More than 62 years ago, Audrey Backeberg disappeared after traveling from her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
At the time of her disappearance, Backeberg was 20 years old and had hitchhiked with the family babysitter to Madison before catching a bus to Indianapolis, ABC News reported. The babysitter told the Wisconsin Department of Justice that Backeberg was last seen "walking around the corner away from the bus stop."
Now, 62 years later, the mystery was solved: Backeberg was found alive by the Sauk County Sheriff's office as part of a review of cold cases.
"The Sheriff's Office is now able to report that Audrey Backeberg is alive and well and currently resides out of State," police said. "Further investigation has revealed that Ms. Backeberg's disappearance was by her own choice and not the result of any criminal activity or foul play."
Sheriff Detective Isaac Hanson told WISN how he was able to track her down.
"The sister actually had an Ancestry.com account, and I was able to use that. That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data," Hanson said. "Ultimately, we came up with an address ... So I called the local sheriff's department, said 'Hey, there's this lady living at this address. Do you guys have somebody, you can just go pop in?' ... Ten minutes later, she called me, and we talked for 45 minutes."
Hanson told WISN that he promised Backeberg that he would he keep he reasons for leaving and not returning private. The station reported that an abusive husband might have played a role in her decision to leave more than six decades ago.
