A woman who vanished nearly 63 years ago has been found alive and well after her decades-old case was reopened, authorities in Wisconsin announced.
Audrey Backeberg was just 20 years old when she disappeared from her home in Reedsburg, a small city in Wisconsin, on July 7, 1962.
In a statement, Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said that Backeberg’s disappearance “was by her own choice and not the result of any criminal activity or foul play.” He confirmed she is currently living outside Wisconsin, though no further details were provided.
According to the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy, a non-profit organization, Backeberg was married and the mother of two children at the time she went missing.
The group noted that just days before her disappearance, she had filed a criminal complaint against her husband, whom she had married at age 15, accusing him of beating her and threatening to kill her.
On the day she vanished, Backeberg had left home to collect her paycheck from the woollen mill where she was employed.
A 14-year-old babysitter who was with her told police that the two had hitchhiked to Madison, Wisconsin’s capital, before catching a bus to Indianapolis, Indiana, roughly 300 miles (480 kilometers) away.
The babysitter later became uneasy and decided to return home. Backeberg, however, declined to go back and was last seen walking away from the bus stop.
Investigators followed many leads over the years, but the case eventually went cold. Earlier this year, a comprehensive review of the old case files reignited the investigation.
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Detective Isaac Hanson, who ultimately solved the mystery, told local news station WISN that a key breakthrough came from an online ancestry account belonging to Backeberg’s sister.
Det. Hanson said he reached out to sheriffs in the area where Backeberg now resides and was able to speak with her on the phone for 45 minutes.
“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and led her life,” he told WISN. “She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”
(BBC)
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