Woman who went missing for over 60 years found ‘alive and well’

She disappeared from her home on July 7 1962.

Audrey Backeberg vanished from her home in the small city of Reedsburg, Wisconsin on July 7 1962.

Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said in a statement that Backeberg's disappearance was "by her own choice and not the result of any criminal activity or foul play".

According to the sheriff she was living outside Wisconsin.

The non-profit group Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy claim that she was married and had two kids when she went missing.

According to the group, Backeberg filed a criminal complaint against her husband, whom she had married at the age of 15, alleging he had beaten her and threatened to kill her.

She picked up her pay cheque from the woollen mill where she worked the day she went missing, and then hitchhiked to Madison, Wisconsin's state capital, along with the family's 14-year-old babysitter.

She caught a bus to Indianapolis; however, the babysitter got nervous and turned back for home. The last time Backeberg was seen she was walking towards the bus, the babysitter told police at the time.

Detective Isaac Hanson told local media that an online ancestry account belonging to Ms Backeberg's sister was crucial in helping locate the missing woman.

He said he contacted local sheriffs where Backeberg now lives, and spoke to her on the phone for 45 minutes.

Speaking to WISN, he said: "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."