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A North Carolina woman who disappeared over two decades ago, only to be discovered alive earlier this year, shared an emotional reunion with her daughter on Thursday.
Michele Hundley Smith made an appearance in front of a Rockingham County judge in North Carolina due to a DWI charge dating back to November 2001.
After her court appearance, Smith hurried outside to embrace her daughter, Amanda Hundley, in a tearful reunion.
This touching moment marked the first time the now 63-year-old, whose hair has turned gray, had seen her daughter since she vanished from her husband and three children 24 years ago.
Michele Hundley Smith, who went missing in 2001, was reunited with her daughter Amanda after being found in North Carolina. (Fox News)
“Amanda?” Hundley Smith could be heard saying. “Your hair wasn’t this length. We walked right by you. I didn’t recognize you.”
Hundley Smith was located on Feb. 20 in an undisclosed location within North Carolina after detectives received new information about her case, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office previously confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Sheriff Sam Page said Smith told investigators she left her family of her own accord and cited “ongoing domestic issues” as the reason for her disappearance. Page did not elaborate on those issues, and investigators have said there is no evidence of foul play.
A woman who vanished from her North Carolina family 24 years ago reappeared and embraced her daughter in an emotional reunion on Thursday, March 26. (Fox News)
Smith was 38 when she disappeared after leaving her three children at an Eden, North Carolina, home on Dec. 9, 2001, to go Christmas shopping at a K-Mart in Martinsville, Virginia. Her vehicle was never found, and she did not return home. Her husband reported her missing later that month.
Over the ensuing decades, local, state and federal agencies participated in efforts to locate her. Despite periodic appeals and flyers distributed in the region, her whereabouts remained unknown for 24 years.
Michelle Hundley Smith disappeared after leaving her home in North Carolina to go Christmas shopping in Virginia in December 2001. (Bring Michelle Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
The New York Post reported it had located Smith in a trailer in a rural community near the South Carolina state line. Smith told the outlet she is trying to make amends with her daughter and the family she walked out on decades ago.
“My daughter is forgiving me. We are in contact, so leave me alone,” she told the outlet.
Smith’s neighbors said she had “been here for years and years” and mostly keeps to herself.
Hundley Smith posted $2,000 bond on failure to appear charge related to a DWI from the month before she vanished. (Robeson County Sheriff’s Office)
Smith appeared in court Thursday to answer to a DWI charge from November 2001.
On Nov. 11, 2001, the Eden Police Department issued a DWI charge. Smith failed to appear in court Dec. 27, 2001, for that charge, the statement said.
On Feb. 25, 2026, Smith was taken into custody by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office at the request of Rockingham County authorities. She later posted a $2,000 bond. Her next hearing is April 23.Â
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