Mom of 3 who vanished 24 years ago while Christmas shopping found ‘alive and well,’ authorities say

(Gray News) – A North Carolina mother who went missing 24 years ago while going Christmas shopping has been found “alive and well,” according to authorities.

On Feb. 20, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said Michelle Hundley Smith, 62, who was first reported missing Dec. 31, 2001, had been found after detectives “received new information” about her disappearance.

Authorities made contact with Smith at an undisclosed location in North Carolina, “alive and well,” the sheriff’s office announced.

Smith was 38-years-old at the time of her disappearance.

Her husband was the first person to report her missing back in 2001, investigators said.

She had left her home to go Christmas shopping at a Kmart in Martinsville, Va., on Dec. 9, about 17 miles from her home and never returned.

In 2020, her daughter Amanda Smith told NBC News that on the evening in 2001 she remembered her mother kissing them goodnight and leaving their house around 8:30 p.m.

Amanda was 14 years old when her mother disappeared. Her younger brother was almost 8. Their older sister was 19 and already out of the house.

Amanda said her mother was always there when they got off the bus from school, cooked their favorite meals, and, while she wasn’t very strict, never let them get away with everything.

At her request, her current whereabouts will remain undisclosed.

Officials said Smith’s family was notified that she had been located and were informed about her request to keep her whereabouts undisclosed.

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