It was recently discovered that a missing Wisconsin woman from Wisconsin was recently found “alive, OK.”
Audrey Backeberg, 20, disappeared from her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin in July 1962, the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice said that Barkerberg reportedly left his family’s home on July 7, 1962, and the family’s nanny claimed that the two of them hitchhiked to Madison, Wisconsin and then took the Greyhound bus to Indianapolis, Indiana.
The unidentified nanny said she last saw Buckberg, a mother of two, walking around the bus stop.
Backeberg has never returned home and has not been heard yet.
Earlier this year, a detective assigned a comprehensive review of the cold case and found new insights into the disappearance “through hard work of investigation.”
“Further investigation revealed that Ms. Buckberg’s disappearance was based on her own choice, not the result of any criminal activity or foul,” the sheriff’s office said.
Officials said Buckberg, 82, lives outside Wisconsin.
Detective Isaac Hanson, who found Buckberg, said while speaking to ABC member WSIN, he was able to find her through his sister’s Ancestry.com account.
“It’s critical to locate the death record, census reports, all kinds of data,” he said. “End of the day, we came up with an address…so I called the local sheriff’s department and said ‘Hey, there’s a lady living at this address. Do you have one person, can you pop?” … Ten minutes later, she called me and we talked for 45 minutes. ”
Hanson said abuse of her husband may have played a role in her initial decision to leave the house.
He said Buckberg sounded “very happy. He was confident in her decision and had no regrets.”
“The Sheriff’s Office is to acknowledge the work of investigators past and present,” it said in a press release. “While many cold cases face significant challenges, the resolution highlights the importance of continuing to work and the dedication of the Sheriff’s Office to provide answers to families and communities.
