Michele Lyn Hundley Smith
Michele Lyn Hundley Smith's return from being a missing person for 24 years has raised questions among family, law enforcement officers Facebook / Ashley Fitzgerald

A North Carolina mother of three who disappeared more than two decades ago has been found alive and living under a new identity, authorities said. This development in her disappearance has left her family stunned and searching for answers.

​Michele Lyn Hundley Smith was 38 years old when she disappeared on 31 December 2001. According to the Rockingham County Sheriff's office, reports said Smith had gone to K-Mart in Virginia for holiday shopping. On Sunday, the sheriff's office announced that Smith had been located after detectives received a lead on her disappearance.

The Investigation Spanned Multiple Agencies

The announcement from the sheriff's office stated, 'On [Feb. 20], Sgt. A. Disher and Detective C. Worley made contact with Michele Hundley Smith at an undisclosed location within North Carolina, alive and well. At her request, her current whereabouts will remain undisclosed,' per People.​

According to investigators, Smith's husband reported her missing in 2001 after she left her home in Eden, North Carolina, to go to K-Mart in Martinsville, Virginia, on 9 December and did not return. Martinsville is roughly 17 miles away from her residence.

The Rockingham County Sheriff's office said in a statement that a full-scale investigation was swiftly initiated. The statement also said that the sheriff's office has since been on the case.

'Over the years, the case drew the attention and collaboration of multiple agencies across North Carolina and Virginia, including the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),' they said.

Michele's Return Sparked Mixed Emotions from Family

Her family has also carried on with the search for Smith, now 62, as evidenced by a Facebook page called Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home created by her daughter back in 2018, 17 years after her disappearance. Amanda, her daughter, took to social media to voice her conflicted emotions in the development of the case, particularly learning that her mother is alive.

She wrote in the post, 'I am ecstatic, I am pissed, 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... 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.'

​The post said, '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!'

Barbara Byrd, Smith's cousin, has spoken publicly about keeping the investigation alive. In an interview with WFMY after finding out her cousin was found alive, she said, 'I kind of want to go outside and scream, 'She's alive, she's alive. My biggest question is to her ... What happened all those years ago in December? What made you leave? What happened?'​

She also stated that she understood and respected that Smith did not want them reaching out to her, and that she wasn't upset about it. She said, 'The biggest answer I had today was she was alive. Nothing else matters right at this moment.'

The reason for Smith's disappearance remains unclear, per New York Post.

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