Audrey Backeberg vanished from a tiny community in south-central Wisconsin sixty-two years ago after taking a bus to Indianapolis and traveling with her family’s babysitter.

The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said last week that the 20-year-old had been located in another state, safe and alive. She left Reedsburg, most likely because of an abusive spouse, Detective Isaac Hanson said Monday.

When Hanson was given the case in late February, he soon found that Backeberg had an out-of-state criminal history. To find out whether they had any ties to that area, he and other authorities spoke with Backeberg’s relatives. In order to get any documents from that area, they also began searching via Backeberg’s sister’s Ancestry.com account.

After two months or so, they discovered a lady residing at an address that, according to Hanson, was quite similar to Backeberg’s. A deputy was sent to the address by Hanson. Backeberg, who is now in her 80s, contacted Hanson ten minutes later.