Michele Hundley Smith, the North Carolina mother of three who vanished in December 2001 and resurfaced alive more than two decades later, has now been arrested in a stunning turn of events.
The 62-year-old was taken into custody Monday (February 23) in Robeson County on an outstanding warrant connected to a criminal case that had been left unresolved since the weeks before she disappeared.
The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that deputies located and arrested Smith at a Robeson County address where authorities believe she “has spent a few years.”
According to officials, the warrant was issued after Smith failed to appear in court in late December 2001, shortly after she was reported missing.
A mother-of-three who disappeared without a trace more than two decades ago has been arrested days after being found
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
For nearly 25 years, the matter remained dormant, buried beneath the mystery of her disappearance, until her recent discovery brought it back to the surface.
Smith was 38 years old when she walked out of her home in Eden on Dec. 9, 2001, telling her husband she was heading to a Kmart in Martinsville, Virginia, for Christmas shopping.
She never returned.
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
By December 31, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office had received a missing persons report. A search began that would stretch on for years, with investigators chasing leads and coordinating with outside agencies.
For more than two decades, there was no confirmed sighting. No body. No public explanation for her disappearance.
Then, last week, on February 19, the sheriff’s office received an unexpected new lead.
“Some information came back to us that had been put out, and it alerted our detectives… to follow up,” Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told People Magazine.
The following day, Sgt. A. Disher and Detective C. Worley met Smith “face-to-face.”
“She was in good health,” Page said, being careful not to share information that could reveal Smith’s current location or motivation for finally speaking out.
Page did, however, hint at what truly led the woman to abandon her family more than two decades ago.
The mother was scheduled to appear in court in connection to a DWI charged she received before disappearing
The warrant stems from a Driving While Impaired (DWI) charge filed in Eden, North Carolina, on November 11, 2001, just weeks before Smith disappeared.
According to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, Smith was scheduled to appear in court on December 27, 2001, in connection with that charge. Authorities said she failed to appear.
By that point, she had already been reported missing, after vanishing on December 9, 2001.
Image credits: News Nation
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
Because she did not show up to court, an arrest warrant was issued for failure to appear. That warrant has remained active since.
When questioned, Smith told investigators she had left of her own volition due to “ongoing domestic issues at the time.”
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
“Let me just say there were no allegations of any foul play regarding her leaving,” Page said. “But according to Ms. Smith, she said she left… due to ongoing domestic issues at the time.”
Page made clear that his office has no records of domestic complaints prior to her disappearance in 2001.
At the time she left, Smith had three children: Amanda, who was 14; a son who was almost 8; and a 19-year-old daughter
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The district attorney’s office was consulted about whether charges such as abandonment could apply.
“Of course, the question was, she had three children when she left, and they were with the dad,” Page said. So far, no charges have been filed related to her disappearance.
Online, the debate intensified.
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“She made a choice and everyone is still alive and well. Don’t know what ‘charges’ could ever be filed,” one reader wrote.
Another responded, “How very selfish of her. Hope they make her repay the cost for the search.”
Others pushed back. “She never felt safe enough to report ab*se,” a commenter argued.
Smith’s daughter Amanda, defended her father online after people began speculating about the reasons behind her mother leaving
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
In 2018, Amanda created a Facebook page dedicated to finding her mother. After learning she was alive, she wrote, “I am ecstatic, I am p**sed, I am heartbroken, I am all over the map!”
“Will I have a relationship once more with my mom? Honestly, I can’t answer that because I don’t even know,” she continued.
“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.”
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
Amanda also defended her father as speculation mounted.
“My father has been through so much,” she wrote. “My dad is a great man, and honestly, the fact is that he is human, just as I am human and you are human.”
Sheriff Page, who is set to retire in December after 28 years in office, praised his team for resolving the long-running case.
“They went and found this young lady who has been missing for many years, 20-plus years. And we don’t see a lot of missing person cases like that,” he said, calling it “a job well done.”
“Our goal is to try to resolve the cases, solve the cases to provide closure,” Page added, “and in this particular case, to find that person who’s missing and hopefully have them in a safe situation.”
“Unfair.” Netizens took to social media to share their thoughts on the case
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