A North Carolina mother of three who vanished over two decades ago was found alive and living a new life — leaving her family reeling with questions over her whereabouts, according to authorities and reports.

Michele Lyn Hundley Smith, then 38, disappeared in December 2001 after leaving her home in Eden to do Christmas shopping at a Kmart in Virginia, according to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office.

Smith’s “troubling” disappearance prompted multiple agencies across North Carolina and Virginia, including the FBI, to search for the mother of three for “countless” hours and pursue multiple investigative leads, cops said.

A missing person flyer distributed at the time of her disappearance noted she should be considered “endangered” and “would not leave her kids by choice.”

Roughly 24 years later, Smith was found “alive and well” at an undisclosed location in North Carolina on Friday after officers received a tip, authorities announced.

Her current whereabouts will not be disclosed, though her family has been notified that she has been located, police said.