For years, actress Jan Broberg kept the story of childhood sex abuse she endured at the hands of a family friend mostly private. Once that moment happened, I believed it entirely, completely, and I knew [aliens] were watching me. These Romantic Movies Are Guaranteed To Make You Cry, The Greatest Romantic Comedies That Youll Watch On Repeat, 26 Movies Every Woman Should See At Least Once. Robert Berchtold was a well-known American truck driver, media face, retired US Army Officer who served the country during the Vietnam War and was also a convicted criminal suspect who kidnapped a too-young girl Jan Broberg in the 1970s. 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Jake Lacy as Bob Berchtold and Hendrix Yancey as a young Jan Broberg in Peacocks A Friend of the Family. Berchtold continually raped Jan as he drove his motorhome to Mexico, where the minimum age requirement for marriage was only 12 years old. She loves movie villains (specifically Loki), Bojack Horseman, Harry Styles and writing creative fiction and poetry in her spare time. "I had my moments of being angry and upset," Broberg says about resentment towards her parents. Although he ruined Jans childhood, Berchtold never fully paid for his vile crimes against Jan Broberg in prison. Vanity Fair: Your story is so complicated, but the show does a great job at laying out this elaborate abduction plan beat by beat to show how Berchtold targeted your whole family. After returning to her family, Berchtold kidnapped . It wasnt until 30 years later, after Mary Ann had published her book Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story, that they heard from him again. Although he ruined Jan's childhood, Berchtold never fully paid for his vile crimes against Jan Broberg in prison. It was really when I was 30 years old that I had that aha moment. Which is how those next four years, as you see in the series, unfold, because I really did think [the aliens] would take [my sister] if I didnt do the mission. My dad isnt dead. Gail Berchtold Career . It was a terrifying thought, Jan said. When I first met [Hendrix]. I was working on myself. Warning: Contains SPOILERS for A Friend of the Family. He, on some other level, was able to truly do what great actors do, which is to figure out what, What do I want? [Id get] phone calls and other scares. She divorced him and took her kids and moved., Gail was not featured in the documentary. Broberg said he managed to justify it to her parents (and convince them he hadnt abused her) by saying they werent allowed to cross the border to come back to the U.S. together without being married. The Disturbing Story Of Robert Berchtold, The Pedophile Who Kidnapped And Assaulted His Neighbors Daughter Twice. Broberg was missing for roughly a month during the first kidnapping, during which she was sexually assaulted by B. The recording was a message from two aliens named Zeta and Zethra, telling Jan that she was half alien and needed to complete a mission to have a baby with Berchtold before her 16th birthday. B blackmailed Brobergs parents, Bob and Mary Ann, into signing affidavits claiming he had consent to bring their daughter to Mexico after the first kidnapping, according to the documentary. Berchtold made it clear to Jan that she couldnt talk about any of their sexual encounters to anyone, and she complied since she trusted him. After Robert befriended Bob Broberg and his wife, Mary Ann Broberg, he quickly infiltrated their family unit and cozied up to their young daughter, Jan Broberg. NetflixMary Ann Broberg described Berchtold as having a charisma that Bob didnt possess.. The affidavits that they signed, they retracted four days later. When they showed up at the front door, my dad would stick his hand out and go, Hello, doctor. And then they would come in and he would give them the corsage that he had made for me, to give to them, so they could give it to me for free. Now, Jan said, she sees that it was likely because she wasnt a little kid anymore. Rian Johnson, Halle Berry, and More Share Their Inspiration, From the Archive:Who Stole the Oscars? The 56-year-old actress, who was abducted, raped and abused by family friend Robert Berchtold in the 70s, Speaking to ET Online, Jan explained how her attacker didn't lie with her under the . The kids played together; the parents enjoyed each others company. Jan Broberg: I was very involved. . The 31-year-old Belgian filmmaker tackles the crisis of connection among teen boys in his second film, now an international feature Oscar nominee. On October 17th, 1974, 12 year old Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her next door neighbor & parents' best friend. Cookie Notice Broberg continued to believe the make-believe alien story up until her 16th birthday. I sat down. Peacock. The [A Friend of the Family team] were sensitiveThey wanted it to be told in an honest, complete, and realistic way. The disturbing Netlifx documentary, Abducted in Plain Sight details Berchtold abducting Broberg when she was 12 years old. Robert Berchtold sexually abused Jan Broberg for several years and manipulated her and her family. The following two years, B kept in contact with Broberg, who said she felt she loved him. He even showed up at a speaking engagement of yours with a gun. I was adopted. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I wonder if he abused her at all? his) demands if she wanted her family to stay safe. The nine-episode series, which premiered this week, retells the sagathis time making it clear how a family like the Brobergs could have let Berchtold (plus his wife and young children) into their lives and continue to give the neighbor second chances. Monday on "The View," Broberg discussed her childhood and the steps taken by family friend Robert Berchtold, who went by the nickname "B," to manipulate the family and kidnap Broberg twice. I wanted to play in the dirt and toss a football. Kidnap victim Jan Broberg, the subject of Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, said she was groomed by her kidnapper to believe UFOs and extra-terrestrial life were a plausible possibility. After years of intense grooming, Jan started to gain romantic feelings towards Berchtold. On Oct. 17, 1974, Robert Berchtold picked up his young neighbor Jan Broberg from her piano lessons in Pocatello, Idaho, so he could, he claimed, take her horseback riding. The scene [in the second episode] when young Jan wakes up [in the RV for the first time] and hears the alien voices, that for me has been the hardest scene. Average Age & Life Expectancy Robert E Berchtold lived 5 years shorter than the average Berchtold family member when he died at the age of 69. 'Abducted in Plain Sight' on Netflix tells the story of Jan Broberg, a girl who is kidnapped by a family friend named Robert "B" Berchtold in the 1970s. Berchtold allegedly raped Broberg hundreds of times. When the Brobergs met the Berchtolds at a church service, it seemed like a match made in Heaven. The drama series, A Friend of the Family, was released on Peacock, and many fans are talking about its true story. Berchtold, it transpires, had repeatedly tried to infiltrate other families with young girls, and had been reprimanded by the high council in his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, for doing so. It was so shockingly hard for me. I actually got this little message [from a woman who was] the little girl he abused right after me. After the first kidnapping, her parents were completely unaware of the sexual abuse. Things That Didnt Make It Into Abducted In Plain Sight, Over the decades, popular culture has created dominant narratives of the Dominican Republic that are most often synonymous with poverty, crime, or state vi, This story contains spoilers for Ant-Man: Quantumania. He took us to science-fiction movies. I was making great strides in my life and my career and my familyall the things that I am so grateful for. I immediately started to sob and then [had] this elation feeling. B took a particular interest in 12-year-old Jan as well, often showering her with gifts and inviting her on trips. Oh my goodness, Mary Ann replies, in a steady, even tone, as if hes just told her that seasonal allergies might be worse than usual this summer, or that two people brought potato salads to the potluck. We will do a better job. I remember there was another girl that he was "seeing" at the time. Abducted in Plain Sight viewers learned B kidnapped Broberg a second time from her parents home in Idaho in 1976 when she was 14. Set in the 1970s, Robert and Mary Ann Broberg and their three young daughters, Jan, . The new Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight is a bewildering account of one girls kidnapping by a family friend. It is a lifelong process. My mother had four biological sons and she wanted a girl, so she adopted me. They didnt want to know. Thats really my mantra: Have a happy childhood at any and every age. Lets figure it out. S, Welcome to Love Like This?, a romance column where we, Kathleen Newman-Bremang and Ineye Komonibo, revisit some of the most romantic or not, in hindsig, Whether its the iconic early-aughts film Love Dont Cost a Thing or her 2021 Netflix hit Resort to Love, Christina Milian has solidified herself in th, This story contains spoilers for Netflixs You People. Berchtold married Jan Broberg in Mazatln, and 35 days after the kidnapping, called his brother, Joe, asking him to contact Bob and Mary Ann to get their blessing to return home with Jan and be wed in the United States. Next: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Can Solve 1 True Crime Show Problem. But Jan became even more withdrawn, and all the while, she was still thinking about what would happen to her family when she failed to complete the mission.. By 2003, Jan Broberg had tried her best to move on. Youve revisited this chapter of your life before in your books, documentary, and speaking engagements. Yet, despite the wealth of content, many viewers continue to have questions over exactly what happened to Robert Berchtold after the traumatic events. Brewer feels she did not get a chance to properly tell her story. But at the time, she said, they didnt suspect she had been kidnapped they thought she and Berchtold might have been in a car accident. Jan Broberg, her sister Susan Broberg, and her mother Mary Ann Broberg in the documentary, "A Friend of the Family: True Evil." There's somebody else who's doing it.". In 'A Friend of the Family,' the Berchtold's had three boys plus a girl Jasper, Joel, Jacob, and Jenny but in real life, they had four boys as well as a girl: Jerry, James, Joseph, Jeff, and Jill. Through therapy, she learned to forgive them for not stopping the years of abuse she endured from B. March 21, 2004 -- Actress Jan Broberg Felt says her childhood abductor returned when she decided to share her strange and frightening story with the world. And I could hang it up. Neither one of us were comfortable with him doing it, Mary Ann said, but it was part of his therapy.. I got to have meetings with the art department, the costume departmentI went to the location of the home they found. Following the incident, he convinced the Brobergs that part of his therapy required him to sleep in the same bed as their 12-year-old daughter Jan while listening to tapes provided by his therapist. I didnt want to marry her, Broberg said. Many people did. So Broberg was thrilled to help reframe her and her parents story in Peacocks new limited series A Friend of the Family, which was created by Nick Antosca (The Act and Candy) and invited Broberg and her mother, Mary Ann, to act as producers. Broberg woke up strapped to a bed in an unidentifiable confined space that she learned years later was B's mobile home. If you can see yourself in this story, then we succeeded. Jan Broberg is now the executive producer on the Peacock miniseries based on her life, A Friend Of The Family. Hes so funny and kind and warm. When Jan Broberg shared the story of her stranger-than-fiction kidnapping in the 2017 documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, she did not anticipate the charged response it would elicit. I told my husband about what happened but he doesn't want to know the details. Thats when Robert asked Bob to give him some relief. Bob acquiesced, thus cementing Berchtolds hold over them all. Thats why Im so grateful to have this series. Berchtold was a friend of the Broberg family. He found my apartment and called my apartment. He holds a bachelor's degree in screenwriting (widely considered to be a bad move) from Point Park University. Information about your device and internet connection, like your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Yahoo websites and apps. Now I do. 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