{"id":7716,"date":"2026-02-27T08:02:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T08:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7716"},"modified":"2026-02-27T08:02:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T08:02:34","slug":"nc-mom-who-ran-away-from-family-24-years-ago-makes-extraordinary-claim-as-she-resurfaces-for-first-time-for-nearly-a-quarter-of-a-century-she-was-a-ghost-now-the-north-carolina-mother-who-vanished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7716","title":{"rendered":"NC mom who ran away from family 24 years ago makes extraordinary claim as she resurfaces for first time. For nearly a quarter of a century, she was a ghost. Now, the North Carolina mother who vanished without warning has resurfaced \u2014 and what she\u2019s saying is turning the entire story upside down. Family members believed she had abandoned everything. Investigators long assumed the case had gone cold. But in her first public comments in 24 years, she\u2019s offering a version of even\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The missing North Carolina mom of three has been located by The Post \u2014 24 years after she ran away and ditched her family.<\/p>\n

Michele Lyn Hundley Smith, now 62, claimed Thursday that\u00a0her daughter is \u201cforgiving\u201d her\u00a0after she was found by the local sheriff last week, and then hauled back to the county she fled on an old drunk-driving charge.<\/p>\n

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She\u2019s now living alone in a trailer in a rural community in Robeson County, near the South Carolina line.<\/p>\n

Her daughter Amanda, who was 14 when Smith left, confirmed that she has forgiven her mom but is communicating with her through a third party, according to a pal.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYes, they\u2019re in contact through a friend of Michele\u2019s and she has forgiven her mom but she doesn\u2019t have any other comments for right now. She\u2019s trying to handle things privately and respectfully,\u201d the friend, who goes by Lynn, told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s 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,\u201d the friend added.<\/p>\n

Smith lives alone in a trailer in a rural community in the state\u2019s poorest county near the South Carolina state line.<\/p>\n

And she says she is trying to make amends with the family she left behind \u2014 including two daughters, 19 and 14, and a son who was just 8.<\/p>\n

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\"Michelle<\/div>
Michele Smith was found alive and living a new life after going missing in 2001.\u00a0Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Mugshot<\/div>
Michele Hundley Smith seen in a new mugshot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy daughter is forgiving me. We are in contact, so leave me alone,\u201d she told The Post.<\/p>\n

She will not face charges for abandoning her family, authorities in Rockingham County told The Post, but she was arrested for failing to appear on a drunk driving arrest just before she went missing in 2001.<\/p>\n

Smith remains holed up in a tiny village about three hours from the family she ran away from at Christmas 24 years ago.<\/p>\n

A neighbor said she led a quiet life with a new man whom she said was her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been here for years and years\u2026She\u2019s a nice person. She\u2019s been here a few times to talk to us,\u201d a neighbor told The Post.<\/p>\n

She told people she kept to herself because her husband had recently died and she was all alone.<\/p>\n

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\"Red<\/div>
Smith is living in a trailer in a rural community near the South Carolina state line.\u00a0Lone Pine Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe asked why she didn\u2019t come out of the house much and she said her husband passed. He passed last year\u2026She was really sad about it. She said she was depressed and stayed inside,\u201d the neighbor claimed.<\/p>\n

A man had indeed been living at the house until he passed away in 2024, public records show, but the nature of their relationship is unclear.<\/p>\n

A neighbor said the close-knit community of around 2,000 people is not a good place to hide because, \u201ceveryone knows everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in this case, they didn\u2019t know Smith\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

She refused to explain exactly why she left, but she blamed her \u201cmental state.\u201d<\/p>\n