Mom of 3 who was found alive after going missing 24 years ago reveals why she left, reports say
(Gray News) – A North Carolina mother of three who went missing 24 years ago and was later found alive revealed why she left everything, according to multiple reports.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Mom of 3 who vanished 24 years ago while Christmas shopping found ‘alive and well,’ authorities say
According to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, Michele Hundley Smith, 62, told authorities that she left due to “ongoing domestic issues at the time,” People reported.
“Let me just say there were no allegations of any foul play regarding her leaving,” he told People. “But according to Ms. Smith, she said she left… due to ongoing domestic issues at the time.”
She “did not elaborate on that,” he added.
Page went on to say that his office has no records related to domestic issues before her disappearance.
On Feb. 20, the sheriff’s office announced that Smith, who disappeared in December 2001, was located in North Carolina after detectives received new information about her case.
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 in Eden, NC, to go Christmas shopping at a Kmart in Martinsville, Va., on Dec. 9, about 17 miles from her home, and never returned.
At the time, she had three children: Amanda, who was 14 when her mother disappeared; a son who was almost 8; and a 19-year-old daughter.
Her daughter, Amanda, created a Facebook page in 2018 to collect tips in her mother’s case, Michele Hundley Smith, who disappeared on Dec. 6, 2001.
In a lengthy post, she expressed her feelings after learning that her mother is alive decades later.
“I am ecstatic, I am pissed, I am heartbroken, I am all over the map!” she wrote. “Will I have a relationship once more with my mom? Honestly, I can’t answer that because 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 saying, “Everything I have been through in life, I can absolutely understand taking off and leaving… I am not saying that she gets off scot-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.”
At her request, Smith’s current whereabouts will remain undisclosed.
Officials said Smith’s family was notified that she had been located and was informed about her request to keep her whereabouts undisclosed.
No word yet if Smith has connected with her family.
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