Mom who went missing without a trace 24 years ago is found ALIVE living double life in North Carolina

A mother of three who went missing 24 years ago has finally been found after living a double life in North Carolina as her family grappled with the heartbreaking news.

Michele Hundley Smith disappeared in December 2001, aged 38, after leaving her home in Eden to go Christmas shopping, leaving behind her three children, aged 19, 14 and 7.

But after more than two decades of searching, Smith was found ‘alive and well’ by the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office on Friday. release announced.

“I want to go out and scream ‘he’s alive, he’s alive,'” said Barbara Byrd, Smith’s cousin. WFMY News 2.

‘We didn’t know if we were sad or waiting for years… My biggest question to him is: ‘What happened all those years ago in December? What made you leave? What happened?’

Smith’s case was investigated by multiple agencies, including the FBI, according to the sheriff’s office.

Investigators received new information about the woman’s case on Feb. 19 and contacted her the next day, the statement said.

But all the answers may not be found with Smith’s reemergence, as the sheriff’s office said he requested that his location not be shared.

Smith disappeared while Christmas shopping in December 2001, when she was 38, leaving behind her three children, ages 19, 14 and 7.

“I understand and respect that he does not want any of us to have contact with him,” Byrd said.

‘I’m not angry… The biggest answer I got today was that he was alive. Nothing else matters right now.’

Smith’s daughter, Amanda, wrote a long statement on Facebook following the news that her mother had been found.

‘As for my views and feelings about my mother… I’m so excited, I’m angry, I’m heartbroken, I’m all over the map! Will I have a relationship with my mother again? Frankly, I can’t answer that because I don’t know. “My first reaction would have been a definite yes, but then I thought about the pain… But even then, my mother is only human, like the rest of us,” she wrote.

‘When my mother became a part of my daily life, she showed me a love and bond that will never be forgotten. Of course there were mother-daughter arguments, but all I can remember right now is the smiles we shared, the happy times we spent together and the love I felt!’

‘My father has been in my daily life throughout my life and shows me love and we have a life that will never be forgotten! There were also father and daughter arguments, but all I remember is the smiles between us, the love I felt and the bond we shared!

‘Both my father and my mother deserve to have their choices and feelings respected.’

Smith’s disappearance haunted his family for years and left them with many unanswered questions.

A Facebook page dedicated to missing mother Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home said Smith was driving a forest green 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport van that was never found when she went missing.

‘I don’t know exactly what happened. “To this day, I’m not even sure if you’re still here on Earth or if you’ve passed on,” his daughter wrote on Facebook in 2024.

‘All I know is that you made a hole in people’s hearts! ‘I cry and mourn for a relationship that will never happen again, I cry and mourn for a relationship that never was…and we’ll never know, right?’

‘I love you and I miss you and it’s like that every day. I’m angry that I got hurt, but mostly I’m angry that my brother and sister felt/had to feel hurt and pain. “If I had found you alive, if I had found out that you were running away from everything… I’m sure I would still love you the same,” he said, adding that he believes his siblings would still be angry about the pain he had to endure.

A Facebook page dedicated to missing mother Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home said Smith was driving a forest green 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport van that was never found when she went missing.

‘Michele would never leave her children willingly. “We need answers and are asking for support and help from the community as we try to find the truth about what happened to Michele and why she mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again,” the page said.

‘To this day, almost 20 years later, there has been no real investigation into her disappearance… Let’s try to end this nightmare for Michele’s loved ones and bring her home.’

The page is set to be reused for other missing persons cases.