North Carolina Mom Who Vanished for 24 Years Now Found, Arraigned in 2001 Drunk Driving Case

A North Carolina mother who vanished for 24 years and was recently found alive has now been arraigned over a decades-old drunk driving charge.

Michele Hundley Smith, 62, failed to appear in court after her 2001 arrest in Robeson County, authorities said. She posted a $2,000 bond the day of her arrest, according to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office.

“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 Charlotte Observer reported.

On March 26, Smith appeared before District Judge Christine Strader and requested a court-appointed attorney.

Jason Ross was appointed to represent her. Strader announced her next court date to be April 23.

When The Charlotte Observer asked Smith why she disappeared for years, she said, “It was personal.”

“I had my own demons at the time and I was in my own head, and I had my reasons. People who’ve been in that situation will understand,” she added.

Smith was spotted leaving the courthouse in her car after the hearing.

A 38-year-old Smith was reportedly arrested on a DWI charge by the Eden Police Department on November 11, 2001.

She failed to appear in court on December 27, 2001, for this charge.

Court documents showed Smith had a blood alcohol level of 0.28 when an officer stopped her on Mebane Bridge Road at 1:33 a.m. Nov. 11, 2001.

The officer said Smith “crossed center line, swerved and ran (off) right side of road, red glassy eyes, had odor of alcoholic bev,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Since her return, Smith has been trying to reconcile with her daughter, Amanda Smith, who was 14 when Smith disappeared.

She told The New York Post that her daughter is “forgiving”.

“Yes, they’re in contact through a friend of Michele’s and she has forgiven her mom but she doesn’t have any other comments for right now. She’s trying to handle things privately and respectfully,” the friend, who goes by Lynn, said.

“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,” the friend added.

According to the Vanished Podcast, at 8:30 p.m. on December 9, 2001, the mother of three, told her family that she was going Christmas shopping.

She left the home in Stoneville, North Carolina in her green 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport van. She was headed for Martinsville, less than 20 miles away over the border into Virginia.

Going shopping at night wasn’t unusual for her, and being right before Christmas and just days before her oldest daughter’s birthday, no one thought twice about it. But at midnight that night, Michele’s husband woke up their 14 year-old daughter, Amanda, worried that her mom had not come home.

She’s now living alone in a trailer in a rural community in Robeson County, near the South Carolina line.

“She’s been here for years and years… She’s a nice person. She’s been here a few times to talk to us,” a neighbor said.

A sheriff from Rockingham closed in on her location after turning up on the national National Crime Information Center (NCIC) missing persons database, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Department told The Post.

Authorities did not disclose how her name popped up in the system after 24 years.