In a shocking twist to a 62-year-old cold case, a Wisconsin woman has been found alive after disappearing in 1962. Authorities now confirm that Audrey Backeberg, once declared missing, had started over with a new name and new husband. Her story brings attention to long-lost lives that choose to begin again.
Backeberg was 20 years old when she vanished from Reedsburg, Wisconsin. Days before her disappearance, she had accused her husband Ronald of domestic abuse. According to police records, she had filed a criminal complaint, stating he threatened to kill her. She alleged he loaded guns and placed them in his trunk before threatening her life.
On July 7, 1962, she left home to collect a paycheck from a woolen mill. She never returned. Her sudden absence sparked a county-wide search and an enduring mystery. Ronald, her husband, called relatives to ask if they had seen her. No one had. Backeberg simply vanished.
Shortly after she disappeared, a teenage babysitter came forward with information. She claimed that she and Audrey hitchhiked to Madison and then took a bus to Indianapolis. Once they arrived, the teen said she stayed behind. Audrey was last seen walking alone near a bus stop. After that, no one from her family saw or heard from her again.
Decades passed. Her mother died in 2023. One of her children passed away in 2006. Yet long-lost lives that choose to begin again sometimes resurface. In January 2025, Detective Isaac Hanson reopened the case. He digitized old documents and reached out to over 20 people, including relatives and witnesses.
One key clue came from an Ancestry.com profile tied to Backeberg’s sister. The breakthrough eventually led authorities to Audrey, now 82, living under a different name and identity. She has remarried and wishes to remain private. Detective Hanson respected her decision to keep her current location secret.
“She told me she did what she had to do,” Hanson said. “She seems confident in her decision.” She also chose not to disclose whether she has children with her new husband.
The Sauk County Police Department officially closed the case on May 2. Backeberg cooperated fully with investigators to confirm her identity and finalize the case.
This remarkable resolution sheds light on the complexity of missing person cases. It also reminds us that long-lost lives that choose to begin again may still be out there, hidden by time and personal survival.
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