WENTWORTH, N.C. — Her own mother didn’t even recognize her.
Devoted daughter Amanda Hundley was reunited with mom Michele Lyn Hundley Smith outside a North Carolina courthouse Thursday — 24 years after Hundley Smith disappeared and abanoned her family.
Hundley Smith was at court in Rockingham County to answer a charge of failing to appear for for a DWI arrest that happened just before she vanished in 2001.
A daughter abandoned by her mom in North Carolina finally came face-to-face with her mother for the first time Thursday — some 24 years after she vanished to start a new life. Christopher OquendoBut the 62-year-old absentee mom walked right by Amanda without recognizing her daughter on Thursday morning.
The Post had to point Hundley Smith’s daughter out to her as she prepared to walk into the courthouse.
In an emotional, caught-on-camera moment, Hundley Smith tearfully hugged her daughter — who was just grateful to see her mother again.
“Amanda?” Hundley Smith could be heard saying. “Your hair wasn’t this length. We walked right by you. I didn’t recognize you.”
The mom bizarrely resurfaced late last month after local authorities managed to track her down on a decades-old DWI warrant.
She had spent the last quarter century ducking her previous life, living in a trailer in a swamp about three hours away.
But her forgiving daughter still showed up at court to support her mother.
Michele Lyn Hundley Smith was spotted tearfully embracing her daughter, Amanda, who went missing in North Carolina 24 years ago. Christopher OquendoThe twisted saga dates back to 2001 when Smith suddenly disappeared without a trace — abandoning her kids, ages 19, 14, and 8, just before Christmas – after she was slapped with the DWI charge.
Her disappearance, which was described as “troubling” at the time, sparked a multi-agency search for the missing mom.
Missing person flyers noted she should be considered “endangered” and “would not leave her kids by choice.”
The mother-daughter duo made contact in the weeks after she resurfaced but hadn’t seen each other in person until Thursday.
Michele Lyn Hundley Smith, 63 arriving at the Rockingham County Courthouse, March 26, 2026. Christopher Oquendo“We’ve talked a few times and texted. Nothing too personal cause it was over the phone but she knew I was coming today,” Amanda said shortly before being reunited with her mom.
She insisted she had forgiven her wayward parent – despite spending much of her life trying to locate her.
“Life’s so short … I’m not going to hold any grudge. Stuff happens,” Amanda said.
The Post had to point Hundley Smith’s daughter Amanda (above) out to her as she prepared to walk into the courthouse. Christopher Oquendo“I still want her as my mom, and a friend, and go from there and see.”
The daughter added, too, that she isn’t interested in why her mom abandoned her kids.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s still my mom,” Amanda said.
The pair ended up going into court together for Smith’s brief appearance on the DWI charge.
Hundley Smith will return to court again on April 23.
