Mum missing for over 60 years turns up - and gives two word take on disappearance

A mum who went missing for over 60 years said two words upon her shock reappearance. Audrey Backeberg vanished from the family home back in 1962 when she was 20 years old - and was finally confirmed to be "safe and well" last week, aged 82.

Police said her disappearance was confirmed to be "by her own choice" and "not the result of any activity or foul play". At the time of her , her family's babysitter told authorities she had hitchhiked with Audrey to the city of Madison, , where the pair took a Greyhound bus to Indianapolis, Indiana. When they got there, Audrey walked around the corner from the stop - and was never heard from again, until now.

When she was discovered by a detective living many decades into her new life she is said to have told them she had 'no regrets'.

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According to the Audrey Project, an organisation which documents over 16,000 "cold case" reports in the US, Audrey had married husband Ronald Backberg when she was "about fifteen years old" - but had experienced a "troubled" marriage surrounded by "allegations of abuse".

The babysitter had claimed that Audrey had disappeared in Indianapolis of her own accord, but this set up a row with members of her family members, who "insisted she would never have abandoned her children."

After more than six decades of mystery, answers started to come Sauk County Sheriff's Office assigned a detective to cold case earlier this year.

Detective Isaac Hanson combed through case files and evidence, as well as re-interviewing key witnesses in the case - but it was her sister's Ancestry.com account that eventually led him to her.

He local news station WISN: "That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data.

"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."

He added that she seemed to have "moved on from things", and sounded happy and "confident" in her decision to flee many years ago.

A statement from Sheriff Chip Meister said: "Earlier this year, the case was assigned to a Sheriff’s Office Detective for a comprehensive review as part of an ongoing examination of cold case files. Through diligent investigative work, which included a thorough re-evaluation of all case files and evidence, combined with re-interviewing witnesses and uncovering new insights.

"The Sheriff’s Office is now able to report that Audrey Backeberg is alive and well and currently resides out of State. 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 Sheriff’s Office would like to acknowledge the work of Investigators, both past and present. Despite the significant challenges that many cold cases present, this resolution underscores both the importance of continued work and the dedication of the Sheriff’s Office to providing answers to families and the community."