North Carolina mother who was missing for 24 years reunites with daughter

For over two decades, Amanda Smith wondered what happened to her mother,who disappeared 24 years ago in North Carolina. In a twist out of Hollywood, she had an emotional reunion Thursday with her mother, who for years didn't want to be found.

Michele Hundley Smith was 38 when she was reported missing in December 2001, theRockingham County Sheriff's Officein North Carolina said. In February, she was found "alive and well" in the state following a tip.

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On Thursday, the moment Amanda dreamed of for years came true.

The two reunited outside the Rockingham County district courthouse, where her mother was set to appear.

Smith walked toward her daughter with open arms and held her in a long, tight embrace. She complimented her daughter's hair and kissed her.

"Oh, I know everything is not black and white. There's a whole gray area," Amanda Smith told NBC affiliateWXII of Winston-Salem. "Life's too short for me to hold a grudge against her because she's my mom."

"We only get one life, and I want my mom in it," she told the station.

Days after she was located, Smith wasarrested on an outstanding orderrelated to her failing to appear in court 25 years ago. That order was in connection with a driving while intoxicated charge issued Nov. 11, 2001, by the Eden Police Department.

Her daughter accompanied her to her arraignment Thursday. During the hearing, Smith requested a court-appointed attorney, and her next court date is set for April 23, the sheriff's office said.

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It's not clear why Smith left her life behind all those years ago.

She was last known to have left home on Dec. 9, 2001, headed to a K-Mart in Martinsville, Virginia, for Christmas shopping and never returned, the sheriff's office said.

After she was found, she indicated to authorities that there were "domestic issues" and that she left on her own accord, Rockingham County Sheriff's Capt. Jonathan Cheek has said. The sheriff's office had no records related to such issues before she departed.

Smith had asked that her location not be disclosed, including to her family members who were notified that she had been found, the office said.

Smith has two daughters and a son, Amanda said on Facebook in 2021.

For more than 20 years, Amanda didn't lose hope. She ran a Facebook page asking for information and sharing personal reflections on missing her mother.

Last month, after her mother was found, Amanda posted on the Facebook page: "I will say that my mother chose her new life and we know she is alive, and for now that is enough."

She said that her family was "hurting" and that her father suffered as the target of "many accusations since all the way back then."

"I am ecstatic, I am pissed, I am heartbroken, I am all over the map! Will I have a relationship once more with my mom? Honestly I can't answer that bc I don't even know," she wrote at the time.

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March 26, 2026

North Carolina mother who was missing for 24 years reunites with daughter

For over two decades, Amanda Smith wondered what happened to her mother,who disappeared 24 years ago in North Carolina. ...

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Singer Duffy to open up about alleged kidnapping, sexual abuse in Disney+ documentary

Duffy is opening up about her allegedkidnappingand sexual abuse in a new documentary.

The Welsh singer, whose real name is Aimée Anne Duffy and who is known for her 2008 Grammy-nominated song "Mercy," will open up for the first time in a feature-length documentary film for Disney+ about allegedly being kidnapped, trafficked and sexually abused.

Singer Duffy says she was 'raped and drugged and held captive'

In 2020, after disappearing from the spotlight for 10 years, Duffy reemerged and shared in an Instagram post that she had allegedly been kidnapped, trafficked, "raped and drugged and held captive over some days."

She also wrote about the alleged kidnapping and abuse in anessayonline, saying it happened on her birthday and that she was initially "drugged at a restaurant."

She alleged that she was taken to a foreign country at one point, but "can't remember getting on the plane," only waking "in the back of a travelling vehicle."

She said she did not remember how she got home.

The singer did not share details of where or when the alleged incidents took place, but said in her 2020 Instagram post that she was "ok and safe now."

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In her essay, she said that the experience took a toll on her in the years that followed.

She added, "I am sharing this because we are living in a hurting world and I am no longer ashamed that something deeply hurt me, anymore. I believe that if you speak from the heart within you, the heart within others will answer. As dark as my story is, I do speak from my heart, for my life, and for the life of others, whom have suffered the same."

A pressreleaseabout the new documentary from Disney+ and Hulu states that it will be a "retrospective film traversing Duffy's life, from her upbringing in Wales, through to her meteoric rise to fame and her withdrawal from public life following her unfathomable experience."

The documentary will also include archival footage and interviews with Duffy's family, friends and industry peers.

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Disney+ executive Sean Doyle said in a statement, "This film will give Duffy the chance to tell her story in her own words," adding that the project was handled "with sensitivity and care."

"I'm especially in awe of Duffy -- for her honesty and courage to share her story," he said.

Documentary director Gill Callan added in a statement, "Duffy's life has been shaped by success and fame, but equally by pain, defiance, and an irrepressible sense of self. I'm drawn to the tension between vulnerability and confidence in her story and how a person can be deeply affected by their experiences, yet still find a powerful, expressive voice that is unmistakably hers."

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.

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March 26, 2026

Singer Duffy to open up about alleged kidnapping, sexual abuse in Disney+ documentary

Duffy is opening up about her allegedkidnappingand sexual abuse in a new documentary. The Welsh singer, whos...

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Lisa Kudrow still gets 'emotional' remembering “Friends”' impact after 9/11

Lisa Kudrowstill thinks about the way thatFriendsaffected its viewers after 9/11.

TheComebackstar reflected on the legacy of the legendary NBC sitcom in a newvideo interviewwithVanity Fair, noting how fans of the show expressed their appreciation toward her after acts of terrorism shocked the nation.

"After 9/11, I understood how important entertainment really is, and how important comedies are, and how importantFriendswas to people," Kudrow said. "Because we do need that escape."

The actress, who portrayed Phoebe Buffay on all 10 seasons of the sitcom, said that she remembers poignant interactions with grateful fans after the fall of the Twin Towers.

"I would drive home from the set, fromFriends, and people, you're at a stoplight and the car next to you, someone would look over and go, 'Ahh!'" she recalled. "After 9/11, it still gets me a little emotional, I have to say. Someone would look over and just go, 'Thank you,' like, about to cry, and just say, 'Thank you.' And I fully understood what they meant."

Kudrow said that those moments marked a turning point in her understanding of her work's impact. "That's when I think I really took it in, you know, what these shows do mean to us," she said. "And [I] felt very proud to be contributing to a break for people."

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TheRomy and Michele's High School Reunionactress previously expressed similar sentiments in a2013 interview with the Television Academy. "I think it was a relief that these were New Yorks that didn't have 9/11," Kudrow said ofFriendsand fellow NBC seriesWill & Grace.

The actress remembered that after the attacks, "All you did was watch the news" every day. "And it was just so many horrifying stories," she said. "It was family members talking about who was still missing, and would they ever find them, and who didn't make it. It was just non-stopthat."

Kudrow remembered wondering how the attacks would impact a new episode ofWill & Grace. "I put on the TV and it wasWill & Grace, and I thought, 'Okay, ugh, I wonder who they knew in the Towers,' as if that was gonna come up in the show," she recalled. "AndthenI realized, 'Oh, wait! This is a world where it's not ever going to happen.' And I almost started crying from relief."

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Friendsran from 1994 to 2004, which meant that its last three seasons aired after 9/11.

Kudrow said that she has beenrewatching the showafter the death of her costar Matthew Perry. "It's just celebrating how hilarious he was," she said. "And that is what I want to remember [about him]."

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

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March 26, 2026

Lisa Kudrow still gets 'emotional' remembering “Friends”' impact after 9/11

Lisa Kudrowstill thinks about the way thatFriendsaffected its viewers after 9/11. TheComebackstar reflected ...

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“The Pitt”'s Sepideh Moafi Details Her 'Kind of Crazy' Journey from a Refugee Camp to Hollywood (Exclusive)

Sepideh Moafi was preparing to attend a weeklong personal-growth retreat when she landed her role in the second season of HBO Max's The Pitt

NEED TO KNOW

• Speaking of her character, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, she tells PEOPLE, "She leads with pure intentions, and she's able to empathize with patients in a very personal way, and yet diagnose and see beyond what's in front of her"

• Moafi was a baby when her parents came to the United States after fleeing Iran following the Islamic Revolution

Sepideh Moafiremembers the exact moment she landed her role in the second season of HBO Max'sThe Pitt.

The actress, 40, was preparing to travel from New York to California to partake in a weeklong personal-growth retreat that required participants to give up their electronic devices, and she had yet to hear back from her big audition.

"I was resigned to the fact that maybe I didn't have the role," she tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. But at 7 p.m. the night before her flight, she got the call. "I was elated, and I frantically packed even more, because I was going to be in California for not one week, but eight months."

Moafi finished her retreat on a Saturday and began "medical boot camp" for the Emmy-winning drama two days later. "It was crazy but also just perfect," she recalls.

Moafi has found inspiration in her character Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, a strong-willed physician who's poised to replace Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) during his planned three-month sabbatical.

"She leads with pure intentions and she's able to empathize with patients in a very personal way, and yet diagnose and see beyond what's in front of her," the actress says. "She can zoom out and zoom in quite beautifully—and sometimes I get stuck in the zoomed-in part."

But that focus and persistence has also served Moafi, whose acting career began with an interest in opera when she was a teenager. "It grabbed my heart and pulled me forward," she recalls. As she faced doubt from people in the industry — including her first agent — Moafi wouldn't allow it to hold her back, and her "natural curiosity" drives her still.

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Moafi was a baby when her parents came to the United States after fleeing Iran following the Islamic Revolution in the early 1980s. "For any refugee family, it's rarely a choice. The circumstances were so dire that they were forced to leave," she says of her parents' journey, noting that they first went to Turkey and then refugee camps in Germany, where she was born in 1985.

"We were very lucky to have a community when we came here, but it's a loss of identity in so many ways," says Moafi, who considers English as her first language but also speaks Farsi.

Motivated by her early interest in opera, Moafi attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music but admits she grew "frustrated with the lack of priority given to acting." After a teacher commented on her talent in that area, she became intrigued by the potential in performing "without the responsibility of singing."

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Roles in regional productions of Shakespeare — "my gateway drug into theater," she says — and an MFA program at University of California Irvine followed.

After graduating in 2013, Moafi landed a guest spot on the CBS hitBlue Bloods, the first in a string of TV and movie gigs. "I couldn't believe that I was living this life. And then I booked The Deuce," she says.

The actress starred on the HBO drama for three seasons, and soon after its conclusion, she landed a part in 2019'sThe L Word: Generation Q– the sequel to the groundbreaking Showtime hit from the aughts.

"I loved the freedom Gigi unleashed in me," she says of her character.

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Still, Moafi faced detractors. "My first agent wanted me to change my name," she recalls. "It felt like they needed me to be someone different in order to work or to sell something. But I continued, and I ended up booking my first job and then my second and third and having a beautiful and varied career as a result."

Next up, Moafi stars in Off-Broadway'sNew BornwithHugh Jackmanbeginning May 8.

With success comes a platform Moafiutilizes to advocate for refugeesand immigrants.

"People want dignity and a free future," she says. "The emotional anchor in my life is my background, my parents and our history. It is a privilege to be of service."

The Pittairs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

Read the original article onPeople

byAdministrator

in

March 26, 2026

“The Pitt”'s Sepideh Moafi Details Her 'Kind of Crazy' Journey from a Refugee Camp to Hollywood (Exclusive)

Sepideh Moafi was preparing to attend a weeklong personal-growth retreat when she landed her role in the second season o...

Read More