After 24 years of silence, Michele Lyn Hundley Smith made an unexpected revelation about her daughter. But the story of why she ran is still unfinished.
The mother-of-three had vanished without a trace from Virginia in December 2001, and her missing case gained national attention.
Two and a half decades later, Michele broke her silence in the wake of law enforcement authorities tracing her whereabouts.
Michele Lyn Hundley Smith made an unexpected revelation about her daughter after 24 years of silence
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
“When I left, the mental state I was in, I thought it was my only choice,” Michele Lyn Hundley Smith told the Daily Mail about her disappearance.
The mother-of-three was 38 years old when her family last saw her in December 2001.
She had stepped out for some Christmas shopping at a Kmart in Virginia but never returned home.
Law enforcement agencies failed to trace her after combing through North Carolina and Virginia.
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
Her daughters, Melissa and Amanda, were 19 and 14 at the time, and her son, Randal, was 8 when she walked out of their lives.
It took 24 years for the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office to confirm she was alive, with a statement on February 20.
Authorities said she wouldn’t be facing charges for walking out on her family. But she was arrested because she had an active arrest warrant from 2001 for failing to appear in court over a drunk driving charge.
The mother-of-three stepped out for some Christmas shopping in 2001 but never returned home
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
Michele was found living in a close-knit rural community in Robeson County, near the South Carolina line.
In a town of about 2,000 people, where neighbors said it was hard to keep secrets because “everyone knows everyone,” Michele hid her disappearance from the community and has been living alone in a trailer since her partner’s passing in 2024.
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
A friend named Lynn said Michele is currently in contact with her daughter Amanda through “a friend.”
The daughter “has forgiven her mom but she doesn’t have any other comments for right now. She’s trying to handle things privately and respectfully,” Lynn told the New York Post.
“She’s being incredibly strong, happy to be connected with her mom and is just ready for all this to quiet down so they can focus on rebuilding together privately,” she added.
Michele said it “broke” her to learn that her daughter Amanda and other family members continued hoping for her return
Image credits: FOX8 WGHP
Michele finally spoke out and said it “broke” her heart to learn how long Amanda and other family members had been searching for her.
“She has forgiven me and she has said I’m human like anybody else is,” the mother told the Daily Mail.
The long-lost mother said she intended to re-establish contact with her family, starting with Amanda.
“I know that I made the news, but I honestly 100% never knew that I was loved or wanted,” she said.
Image credits: Amanda A. Hundley
The woman claimed she hadn’t seen any of the pictures, billboards, flyers, or TV segments that blared the news of her disappearance.
“If I’d had any idea, I would have already called them and let them know I was ok,” she said.
The mother noted that she didn’t have to return if she didn’t want to, but she admitted she “could have just let [her] kids know [she] was okay.”
“I know that I made the news, but I honestly 100% never knew that I was loved or wanted,” the mother said
“I would have never put them through that, I thought leaving them was better for them,” she added.
Michele spoke about her disappearance and said she was “not in the mental state” to continue staying at home at the time.
“When I left, the mental state I was in, I thought it was my only choice,” she said. “I was just not in the mental state to stay.”
Image credits: WWAY TV
Her decision to leave was an outcome of her convincing herself that she “didn’t matter.”
She said she was heartbroken to learn that Amanda had been searching for her for so long.
“When I found out, it broke me. That’s why I’m trying to rebuild something with her, because what she did, shows how much I really was loved,” she said.
Michele said she was trying to rebuild her relationship with her family, starting with Amanda
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
The formerly missing woman insisted she didn’t leave her kids high and dry.
“My children were not abandoned; they were left with their father to care for them,” she said, admitting it was “hard” to know that she had missed out on so much of her children’s lives.
All three of her children are currently married with kids of their own.
Image credits: Bring Michele Hundley Smith Home
As her family continued searching for her, Michele was living with a man named Randy Johnson, whom she described as “somebody who found me when I needed help.”
“I travelled for years. We got together, and he kind of built me back up — made me feel like I was worth something,” she told the outlet.
They settled together in the rural community more than a decade ago and lived together until Randy passed away in 2024.
“I’m dealing with that, and then finding out I was wanted by my family and never knew it,” she said.
Amanda previously said her parents often argued and had affairs before her mother vanished
During an appearance on The Vanished Podcast in 2018, Amanda said her mother was stuck in an unhappy marriage for years and both her parents had affairs before she disappeared.
The daughter also claimed her mother had drinking problems and filled a shed near their house with her empty bottles of rum.
Amanda recalled her parents often arguing and said they “got physical a few times.”
“If she wanted to leave my dad, that’s one thing, but to leave us, I just don’t see it happening,” Amanda said at the time.
Netizens shared their thoughts after the runaway mom finally spoke out
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