Mom of three who vanished 24 years ago after going Christmas shopping found ‘alive and well,’ police say

Almost 25 years ago, a female successful North Carolina was Christmas shopping erstwhile she disappeared.

Now, aft decades of quiet, Michelle Hundley Smith has been found "alive and well,” authorities person revealed.

The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office announced connected February 20 that Smith, now 62, was recovered aft their detectives received "new information" astir nan circumstances of her disappearance, nan New York Post reports.

Investigators reportedly made interaction pinch Smith astatine an undisclosed location successful North Carolina aft receiving nan tip.

“I benignant of want to spell extracurricular and scream, ‘She’s alive, she’s alive,'” Barbara Byrd, Smith’s cousin, told WFMYNews 2. “My biggest mobility is to her … what happened each those years agone successful December? What made you leave? What happened?”

Smith, who was 38 astatine nan time, was reported missing by her hubby aft she grounded to return location from a Kmart shopping travel successful Martinsville, Virginia, successful December 2001. Numerous authorities and section agencies joined pinch nan FBI to hunt for Smith, but she was ne'er found.

During an question and reply pinch NBC News successful 2020, Amanda Smith, Michelle’s daughter, recalled her mom kissing her and her siblings goodnight and past leaving nan location astir 8:30 p.m. connected nan nighttime she disappeared.

When Smith vanished, she near down Amanda, 14, an 8-year-old son, and a 19-year-old girl who had already moved retired of nan house.

Amanda told NBC News, that her mom was caring, present, and not overly strict while still being a bully parent.

A missing person's flyer from nan clip of her disappearance insisted that she was "endangered" and "would not time off her kids by choice."

Her existent whereabouts will not beryllium disclosed, though her family person been notified astir her situation, constabulary said. No charges are expected, WFMY reports.

Investigators did not stock further item astir nan quality of Smith's disappearance aliases why she did not scope retired to her family aft much than 2 decades away.

On Sunday, 1 of Smith's children — who runs a Facebook page dedicated to uncovering her mother — acknowledged nan find and described nan past fewer days arsenic a "whirlwind of emotions.

“As acold arsenic my opinions and feelings connected my mom … I americium ecstatic, I americium p*****, I americium heartbroken, I americium each complete nan map! Will I person a narration erstwhile much pinch my mom?” she wrote. “Honestly I can’t reply that because I don’t moreover know. My first guidance would beryllium yes, absolutely, but past I deliberation of each nan wounded … But moreover then, my mom is only human, conscionable arsenic we each are,” they added.

Even though Smith's kid acknowledged that their mother "chose" a caller life, they still shared fond memories of her.

“When my mom was a portion of my regular life, she showed maine a emotion and enslaved that will ne'er ever beryllium forgotten. There were mother-daughter arguments of course, but correct now each I tin retrieve are nan smiles we shared, nan times together that were happy, and nan emotion I felt!” they wrote.

They besides pushed backmost against online sleuths who suspected her begetter of having immoderate engagement successful Smith's disappearance.

"My begetter has been done truthful overmuch and I want it made clear that while their matrimony had issues (just arsenic galore marriages spell through) that my mom did not time off simply [because] of a bad marriage," Smith's kid wrote. "Everyone is entitled their opinions but please retrieve that my begetter has been proven innocent."