Saga of mom missing 24 years takes surprising turn: She’s arrested, NC cops say

The North Carolina woman who turned up alive after being missing for 24 years has been arrested, according to investigators.

Michele Hundley Smith is being held accountable for a court hearing she missed after vanishing in December 2001, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office reported in a Feb. 26 Facebook post.

“The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, after consultation with the District Attorney’s Office and further investigation, identified an outstanding Order for Arrest for Michele Hundley Smith for failure to appear,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The Order for Arrest stemmed from a DWI charge issued by the Eden Police Department on a November 11, 2001. Michele Hundley Smith failed to appear in court on December 27, 2001, for this charge.”

Smith was arrested on Feb. 25 in Robeson County and has since posted bond, officials said. Her next court appearance will be March 26, officials said.

Smith has been the subject of international attention since the sheriff’s office reported a tip led them to discover she was leading a secret new life, 24 years after vanishing from her home in Eden.

“On February 20 (detectives) made contact with Michelle Hundley Smith at an undisclosed location within North Carolina – alive and well,” the sheriff’s office said in a Feb. 20 news release.

“At her request, her current whereabouts will remain undisclosed. Her family has been notified that she has been located and informed of this request as well.”

Smith cited “ongoing domestic issues at the time” as the reason she vanished, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told PEOPLE magazine.

The New York Post reports it tracked Smith down to a rural home near the South Carolina state line and was given a curt reception. “My daughter is forgiving me. We are in contact, so leave me alone,” she was quoted telling The Post.

Smith was officially reported missing on New Year’s Eve of 2001 – nearly two weeks after she was last seen, officials said.

“According to her husband, Michele had left home to travel to K-Mart in Martinsville, Virginia, for Christmas shopping and never returned,” the sheriff’s office said.

“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). Despite countless hours of investigative work and the pursuit of numerous leads, Michele Hundley Smith’s whereabouts remained unknown.”

Rockingham County is about a 105-mile drive northwest from downtown Raleigh.

This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 1:28 PM.