A woman who was abducted when she was just 3 years old was found alive and well more than four decades after her disappearance β€” with no knowledge she’d ever been a victim in the first place.

Michelle Marie Newton was first reported missing on April 2, 1983. Her mother, Debra Newton, allegedly moved the pair from Louisville, Kentucky to Georgia β€œto begin a new job and prepare a new home for the family” β€” but left her husband, Michelle’s father, in the dust, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The missing child was none the wiser for a staggering 42 years.

Now 46, Michelle was raised under a different name. Her mother, now 66, started going by β€œSharon,” according to the sheriff’s department.

After Debra allegedly absconded with their child, Joseph Newton tried to track them down. He toldΒ WLKYΒ that he last spoke to his jilted wife sometime between 1984 and 1985 before she vanished entirely.

Still, the search for Debra and Michelle pressed on until 2000. At that point, the case was dismissed because prosecutors couldn’t reach Joseph,Β WFTV9Β reported.

Five years later, Michelle was removed from the nationwide missing child databases, the sheriff’s office said. By then, she would’ve been around 25 years old.

The case was reopened in 2016 at the request of a family member, but there still weren’t any meaningful developments until police received a bullseye Crime Stoppers tip in 2025.

The damning tip led authorities to Debra’s home in The Villages, Florida on Nov. 24. She had been living in the famed retirement community as β€œSharon Nealy” and had a new beau at her side, WFTV9 reported.

In body camera footage obtained byΒ WESH 2, a police car rolls into Debra’s driveway. A friend joked, β€œThey’re coming for you, Sharon!” according to the video.

Debra laughed it off, but one of the deputies plainly stated that they were in fact β€œhere for you, ma’am.”

After cuffing Debra β€” who once held a spot on the FBI’s β€œTop 8 Most Wanted parental-kidnapping fugitives” β€” police went to Michelle’s doorstep and delicately shattered her reality.

β€œYou’re not who you think you are. You’re a missing person. You’re Michelle Marie Newton,” they told her, Michelle told WLKY.

From there, Michelle phoned the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and planned a long-awaited reunion with her father.

β€œShe’s always been in our heart. I can’t explain that moment of walking in and getting to put my arms back around my daughter,” Joseph told WLKY.

β€œI wouldn’t trade that moment for anything. It was just like seeing her when she was first born. It was like an angel.”

Debra was arraigned on a felony charge of custodial interference, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in Jefferson County. She was released on bond posted by a family member.

Michelle and Joseph were both present at her arraignment. Michelle didn’t appear to immediately take a side.

β€œMy intention is to support them both through this and try to navigate and help them both just wrap it up so that we can all heal,” she told WLKY.