Michele Hundley Smith was 38 years old when she left her home in Eden, North Carolina, on December 9, 2001, telling her family she was going Christmas shopping at a Kmart in Martinsville, Virginia. She never came back, and her husband and three children were left wondering whether she was alive or dead for two decades.
On February 20, 2026, authorities finally had an answer. Smith was found alive — living under her maiden name in a trailer park roughly 165 miles from the family she left behind.
Us Weekly breaks down why Smith disappeared and more about the case, below.
Why Michele Hundley Smit...
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