A woman who held onto the hope that her missing mother was still alive for more than two decades has now been reunited with her.
Amanda Hundley shared an emotional embrace with her mum Michele Lyn Hundley Smith on Thursday (26 March) after 24 years of wondering what had happened to her.
In February, authorities in the US announced that they had tracked Michele down and she was in fact 'alive and well'.
Police made contact with the 62-year-old on 20 February before arresting her five days later in connection with a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) offence that took place just weeks before she disappeared.
Advert
Michele was supposed to appear in court on 27 December, 2001, but she vanished 18 days earlier and never showed up.
She vanished on 9 December, 2001, after leaving her home in Eden, North Carolina to go Christmas shopping in Martinsville, Virginia.
Her loved ones reported her missing, sparking an 'extensive investigation' into her disappearance which even involved the FBI.
A missing persons poster created by her relatives explained that Michele 'would not leave her kids by choice'. Her three children were reportedly aged aged 19, 14 and seven when she vanished.
Amanda, who spearheaded the efforts to find her missing mum with social media appeals, went to the North Carolina courthouse where Michele was appearing in relation to the DWI case on Thursday.
She had previously discussed the mixed emotions that she felt after receiving the news that her mother had left to start a new life and opened up about whether she could 'forgive' her.
The mother-and-daughter duo established contact in the weeks that followed, but saw each other in the flesh for the first time on Thursday.
At Michele's request, her whereabouts initially remained 'undisclosed', although her family members were notified that she had been found back in February.
Speaking of their reunion, Amanda told news outlet WFMY News 2: "It was weird. It was wild. It was emotional. I ran up to her, hugged her and we cried a little."
She said that she is aware 'everything is not black and white' while seemingly alluding to the circumstances of her mother going missing, adding: "There's a whole grey area."
Looking to the future, Amanda said she hopes that she can now rebuild her relationship with Michele.
"Life's too short for me to hold a grudge against her, because she's my mom,"she then told WXII. "We only get one life and I want my mom in it."
According to the New York Post, Amanda also revealed that her and her mother have been 'talking and texting' since February.
"Nothing too personal because it was over the phone, but she knew I was coming [to the courthouse]," she explained.
"I’m not going to hold any grudge," she added. "Stuff happens. I still want her as my mom, and a friend, and go from there and see."
Amanda also revealed she believes that the reasoning behind why her mum left 'doesn't matter', as she simply said: "She’s still my mom."
She accompanied her mother inside the Rockingham County courthouse, where Michele will return on 23 April in relation to the DWI incident.
Her sibling Randal doesn't appear to be as forgiving, as the 33-year-old previously said he considers his mother as 'nothing more than a stranger to me now'.
The father-of-two, who was just nine when Michele vanished, told the Daily Mail: "'She's been gone this long, and for someone to meet my children is a privilege in my eyes. That's not one she deserves."
He explained that he is not 'angry' at her 'because that's a wasted emotion', while adding: "I really don't have any emotions. But I don't wish her any ill."
Amanda's father previously shared an eerily accurate theory about what he suspected had happened to Smith.
Olivia Burke