Audrey Backeberg pictured around the time of her disappearance. Credit: Wisconsin missing persons advocacy
Audrey Backeberg, a woman who vanished from her Wisconsin home in July 1962, has been found alive and well more than 60 years later, according to the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office.
The 82-year-old, who disappeared aged 20, was discovered living out of state following a cold case review earlier this year.
Audrey Backeberg’s cold case breakthrough after six decades
Backeberg’s disappearance went unsolved for decades despite numerous leads. She was last seen on July 7, 1962, after leaving her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, to collect her pay cheque from a woollen mill, according to the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy. At the time, she was married and had two children.
Her husband reported her missing when she failed to return home. A 14-year-old babysitter later told authorities that she and Backeberg had hitchhiked to Madison before taking a Greyhound bus to Indianapolis. The teenager returned home alone, claiming she last saw Backeberg near a bus stop.
At the time of her disappearance, Backeberg had filed a criminal complaint against her husband, Ronald Backeberg, accusing him of physical abuse and death threats. The couple reportedly married when Audrey was around 15 years old. Her relatives insisted she would never abandon her children, while her husband passed a polygraph test and maintained his innocence.
The case was reopened as part of a cold case review in 2025. Detective Isaac Hanson re-evaluated the case files, interviewed witnesses, and found a breakthrough through Ancestry.com records linked to Backeberg’s sister.
“That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data,” Hanson told WISN. “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.”
Audrey Backeberg chose to disappear
Authorities confirmed that no crime had taken place. “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,” the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said in its official statement (cited by The Guardian).
Detective Hanson added: “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.”
Sounds similar to the story of a man who faked his own death.
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