Missing persons cases sometimes go unsolved. But this one had a conclusion few could have expected. A North Carolina mom disappeared more than 20 years ago from the face of the Earth. But according to authorities, she's been found alive and well.
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38-year-old Michele Lyn Hundley Smith disappeared in December 2001 after going to shop for Christmas in Virginia. According to
Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, multiple agencies searched for the North Carolina mom.That search stretched into years. Many assumed that something terrible happened to Smith because she "would not leave her kids by choice." Turns out, Smith left by choice. The missing mom didn't even leave North Carolina, and has been living in the surrounding area all these years.
Smith has no interest in seeing her three children or family and asked police not to disclose her location to them.
North Carolina Mom Found
"I kind of want to go outside and scream, 'She's alive, she's alive,'" Smith's cousin Barbara Byrd told WFMYNews 2.
"My biggest question is to her ... what happened all those years ago in December? What made you leave? What happened?" Byrd said. "I never thought Michele was dead. I knew she was alive. It's just a feeling that I had my whole life."
Meanwhile, her children are understandably shocked and have a whirlwind of emotions. One of Smith's daughters posted as much on Facebook.
"As far as my opinions and feelings on my mom ... I am ecstatic, I am p—ed, I am heartbroken, I am all over the map! Will I have a relationship once more with my mom?" she said in the statement. "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."
"When my mom was a part of my daily life, she showed me a love and bond that will never ever be forgotten. There were mother-daughter arguments of course, but right now all I can remember are the smiles we shared, the times together that were happy, and the love I felt!"
It's unclear why the North Carolina mom fled her life.
