, the couple no longer slept in the same bed, according to Hundley. He said his mother often slept in a chair in the living room while his father stayed in the bedroom.

“If she wanted to leave my father, that’s one thing, but I don’t think her leaving us is going to happen,” Hundley said in a 2018 podcast episode.

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A missing persons flyer was circulating at the time of the disappearance of Michelle Hundely Smith in December 2001. (Bring Michelle Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)

On Tuesday, Sheriff Page said Smith told police he abandoned his family due to ongoing domestic problems.

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“He indicated he left voluntarily,” Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said. “He cited some domestic issues. He was safe when we made contact.”

Page told Fox News Digital that he had spoken to the district attorney’s office and that no criminal charges would be filed.

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Michelle Hundely Smith has been found living a new life in North Carolina after disappearing 24 years ago, according to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office. (Bring Michelle Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)

The last 48 hours have been a “whirlwind of emotions” for her family, her daughter Amanda Smith wrote in a lengthy Facebook post on Feb. 22.

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“Of course you are free to think what you want, please do not put them there for my family to see. Please respect my family because [because] “We are in a lot of pain and going through a lot,” he wrote.

“My father has faced many accusations since then… Even before the advent of social media where we live[ing] There were many people in a small town [people] They act as if they knew he was involved… Actually he wasn’t! Of course, I never thought it would… My father has been through so much that I want it to be made clear that although their marriage had problems (just like many marriages do), my mother did not just leave because of a bad marriage. “Everyone has their own opinion, but please remember that my father has been proven innocent.”

Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita and Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.

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