You have a cameo in the final episode. For more information, please see our As Jan Broberg later described in the documentary Abducted In Plaint Sight, Everyone had a best friend.. I guess she wanted a little girl who she could dress up like a doll, but I was a tomboy. And yet several local families had been troubled enough by Berchtolds attempts to get close to their children that the church intervened. Both parents claimed in the documentary that if they didnt do this, B would expose a sex act that Bob and B engaged in prior to the kidnapping. Having not wanted to spend an extended period of time in prison, Robert Berchtold died by suicide during November of that year. After Broberg took what she thought were allergy pills before heading to the stables, she passed out in the car, and remembers nothing of the car ride. If you can [watch] and go, That would never happen to me. The series itself elegantly and subtly captures in a vivid way the crimes of Berchtold but also the naive air of the 1970s and the seeming inability to comprehend the disturbing nature of such predatory crimes. By the time I was 14 or 15, it got to the point where Bob would just take what he wantedit didn't matter whether you were willing or not. He told her she had been abducted by aliens and that if she didn't have his baby, her sister would go blind and her father would be murdered. 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. Directed by Skye Borgman, Abducted in Plain Sight begins in the early 1970s in Pocatello, Idaho. I'd been led up to that moment," Broberg said. Abducted in Plain Sight viewers learned B kidnapped Broberg a second time from her parents home in Idaho in 1976 when she was 14. There was definitely relief: Okay. Congratulations on the seriesI definitely understand so much more about your experience. I told my husband about what happened but he doesn't want to know the details. Jan Broberg's parents and siblings, as well as the law enforcement professionals who worked on the case, recount the unbelievable sequence of events at the heart of this . 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. That is my goal.. I immediately started to sob and then [had] this elation feeling. Over the course of the next six months, Berchtold slept in Jans bed roughly four times a week. It happened to my whole family, this man was a master and my parents saved my life. In October 1974, Berchtold. The cautionary tale Broberg tells about kidnapping today, is that "it's somebody you know, love, and trust, and probably somebody your child knows, loves, and trusts.". He had a sick obsession with Jan, which eventually led to her kidnapping when she was only 12 years old in October 1974. I found my mother's cold reaction to be just what I expected from her. When Brobergwas 12, Robert Berchtold kidnapped her and played a recording that told that she was half-alien, and that she had to have a baby with Berchtold by the time she was 16 to save the extra-terrestrial species]. Because my happy, carefree world changed in an instantand that was the instant when I woke up with my arms and my feet restrained in a dark room and that voice, that was so terrifying. I never saw a psychiatrist or a therapist. He drove her to California, where he enrolled her in an all-girls Catholic school claiming that she was his daughter. Jan Broberg: I was very involved. Despite the outcome of her marriage to Robert, Gail found love again. Jan has since said that meeting me was "validating." When Robert Berchtold first moved to town he became extremely close with the Broberg family, but as time went on it became clear that Berchtolds end goal was to get to Jan Broberg. So does a legal system that allowed Berchtold to kidnap, drug, and rape a child and receive a virtual slap on the wrist. "But I knew they had been groomed and manipulated too.". Jan and her mother, Mary-Ann Broberg, went on to do a tour for the book Stolen Innocence. What was it like to film that? Set in the 1970s, Robert and Mary Ann Broberg and their three young daughters, Jan, . (2001), Listen toVFsLittle Gold MenPodcast for Unrivaled Awards-Season Coverage, 2023 Cond Nast. Her saga was admittedly complicated: When she was 12 and living in Idaho in the 1970s, a close family friend and neighbor who was decades older, Bob Berchtold, drove off with her one day, having told Brobergs parents he was taking the child horseback riding. I think people get [now how] we were so close to the [Berchtold] family.. Did. It was Jan.. After the war, he returned to Utah, got married, had children, and settled in the small town of Pocatello, Idaho, where he ran a furniture store. Bob recalled saying to her, Dear, youll regret that decision someday., She stayed in Jackson Hole for two weeks, continuing the mission and living with Berchtold. 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. Theres a lot more to the story. He took me by her house, picked her up and took us both to his motor home. 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.. Robert Berchtold was ultimately given a prison sentence, but rather than face life behind bars, he downed a bottle of heart medication with Kahla and milk and ended his life. Over the past week, viral tweets and Reddit threads and various expressions of incomprehension have batted around the internet, as viewers try to make sense of what exactly theyve just watched. A recording began to tell her the story of how she was half-alien, and the extra-terrestrial species' survival depended on her to procreate with the male companion of their choosing. 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. He began flirting with Mary Ann, inviting her on a Church retreat in Logan, Utah. He holds a bachelor's degree in screenwriting (widely considered to be a bad move) from Point Park University. But when we got to his apartment, his kids weren't there. Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. We think hes in the parking lot. Im like, What? While on the road to Mexico he . In addition, B would consistently show Broberg's parents, Mary Ann and Bob, newspaper clippings of alleged UFO sightings around the country. Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. They didn't find out about the alien mission B convinced their daughter of until 1978 after she turned 16. I feel that he cheated death, as he was never really held accountable for what he did. Thats why Im so grateful to have this series. Jan, being a child, believed she was in love with him and that they still had to complete their mission. Peacock. 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. With Mckenna, I see all of the emotional intelligence of someone understanding how do you, at age 15, 16, how do you even portray someone thats brainwashed? There's somebody else who's doing it.". I wonder if he abused her at all? the way she approached me and the way she smiled and the way she was like, Oh, can we hug? It was [like] watching myself. All but 45 days of his prison sentence were suspended, and B ended up only serving 10 days in prison. It was only five or six years ago, when I found Jan Broberg's book about her ordeal and contacted her, that I found out he had only served a year in prison after being found guilty of the rape of a child. 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. Robert Berchtold: Who Was He? You have to believe victims. In one, her underwear is clearly visible. She also reveals how she managed to shake Bs grooming, what happened to B in later years, and whether her family has heard from any of the other Berchtolds since. Im so glad youve found relief. I guess, in your young head, you think, "This is just the way it is. Mckenna Grace, 16, plays teenaged Jan Broberg opposite pedophile Robert Berchtold (Jake Lacy) in "A Friend of the Family" -- and said she wanted to "vomit from how gross it is." The hope for Abducted in Plain Sight, Borgman and Jan Broberg Felt have both said, is that it helps end the culture of silence around sexual abuse and assault. Ive been doing, Hello, doctor with a couple of my friends for about 20 years. I about passed out. Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. We were in a car, and Bob pulled into a random neighborhood. The affidavits that they signed, they retracted four days later. For viewers watching at home, though, judging the Brobergs is easier, even if its hard to ever feel fully informed, or to believe that the family knew what they were getting into by airing everything so publicly. These guys were crazy and those stupid people, then we failed. Instead, she blames small-town navet and meticulous grooming on the part . It is a lifelong process. Jan Broberg's abuser convinced her she was the last chance for an alien species. 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. She was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by her neighbor and family friend Robert "B." Berchtold when she was 12 and again when she was 14. Click Manage settings for more information and to manage your choices. She traveled to meet him, and he begged her to leave her husband and live with him. Netflix first recounted the harrowing story in the 2019 documentary Abducted in . Although he ruined Jans childhood, Berchtold never fully paid for his vile crimes against Jan Broberg in prison. Robert kidnapped Jan Broberg, who was only 12 years old girl. The "alien" voice, which Bob pretended was coming from the car itself, said that I should be listening to Bob and doing as he told me. He told the school that he was CIA, and that they were on the run.. After Jan threatened to find her own way there, Mary Ann bought her a plane ticket and sent her to Berchtold. 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. She had me stay the night with a friend and invited her friends over. Do.. Ive met her and talked to her. It did. By the second kidnapping she had filed for a divorce, Broberg said. I met my ex-husband and we had kids. I had never taken a vitamin before and honestly, I just couldn't swallow pills. We will find the advocacy and the legal ways to put serial predators behind bars. Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. Hes so funny and kind and warm. So I didn't feel wanted. I can't imagine how many girls there were before Jan, between Jan and I, and how many came after me. I did this terrible thingthat part took me until that day I hung up the coat. So if we can find that community of support and do that, then that will not only raise awareness, it will prevent future abuse. A Friend Of The Family: What Happened To Kidnapper Robert Berchtold, Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Sparked An Important True Crime Debate, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Can Solve 1 True Crime Show Problem, Criminal Minds: Evolution May Have Finally Set Up Spencer Reid's Return, The Last of Us Episode 8 Trailer Reveals Original Joel Actor's New Role, Disneys Double Show Cancellation Hints At Big Disney+ Changes. According to an online obituary, she tied the knot with former Marine James Leslie Wadman in 1988. Peacock's A Friend of the Family sent social media into a frenzy because of its shocking depiction of Jan Broberg's life. Robert Berchtold took Jan Broberg horseback riding one afternoon when she was 12 and disappeared with her. We, Yahoo, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. We stayed in a hotel for a long time until she got an apartment, and within a few weeks of us moving there, Bob was coming by the apartment and having dinner with us. Your family was so close to the Berchtolds for years. He found me at college. A friend sent it to them. He never brought her home. 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. Im home from this dance and safe. And then I start testing the waters over the next few months. Let me inform you that her husband Robert Berchtold was behind the kidnapping of Jan Broberg Felt in the 1970s when she was just 12 years old. He was born February 7, 1936, in Tremonton, Utah to Leonard N. and Lucille Grover Berchtold. I said, Did you do some deep dive on my dad that I dont even know about? Hes like, No. After getting Jan back, Mary Ann took her to see a physician who reported that they couldnt see any signs of sexual trauma. To the Brobergs, this meant their daughter had not been raped by Berchtold. October 5, 2022. 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