A woman who vanished without a trace in the 60s has been found alive, and she’s broken her silence.

Audrey Backeberg was 20 years old when she disappeared in July 1962, having been last seen in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

The young mother shared two children with her husband, when she suddenly vanished.

After six decades, all hope had been lost that the young woman was alive, until a breakthrough came on Thursday (May 1).

The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office announced that Backeberg had been found ‘alive and well’ in another state, as it stated: “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.”

Audrey Backeberg was 20 when she vanished (WISN 12 News)

Isaac Hanson, who was the detective on the case, revealed how they managed to find Audrey.

He told WMTV: “I ended up locating an arrest record that I suspected was likely Audrey, so I contacted her family. She has a living sister in the area.”

Her sister then gave him the missing pieces to the puzzle which helped him locate her.

The Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy (WMPA) organization said Audrey had married Ronald Backeberg at 15 years old and that there were allegations she was being abused.

This led to Audrey to file a criminal complaint which claimed that her husband had beaten her and had also threatened to kill her days before she went missing.

However, her husband was taken in for questioning and passed the polygraph test when he claimed he was innocent.

Around the same time, the couple’s 14-year-old babysitter told police she had hitchhiked to Madison with the mom and then took a bus to Indianapolis with her before returning home solo.

“The juvenile was interviewed again as an adult, maybe 15 years ago,” Detective Lt. Chris Zunker said.

“She stated Audrey had taken a bunch of pills, put them in a Coke can and drank it before taking the bus down to Indianapolis.

Isaac Hanson solved the case in less than two months (WISN 12 News/YouTube)

“She reported Audrey potentially hooked up with some construction workers that may have been in the area.”

Sadly, this didn’t lead to any new information, but when Hanson was assigned the case and re-interviewed witnesses, he finally managed to track her down.

“The sister actually had an Ancestry.com account, and I was able to use that. That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data,” Hanson told WISN. “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.”

That conversation led to something shocking being said.

According to him, she left of her own free will and had ‘no regrets’ about leaving her children with her husband.

“I told Audrey that I would keep it private,” Hanson said. “She had her reasons for leaving and we discussed a lot of things.

“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and lead her life. She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”

A woman who vanished and has been found alive made a startling comment about her six decades away.

When a young mom suddenly disappeared without a trace, people immediately began to suspect the worst – but years later, the truth came to light.

Audrey Backeberg was 20 years old when she disappeared in July 1962, after having been last spotted in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

The young mother shared two children with her husband, Ronald, who she had married when she was 15.

According to The Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy (WMPA) organization, Audrey had married Ronald, but there were allegations she was being abused in their relationship.

One incident of alleged abuse saw Audrey file a criminal complaint which claimed at the time that her husband had beaten her and also threatened to kill her just days before she would go missing.

Isaac Hanson solved the case (WISN 12 News/YouTube)

However, her husband passed a polygraph test and he has always maintained that he was innocent.

So, what actually happened to Audrey?

The day Audrey Backeberg went missing

With no leads to look for, the case of Audrey’s disappearance hit a dead end for 63 years, but it was noted that the couple’s 14-year-old babysitter had told police she had hitchhiked to Madison with the mom and took a bus to Indianapolis with her before returning home on her own.

“The juvenile was interviewed again as an adult, maybe 15 years ago,” Detective Lt. Chris Zunker said.

“She stated Audrey had taken a bunch of pills, put them in a Coke can and drank it before taking the bus down to Indianapolis.

“She reported Audrey potentially hooked up with some construction workers that may have been in the area.”

However, this was the only information police had at the time to use to search for Audrey with.

Sadly, this meant that her case would go cold, and no answers would be given until May 1, when the case was reassigned and combed through again.

The search effort for Audrey Backeberg

According to the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office, Audrey had finally been located, through the use of her sister.

This startling discovery came after they reevaluated the evidence and also spoke to those who were there at the time of her disappearance.

The Sheriff’s Office stated: “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.”

Audrey Backeberg was 20 years old when she disappeared in July 1962 (WISN 12 News)

Isaac Hanson, who was the detective who took over the case just two months prior told WMTV: “I ended up locating an arrest record that I suspected was likely Audrey, so I contacted her family. She has a living sister in the area.”

He shared that he had re-interviewed witnesses and finally managed to track her down after over six decades.

“The sister actually had an Ancestry.com account, and I was able to use that. That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data,” Hanson told WISN. “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.”

The aftermath and confession of Audrey Backeberg

The 45-minute conversation with Audrey, who was alive and well all along led to something shocking being said about her time under the radar while her family swore she’d never abandon her children.

According to Hanson, she left of her own free will and had ‘no regrets’ about leaving her family, even 63 years alter.

“I told Audrey that I would keep it private,” Hanson said. “She had her reasons for leaving and we discussed a lot of things.

“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and lead her life. She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”

The mother of a teenager who has not been seen for 11 days after traveling to the airport to fly to meet her boyfriend has spoken out about her family’s ordeal.

Pheobe Bishop, 17, has not been seen or heard from in nearly two weeks after leaving her home in Gin Gin, Queensland, Australia, on May 15.

The teen was due to board the 8:30 a.m. flight to Brisbane, and then to Perth so that she could reportedly visit her boyfriend.

However, she never checked in, and CCTV footage showed that she did not enter the terminal.

According to The Independent, Pheobe was driven to the airport by her housemates, who were initially questioned about her disappearance before being released.

Later, one of her family members said that she’d never checked in for her flight, stating: “Her phone has been switched off from this point. She hasn’t contacted anyone at all, no one has seen her.”

Police have seized a car which the have labeled as an ‘active crime scene’ (Queensland Police)

Then on May 23, the police revealed that an item of interest had also been found inside a national park and they seized a grey Hyundai ix35, labelling it an ‘active crime scene’.

The Good Night Scrub National Park is just one hour from where Pheobe was last seen, with Detective Acting Inspector Ryan Thompson noting via The Mirror: “Police are trying to nail down the timeline to where this vehicle has gone. We do have associates that are assisting police with our inquiries at the moment, and this is why we’re trying to narrow down that timeline in relation to where Pheobe could be.”

According to The Independent, some items have been taken from the area.

“Some items, believed to be linked to the investigation, have been located during the search and have been seized for forensic examination,” as per a police statement. “Police have now expanded the search area and have renewed their appeal for information after recent investigations show some evidence may have been moved from the Good Night Scrub area, prior to police arrival.”

After so many questions having gone unanswered, Pheobe’s mother, Kylie Johnson, has spoken of the family’s ordeal, calling it a ‘cyclone of uncertainty’.

Pheobe’s mother has taken to social media to speak out (Facebook)

Posting on social media, Johnson wrote of how Pheobe’s brother has questioned why she won’t answer their calls.

She wrote on Facebook: “As we enter day 11 of Pheobe still not being home our numbness to our tears, to our hearts breaking and this hell is heavy. Not knowing what to say, what to do or even how to continue to live in this cyclone of uncertainty.”

She added that it has brought forth a lot of emotions, writing: “The tears come, the anger and frustrations come and most of all our hearts are shattering more and more each Day.”

The mother explained: “Your little man/brother asked yesterday ‘Why won”t Phee take our calls? She always takes our calls!’ Mate i wish i knew but we have to believe that the police and the lights that our amazing community are leaving on will going to bring her home to us.”

Johnson previously spoke about how her daughter’s disappearance is ‘out of character’, stating that she would ‘never not touch base with the people she loves’.

Right now, the people of Gin Gin are taking part in a ‘leave the lights on’ initiative to light the way for Pheobe to come home.

A 12-year-old girl who went missing has been found eight weeks after her initial disappearance.

Maria Gomez-Perez was found safe some 600 miles away from her home after officers conducted a search.

The 12-year-old was found with a man that she had reportedly met online and who had come to pick her up.

Officers arrested the man when they found the pair and are now considering charges in relation to the incident.

Police said that they had reason to believe that Maria and the man, named as Antonio Agustin, 31, had been communicating online.

This allegedly included Maria indicating that she wanted to leave home due to being unhappy.

Police have also confirmed that they are treating Maria as a victim in the case.

Maria was last seen at the home of her father Andres Gomez in Gainesville on May 29.

Maria Gomez-Perez was missing for 57 days. (Missing Kids)

Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said in a statement: “We believe Maria had been communicating for a time with Mr. Augustin via Facebook Messenger and other online apps.

“Maria had indicated she was unhappy and wanted to leave home. We also know she had been communicating with other adult males online, telling them the same thing.

“Let me be very clear on this: Maria is the victim in this case. And remember, she’s 12 years old.”

Officers made headway after Maria messaged her father on Facebook telling him that she was okay and to stop looking for her.

Investigators were able to use that message to locate the device that it was sent from via the IP address, which led them to Maria.

Four investigators spotted her at a city swimming pool after travelling to Ohio.

Maria was found safe. (Hall County Sheriffs Office)

A police statement said: “Maria Gomez-Perez has been safe in Dover, Ohio, and she should be on her way home here to Gainesville with our investigators within the hour.”

Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon told The Times of Gainesville: “It’s hard to put into words what we saw. I just really, really am proud of our community.

“Our Hispanic community just really stood up and made their presence known and said, ‘Hey look, let’s shine a light on this missing child.'”

Couch also warned about the dangers of technology, saying: “Technology is a wonderful thing. It helped us locate Maria. But technology can also be used for evil.

“It’s why Maria was able to leave Gainesville with a stranger and travel nine hours away from home.

“So please know what your children are doing and who they’re communicating with. They’re our most vulnerable and our most valuable citizens and it is our duty to take care of them.”