04-05-2025
Woman who went missing 60 years ago found safe and well
One missing person case has had a happy ending after a woman who disappeared in 1962 was found alive.
Audrey Backeberg was a 20-year-old married mum of two when she left her Reedsburg, Wisconsin, home for the final time.
She remained missing for six decades, with her family looking for her until the case went cold.
New interviews with family and witnesses confirmed to detectives that Audrey was alive, the Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said last week.
Officers combing through the case again managed to speak with the woman, who is now either 82 or 83, according to WiscNews.
She is reportedly living in another state outside Wisconsin and has 'no regrets.'
Audrey was married and had two children when she was last seen near a bus stop on July 7.
After she didn't return home, her family raised the alarm and reported her missing on July 20.
Then, a 14-year-old babysitter working for the Backeberg family alleged that she had hitchhiked with Audrey to Madison, the state capital, before catching a bus to Indianapolis, Indiana.
The teenager wanted to go home, while Audrey refused to return.
Allegations of abuse and trouble in her marriage also emerged, including a criminal complaint, which was filed some days before Audrey went missing, according to the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy group.
Audrey's husband passed a polygraph test and he maintained his innocence over the years, while relatives insisted she would not have just walked out on her children.
While Audrey was found alive, some details of her case are still shrouded in mystery.
It is not known why she didn't return home, but the investigators have now said she did so voluntarily.
Her loved ones tried to come to terms with her possible death, with her sister telling Baraboo News Republic in 2002 that she just wanted to find her body and that the person responsible for her killing would be caught. More Trending
Detective Isaac Hanson, who spoke with Audrey, said Audrey might have left home because of marital issues, but he had vowed to keep their 45-minute conversation private.
Audrey's sister's account helped to bring closure to the case and find the address where Audrey was located.
The detective told local news WISN: 'I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and led her life.
'She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.'
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