For nearly twenty-four years, the family of Michele Lyn Hundley Smith believed she had vanished without a trace. In December 2001, the North Carolina mother of three told her family she was heading out for Christmas shopping — and never returned. As the years passed, investigators searched for answers while her children grew up wondering what had happened to their mother.

But in 2026, a shocking discovery changed everything.

Michele was found alive, living quietly only about 150 miles away from the home she had left behind. Authorities revealed that she had intentionally disappeared, starting a new life while leaving her husband and children searching for answers for decades. When located, she asked that her location remain hidden from her family, who were left with a complicated mix of relief, heartbreak, and unanswered questions.

In this episode of Voices Not Forgotten, we explore the timeline of Michele’s disappearance, the decades-long mystery that haunted her family, and the startling truth uncovered more than two decades later. Was this a desperate escape, a life rebuilt in secrecy, or something more complicated?

Some disappearances hide dark crimes. Others reveal deeper human stories.

This is the case of Michele Lyn Hundley Smith — 24 Years Gone.

• (00:00:00) - The Disappearance of a Stranger
• (00:02:16) - Michelle Lynn Hundley Smith: The Case Unravel
• (00:08:30) - Michelle's Disappearance: What Went Wrong?
• (00:14:09) - The Michelle Hodges Case
• (00:20:06) - The Case of Domestic Abandonment
• (00:22:17) - The Case of Amanda Dugard

In 1994, Lamar Johnson was convicted of a St. Louis murder he did not commit. The case against him was built on fabricated police evidence, a coerced eyewitness identification, and the testimony of a jailhouse informant with everything to gain.

Even after the key witness recanted and the real perpetrators confessed, Johnson remained behind bars — caught in a system resistant to admitting its mistakes. For nearly three decades, institutional opposition, including from the Missouri Attorney General's Office, stood in the way of his freedom.

It wasn’t until a change in Missouri law empowered local prosecutors to challenge wrongful convictions that Johnson’s case was finally heard. In 2023, after 28 years of incarceration, his conviction was overturned.

In this episode of Voices Not Forgotten, we examine the failures that led to Johnson’s wrongful conviction, the long fight for justice, and what his case reveals about power, accountability, and reform in the American legal system.

Because some voices refuse to be silenced — even after decades behind bars.

• (00:00:00) - Missouri: The Legal and Legislative Landscape
• (00:01:40) - The Missouri Supreme Court's landmark decision in Christopher Dunn's case
• (00:07:47) - Christopher Dunn's wrongful conviction litigation in Missouri
• (00:12:42) - The Missouri Public Defender Crisis
• (00:20:10) - The Special Sessions in Missouri
• (00:27:18) - Missouri's Civil and Social Laws of 2025
• (00:28:41) - Missouri legislative records: The Battle over reproductive health in 2025

In 2020, Keyonta Davis, a 21-year-old man with disabilities from Baltimore, Maryland, vanished—and nearly as troubling as his disappearance was how long it took for anyone in authority to take it seriously. While police records list his missing date as May 7, Keyonta’s family says he disappeared in March, shortly after his birthday.

As his mother searched for answers, she encountered a system that repeatedly dismissed her concerns, citing Keyonta’s age and independence. Behind the scenes, troubling questions emerged about possible financial exploitation, roommates who may have been stealing his disability benefits, and a timeline that never quite added up.

Nearly six years later, Keyonta’s case remains unresolved.

In this episode of Voices Not Forgotten, we tell Keyonta’s story, examine the institutional failures that slowed the search for him, and ask the question that still haunts his family: Where is Keyonta Davis—and why did it take so long for anyone to look?

• (00:00:00) - The Invisible Missing: Chiantay Davis Case
• (00:04:33) - Keonte Davis: The Missing African American Male
• (00:08:38) - The Unbeknownst Face of Chianta's
• (00:10:11) - The Case of Chianta's Missing
• (00:15:35) - The Lake County homicide case
• (00:16:06) - Baltimore Police: Criminal Exploitation of Chianta
• (00:21:16) - The Criminal Case of Keonta Jones
• (00:23:43) - Keonta's Case: The Digital Silence
• (00:27:38) - Keonti Davis: A Missing Person's Case in Baltimore
• (00:29:06) - A 21-Year-Old's Disappearance