NEXT. WE BEGIN WITH THAT BREAKING NEWS IN ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, A WOMAN FOUND ALIVE 24 YEARS AFTER SHE WAS REPORTED MISSING JUST FACED A JUDGE. OUR TEAM WITNESSED THE MOMENT MICHELLE SMITH WAS REUNITED FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH ONE OF HER DAUGHTERS. ERIN BURNETT WAS IN THE COURTROOM. SHE SPOKE WITH MICHELLE SMITH’S DAUGHTER AND WITNESSED THAT EMOTIONAL REUNION. I WATCHED AS AMANDA SMITH REUNITED WITH HER MOTHER, MICHELLE SMITH. IT WAS VERY EMOTIONAL. AND AS YOU CAN SEE IN THIS VIDEO, MICHELLE SMITH GOT IN LINE TO GO INSIDE THE BUILDING AND SAW AMANDA ACROSS THE STREET. THAT’S WHEN SHE RAN TO HER, HUGGED HER IN A VERY EMOTIONAL EMBRACE. I SPOKE WITH AMANDA INSIDE AND SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE AND HER MOM DIDN’T HAVE MUCH TIME TO TALK IN BETWEEN THE PROCEEDINGS, BUT THAT HER MOM TOLD HER SHE WAS VERY NERVOUS. AMANDA SAYS ALTHOUGH SHE WAS THE ONE PRESENT TO SUPPORT HER MOM AT THIS HEARING, HER FAMILY HAS AGREED TO MAKE INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS ABOUT THE TYPE OF RELATIONSHIP THEY WANT TO HAVE WITH MICHELLE SMITH. AMANDA SAYS SHE FORGIVES HER MOM AND IS READY TO SUPPORT HER, AS THIS DWI CASE PLAYS OUT. OH, NO, EVERYTHING IS NOT BLACK AND WHITE. THERE’S A WHOLE GRAY AREA, AND SO I MEAN, LIFE’S TOO SHORT FOR ME TO HOLD A GRUDGE AGAINST HER BECAUSE SHE’S MY MOM AGAIN. ALTHOUGH MICHELLE SMITH WAS IN COURT FOR A DWI CHARGE THAT HAPPENED BEFORE HER DISAPPEARANCE, THE BIGGEST MOMENT HAPPENED OUTSIDE OF THE COURTROOM WITH THIS FAMILY REUNION INSIDE THE COURTROOM. THE HEARING WAS QUICK, AND MICHELLE DECIDED TO HIRE A COURT APPOINTED ATTORNEY. HONEY SMITH WAS FOUND ABOUT A MONTH AGO, ALIVE AND WELL. ONCE SHE WAS FOUND, AUTHORITIES WERE ABLE TO SERVE THE MORE THAN 20 YEAR OLD WARRANT RELATED TO THAT DWI BECAUSE SHE HAD ORIGINALLY FAILED TO APPEAR IN COURT ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. AS YOU CAN SEE, AFTER COURT, MICHELLE LEFT RATHER QUICKLY IN THE SAME CAR AS AMANDA. IN TERMS OF WHAT’S NEXT, MICHELLE SMITH, NOW THAT SHE HAS A COURT APPOINTED ATTORNEY, IS EXPECTED TO RETURN BACK HERE TO THE ROCKINGHAM
Woman missing 24 years reunites with daughter in emotional North Carolina courthouse meeting
A North Carolina woman who was missing for more than 24 years and was found alive and who was recently served with an order for arrest from an incident in 2001, appeared before a judge on Thursday. In February, Michele Hundley Smith was found alive and well in North Carolina. However, she was later taken into custody the same month by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said the order for arrest stemmed from a DWI charge issued by the Eden Police Department on Nov. 11, 2001. During that same year on Dec. 31, deputies received a missing person report, saying Smith had been missing since Dec. 9, the sheriff’s office shared. Her husband told investigators she left home to travel to a K-Mart in Virginia to shop for Christmas and never returned. She was 38 at the time, deputies said.An extensive investigation was launched, with assistance over the years from multiple agencies, including the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, the sheriff’s office said. Despite several leads, Smith’s whereabouts remained unknown for more than two decades.On Thursday, Smith was reunited with one of her daughters, Amanda, who was helping lead the effort to find her mom. They met at the court and reunited. “We only get one life, and I want my mom in it,” Amanda said during the emotional reaction from seeing her mother while reuniting. >>>Must watch video below as Amanda reunites with mother outside courthouse>>>Smith’s daughter spoke to NBC News about her mother’s disappearance in 2020, find out more here.People reports Smith appeared in court, where she was issued a court-appointed attorney. She will also be appear in court again on April 23. Interactive: Look back at Smith’s disappearance to the latest in the case below.
A North Carolina woman who was missing for more than 24 years and was found alive and who was recently served with an order for arrest from an incident in 2001, appeared before a judge on Thursday.
In February, Michele Hundley Smith was found alive and well in North Carolina. However, she was later taken into custody the same month by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said the order for arrest stemmed from a DWI charge issued by the Eden Police Department on Nov. 11, 2001. During that same year on Dec. 31, deputies received a missing person report, saying Smith had been missing since Dec. 9, the sheriff’s office shared. Her husband told investigators she left home to travel to a K-Mart in Virginia to shop for Christmas and never returned. She was 38 at the time, deputies said.
An extensive investigation was launched, with assistance over the years from multiple agencies, including the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, the sheriff’s office said. Despite several leads, Smith’s whereabouts remained unknown for more than two decades.
On Thursday, Smith was reunited with one of her daughters, Amanda, who was helping lead the effort to find her mom. They met at the court and reunited.
“We only get one life, and I want my mom in it,” Amanda said during the emotional reaction from seeing her mother while reuniting.
>>>Must watch video below as Amanda reunites with mother outside courthouse
>>>Smith’s daughter spoke to NBC News about her mother’s disappearance in 2020, find out more here.
People reports Smith appeared in court, where she was issued a court-appointed attorney. She will also be appear in court again on April 23.
Interactive: Look back at Smith’s disappearance to the latest in the case below.
