REEDSBURG, Wis. — A Wisconsin woman who vanished without a trace in 1962 while raising two young children has been found alive and well in another state after investigators reopened her decades-old cold case.
Audrey Backeberg, who was 20 years old when she disappeared from her Reedsburg home on July 7, 1962, is now confirmed to be alive and living under the radar, according to the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office. She reportedly expressed no regrets about leaving her past behind and has since built a new life.
Authorities made the revelation Thursday, crediting a renewed investigation with uncovering long-buried clues in one of the state’s oldest missing persons cases. Detectives described her current status as “alive and well,” though her location remains confidential for privacy reasons.
Backeberg was living with her husband, Ronald Backeberg, and their two children when she abruptly disappeared after leaving to collect her paycheck from a local woolen mill. For years, her family and law enforcement believed she had met with foul play, but no leads ever panned out.
In March, Detective Isaac Hanson took over the cold case as part of a department-wide review of unsolved files. His work included combing through archived evidence, revisiting original witness accounts, and following digital genealogy trails — particularly through a key Ancestry.com account held by Backeberg’s sister.
“Ultimately, we came up with an address,” Hanson told WISN. “I called the local sheriff’s department and asked if someone could knock on the door. Ten minutes later, she called me.”
Hanson said the two spoke for 45 minutes. Backeberg explained she left voluntarily to escape what she described as an abusive marriage. She had married Ronald at just 15 years old and, days before her disappearance, filed a police complaint alleging he had beaten her severely and threatened to kill her.
“She sounded happy. Confident in her decision,” Hanson said. “No regrets.”
According to archived reports, Backeberg’s complaint in 1962 included accusations that Ronald had inflicted head injuries and possessed firearms while threatening her life. Despite alerting authorities, he remained in the home with her and their children.
Following her disappearance, Ronald claimed he had no knowledge of her whereabouts and tried to locate her. The family and community insisted she would never willingly abandon her children.
Initial leads suggested she may have hitchhiked to Madison before boarding a bus to Indiana. A teenage babysitter claimed to have witnessed the departure but later refused to cooperate with police. In a later interview as an adult, the woman claimed Backeberg had taken pills and possibly joined a group of construction workers heading south.
Despite conflicting narratives, authorities now say they are confident that Backeberg left by choice and was never in danger during the decades she was presumed missing.
“She was never unsafe,” Hanson confirmed. “She chose to remove herself from that situation.”
The sheriff’s office has declined to name the state where Backeberg is currently residing.
