Found Safe WI - Audrey Good Backeberg, 20, Reedsburg, 7 July 1962

[HmmMysterious]

Wow Audrey's actually alive! I'm glad this case had a positive resolution. It's sad that she had to start a new life elsewhere because of her abusive husband. I hope she and her children have a good reunion.

Can we have this marked as "Found Alive"

 

[Richard]

It certainly would be nice to know the rest of the story. Did she know that she had been reported missing, and that people (including her children) were looking for her?

 

[Quoththeraven]

wiscnews.com | Read the regional and community headlines for Portage, Baraboo and Beaver Dam Wisconsin.

Read the regional and community headlines for Portage, Baraboo and Beaver Dam Wisconsin.

wiscnews.com

Link above. I don't know how she remarried without getting a divorce.

On Monday, after following a hunch that led him to request the help of an out-of-state law enforcement agency, Sheriff’s Det. Isaac Hanson said he succeeded in speaking with Backeberg by phone for about 45 minutes.
She chose not to reveal her current location, Hanson said, but she is living in the United States, outside of Wisconsin. She remarried after going missing, Hanson said, but he declined to provide her new last name or indicate if she had any children with her second husband.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Link above. I don't know how she remarried without getting a divorce.

Her husband divorced her in absentia in 1963

Join Ancestry®

Begin your discovery today by exploring the world's largest online family history resource!

www.ancestry.com

 

[Bluebear15]

Link above. I don't know how she remarried without getting a divorce.

The obituary for her husband in post 6 states that he married in 1982, so there was either a divorce, or she was declared dead.

 

[tarabull]

Woman missing since 1962 found 'alive and well'

Police in Wisconsin say Audrey Backeberg left home 'by her own choice' and no foul play was involved.

www.bbc.com

 

[beubeubeu]

Her disappearance was by choice, not due to criminal activity, the Sheriff's Office said.

Nice to know that martial abuse of child bride, violent assaults and death threats aren't considered "criminal activity", and running away from it's just a choice.

I know, I know it was just phrased this way, but it was P H R A S E D T H I S W A Y.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Good point, beubeu.

I am glad she is alive, though, and hope she has spent most of the time after 1962 in a healthy situation, considering it sounds like she had to figure out alone how to start a new life.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

And an Ancestry account by her relative did play a large role in finding her.

Woman missing since 1962 found 'alive and well'

Police in Wisconsin say Audrey Backeberg left home 'by her own choice' and no foul play was involved.

www.bbc.com

 

[The4TierBridge]

Nice to know that martial abuse of child bride, violent assaults and death threats aren't considered "criminal activity", and running away from it's just a choice.

I know, I know it was just phrased this way, but it was P H R A S E D T H I S W A Y.

I think they meant it wasn’t a result of HER being involved in criminal activity or her being a victim of murder.

 

[Quoththeraven]

Nice to know that martial abuse of child bride, violent assaults and death threats aren't considered "criminal activity", and running away from it's just a choice.

I know, I know it was just phrased this way, but it was P H R A S E D T H I S W A Y.

IMO, the husband was a fireman, part of the good ol' boy network, which might be why his assault cases weren't pursued. Most of been pretty hard leaving the children behind.

 

[The4TierBridge]

Does anyone know if she ever remarried someone else?

 

[alb1on]

And an Ancestry account by her relative did play a large role in finding her.

Woman missing since 1962 found 'alive and well'

Police in Wisconsin say Audrey Backeberg left home 'by her own choice' and no foul play was involved.

www.bbc.com

It is not uncommon that there are traces on ancestry, either due to overlooked records or due to one or more family members entering information which they know but has not been shared with LE or even some family members. Stella Horrell was found in a similar way and I also recall another case for which I cannot remember the name where the finding never seemed to be confirmed but appeared sound based on ancestry info.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1919138180680282147

 

[marsyao]

IMO, the husband was a fireman, part of the good ol' boy network, which might be why his assault cases weren't pursued. Most of been pretty hard leaving the children behind.

Was there any concrete evidence her husband abusing her ?

 

[Seni]

Does anyone know if she ever remarried someone else?

Yes, she married again. Link can be found a few posts above.

 

[DS2021]

Wisconsin woman missing nearly 63 years was found "alive and well," police say

Audrey Backeberg was 20 years old when she first disappeared from her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in July 1962.

www.cbsnews.com

Speaking to ABC affiliate WSIN, Detective Isaac Hanson, who found Backeberg, said he was able to locate her through her sister's ancestry.com account.

"That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data," he said. "Ultimately, we came up with an address ... 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

Hanson said an abusive husband may have played a role in her initial decision to leave her home.

He said Backeberg sounded "happy. Confident in her decision, no regrets

 

[sunnynz]

Was there any concrete evidence her husband abusing her ?

If you read the earlier posts in this thread, it’s stated multiple times that she had filed a police report against the husband for his violent behaviour/him threatening to kill her. A couple of days later she fled and even left her young children behind. Seems pretty concrete to me?

 

[caradana]

I don’t know a lot of women who leave their kids without fear they are going to die
I don’t know a lot of women who were married at 15 in frozen, isolating Wisconsin
I don’t know a lot of detectives who tell such a stilted narrative of this story, after winning what is in many the eyes of a giant Pyrrhic victory = finding her
In 20 years history will look back at this finding and say, it was handled disgustingly.
I hope she lives a beautiful rest of her life
I hope her kids are OK
Confident on both

If I were that detective i’d be beyond revolted about the storytelling rooted in my case.

 

[Meitsyeah]

A decades old case solved with the happiest ending possible user lived a full life and has not been sitting in a cold unknown grave for the last 60 years. Also outstanding police work in resolving this!! Not sure what this statement from above means If I were that detective i’d be beyond revolted about the storytelling rooted in my case. ??