A missing North Carolina mother who vanished in 2001 has been found alive, according to officials.
In a statement, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office announced that Michelle Hundley Smith was located somewhere in North Carolina, adding that the woman’s “current whereabouts will remain undisclosed” per her request.
The woman is not in any danger and doing well, police said, adding that her loved ones have been “notified that she has been located and informed of this request as well.”
Smith, who is now 62, was last seen leaving her Eden home back on December 9, 2001. She reportedly told her husband she was going to a Kmart in Martinsville, Virginia, to do Christmas shopping at the time, but never returned.
A formal missing person’s report was filed for the then 38-year-old mom, and “an extensive investigation was immediately launched,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“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),” reads the press statement. “Despite countless hours of investigative work and the pursuit of numerous leads, Michelle Hundley Smith’s whereabouts remained unknown.”
The sheriff’s office never gave up on their search, which ended on Friday, February 20.
The sheriff’s office’s Criminal Investigations Division “received new information regarding Michelle Hundley Smith and her disappearance” and “detectives immediately followed up on the lead and began further investigative efforts,” the statement explained.
Two detectives spoke with her and confirmed her identity. It does not appear she is facing any criminal charges.
“The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office extends its sincere gratitude to the many agencies and investigators who dedicated substantial time, resources, and unwavering determination to this case over the years,” the police statement added.
“Their persistence and commitment ultimately led to the locating of Michelle Hundley Smith and is a testament to the dedication of the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office and the Criminal Investigations Division, and the many other Law Enforcement agencies that have assisted throughout the years,” the statement concluded.
A Facebook page about Smith’s case, run by her daughter, Amanda Smith, thanked “everyone for their support” but said that “the personal details are not going to be dived into right now.”
“I will say that my mother chose her new life, and we know she is alive, and for now that is enough. I can’t really think straight right now to make a heartfelt post but again,” Amanda wrote, adding that she plans to rename the Facebook page now that her mother has been located. Instead, Amanda will focus her efforts on highlighting other unsolved missing person’s cases.
“He believes she just took off and left him, and us, that night,” Amanda told NBC News in 2020 of her father’s theory regarding her mother’s disappearance. “And I guess that’s possible. It’s hard to rule out that she just left all of us and started a new life. But there’s also something that nags at me, that something happened to her on her way back home.”
