Woman Missing For Nearly 25 Years Found Alive And Arrested In N.C.

Michele Smith has court date set for March 26 in Rockingham County, where the warrant was issued.

A woman who was reported missing nearly 25 years ago was found “alive and well” in North Carolina.

Michele Smith was reported missing on December 31, 2001 in Rockingham County. At the time she had been MIA for weeks. Her husband reported that she left their Stoneville home on December 9 to go Christmas shopping at a Kmart in Martinsville, Virginia. Her disappearance sparked an investigation involving several agencies across NC and Virginia, including the FBI.

Smith was found after Rockingham Co. officials got a notification, via a national missing-person database. She cited “domestic issues” as her reason for going incognito. After she was found, Smith was arrested in Robeson County on Wednesday on a warrant for failure to appear in court on December 27, 2001, a month after she was charged with a DWI. She was released on a $2,000 bond. She has court date set for March 26 in Rockingham County, where the warrant was issued.