A woman who vanished without a trace from Virginia has been found nearly 24 years later.
But locating her has raised a new wave of questions about where she has been and what kept her away from her family all this time.
“While I can’t wrap my head around that, I also can’t judge without knowing why she’d do that to her family,” one netizen commented online.
A woman who vanished without a trace from Virginia has been found nearly 24 years later
Michele Lyn Hundley Smith was 38 years old when her family last saw her in December 2001.
The mother had stepped out for an ordinary trip to a Kmart in Virginia for some Christmas shopping.
But she never returned home, prompting a years-long search for her across North Carolina and Virginia.
Law enforcement agencies from the two states were involved in the search, combing through both North Carolina and Virginia for traces of Michele.
“She was driving her dark green 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport Van … Michele is a mom of 3 children. She would not leave her kids by choice,” read a poster released by officials after her disappearance.
Family members spent years hoping for any signs that would point towards Michele’s whereabouts or explain her disappearance.
In 2018, her daughter created a Facebook page, asking social media users for tips that could help her find her mother.
About 24 years after Michele was reported missing, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office was finally able to share an update on Friday, February 20.
Michele’s family searched for traces of her for nearly two and a half decades
“For more than two decades, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office remained steadfast in its commitment to seeking answers,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a statement.
“On February 19, 2026, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division received new information regarding Michelle Hundely [sic] Smith and her disappearance,” they continued.
Detectives immediately pursued the lead and were able to trace Michele after her 24-year-long disappearance.
In their statement, the sheriff’s office confirmed she was alive but kept under wraps, as per her “request.”
“On February 20, 2026, Sgt. A. Disher and Detective C. Worley made contact with Michelle Hundely [sic] Smith at an undisclosed location within North Carolina alive and well. At her request, her current whereabouts will remain undisclosed,” they said.
They also noted that her family was informed that she had been located and were “informed of this request as well.”
Officials said they found Michele but did not disclose her whereabouts, as per her “request”
Michele’s daughter, Amanda, wrote a lengthy message on Facebook, addressing the “whirlwind of emotions” she was feeling.
“I am ecstatic, I am pissed, I am heartbroken, I am all over the map!” she wrote.
The daughter asked people to leave their “accusations and assumptions in [their] head.” She insisted her mother didn’t leave “simply bc [sic] of a bad marriage.”
“Everyone is entitled [to] their opinions but please remember that my father has been proven innocent. My dad is a great man and honestly, the fact that he is human just as I am human and you are human,” she wrote.
Amanda called herself a “runner as well” and said it “isn’t something to be proud of at all.”
“I can absolutely understand taking off and leaving,” she wrote.
Elsewhere in the post, she addressed whether she could imagine rekindling her relationship with her mother after 24 years of not knowing where she was.
“Will I have a relationship once more with my mom? Honestly I can’t answer that bc I don’t even know… My initial reaction would be yes absolutely but then I think of all the hurt…” she said.
Image credits: WFMY News 2
Michele’s cousin, Barbara Byrd, also spoke about the mixed feelings she was experiencing after learning that the woman, now 62, was alive.
“I kind of want to go outside and scream, ‘she’s alive, she’s alive,’” Barbara told WFMY News 2.
The cousin spoke about how the family’s life was shaped by Michele’s disappearance for nearly two and a half decades.
They watched the case gain national attention, gave interviews in the hope of leads to find her whereabouts, and even heard her case become the subject of true crime podcasts.
Michele’s daughter, Amanda, wrote a lengthy message about the “whirlwind of emotions” she felt
“For years, we didn’t know if we were grieving or waiting,” she added.
Barbara said she wasn’t “angry” about her cousin not wanting any of the family members to contact her. But she still had questions.
“My biggest question is to her … what happened all those years ago in December? What made you leave? What happened?” she told the outlet.
The cousin said she respected Michele’s choice and felt nothing else mattered more than knowing she was alive.
“I never thought Michele was de*d,” she said. “I knew she was alive. It’s just a feeling that I had my whole life.”
“I would love to hear you say I’m OK, but when I’m ready, I’ll talk to you,” she added.
“Will I have a relationship once more with my mom?” Amanda wrote in her lengthy Facebook post
Netizens wondered what led to Michele’s disappearance without any explanation.
“This lady said dam this life and went made another one,” one said, while another wrote, “Damn, so she went to go get milk and never came back huh?”
“This is truly sad honestly! Sounds like she just walked away and left that life behind to pursue another life without any regret,” another said.
“She wasn’t missing she was enjoying her life,” wrote another.
“It looks to me like either she was running from somebody or like just ran away didn’t tell nobody where she went to nd started a whole new life,” one netizen commented online
