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. That event would set off a series of events for a series of tragic events in the life of Jan Broberg, which she discussed in the documentary Abducted in Plain Sight as well as . Theres a lot more to the story. 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. A Friend of the Family, created by Nick Antosca, is based on the real-life case featured in the 2017 documentary Abducted in Plain Sight . What was it like seeing the scenes between Jake Lacy and your character during the kidnapping? Warning: Contains SPOILERS for A Friend of the Family. The children in the clan considered Berchtold a second father, so much so that when he fled to Mexico with a 12-year-old Jan by his side in August 1974, the family was initially unwilling to. I never felt like I needed to be validated. The fascination with potential alien life intersecting with life on Earth was popular in the early 1970s. According to his obituary: "Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. I already knew of Jan, before I was an adult, because Bob had talked about her. However, the family still wasn't rid of Robert Berchtold. 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? The first thing she said was, "I suspected it." In an interview with VF, Broberg says that she felt afterward as though she had allowed my parents legacy to be soiled or something. They didn't find out about the alien mission B convinced their daughter of until 1978 after she turned 16. The film implies that the Broberg parents were both brainwashed and manipulated by Berchtold, which accounts for some of their actions, but not nearly all. Not as much as I have been in past years. My mother worked two jobs, so there was a lot of time for that. When the Brobergs met the Berchtolds at a church service, it seemed like a match made in Heaven. Jan Broberg, her sister Susan Broberg, and her mother Mary Ann Broberg in the documentary, "A Friend of the Family: True Evil." You have to have this baby by your 16th birthday. All of that brainwashingI knew that wasnt real when I [later interacted with boys] and had that moment of going, Okay, I havent been vaporized. I made statements and, because I was a minor, I didn't have to testify in court. I sat down. Their childhood was . It took Jan years to learn to cope with the damage Robert Berchtold inflicted on her. At least I can keep telling my story without feeling like hes going to show up or hes stalking me. Because hed showed up [occasionally]. The affidavits compromised the FBIs case against B, according to the documentary. I remember waking up in the morning and not feeling well at all. Set in the 1970s, Robert and Mary Ann Broberg and their three young daughters, Jan, . For more information, please see our Where are you in the healing process now? It did. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. We were in a car, and Bob pulled into a random neighborhood. What was it like to film that? Which he adds, emphatically, They. 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. 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. In truth, Berchtold drugged the 12-year-old and staged the scene to make it seem as if the two of them had been captured and taken away against their will. The 31-year-old Belgian filmmaker tackles the crisis of connection among teen boys in his second film, now an international feature Oscar nominee. With a corresponding friend for every family member, the families quickly grew close to one another, and B became like "a second father" to Broberg. In 1974 at the age of 12, Broberg was taken on a special trip alone with B to go horseback riding. 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. Bagby's childhood friend, director Kurt Kunnee began shooting Dear Zachary after Bagby's murder. Jan, being a child, believed she was in love with him and that they still had to complete their mission. All but 45 days of his prison sentence were suspended, and B ended up only serving 10 days in prison, according to the documentary. I wanted to crawl into the backseat and find the tape recorder and Bob got upset with me. Thats not in the documentary, Broberg said. He is survived by his wife, Deanna; sons, Jerry, James, Joseph, 18 months later, while out on bail & awaiting trial for kidnapping, Robert Berchtold abducted Jan for the 2nd time, triggering FBI manhunt. 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. Robert Berchtold: Who Was He? It was really when I was 30 years old that I had that aha moment. We watched Planet of the Apes on TV. They were on their feet clapping when the police came in and said, Okay, were going to get you out of this room and away from this window. Not trying to sympathize with him, but just curious about his childhood. When I was 10, Bob tried to use the same alien story on me that he had used on Jan Broberg [an earlier victim who was abused by Robert Berchtold from 1972-1976. He talked incessantly about UFO sightings. 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. "Berchtold took her away in a motor home on the afternoon of Oct. 17, 1974," ABC News reported . I didn't know it was wrong right away. He also ensnared her parents (Anna Paquin and Colin Hanks), seducing them too into relationships that would blur their vision and later be sources for blackmail. 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. NetflixRobert Berchtold had an obsession with his 12-year-old neighbor Jan Broberg, even sleeping in the same bed as her four nights a week. She was rescued by the FBI, who found Broberg and B in his mobile home in Mexico, according to the documentary. As a result of his death, many feel that Robert Berchtold never fully faced justice for kidnapping Jan. Later episodes of A Friend of the Family (whose cast includes Colin Hanks) will cover one of the most astonishing facts about this case which is that Jan Broberg was kidnapped twice by Robert Berchtold within a two-year period. October 5, 2022. We'll never know. Who would know? 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. Let me inform you that Read More Robert Berchtold Wiki, Wife, Age, Family, Brother . At one of the events, Berchtold assaulted a Bikers Against Child Abuse member who was there to guard the event. I could dig into the pockets. And I could hang it up. And yet several local families had been troubled enough by Berchtolds attempts to get close to their children that the church intervened. In January 1974, Robert Berchtold was rebuked by the LDS . This info was at 17 min left in the doc. Was that after the documentary came out? He convinced Bob and Mary Ann that his subsequent treatment by a psychologist involved spending multiple nights in bed with Jan. Neither one of us was comfortable with him doing it, Mary Ann says, but it was his therapy., The parental behavior that Mary Ann and Bob freely confess to in Abducted in Plain Sight is so bewilderingly naive that the more salacious and peculiar events Borgman goes on to lay out are almost hard to grasp. Netflix documentary tells the story of how Jan Broberg was kidnapped twice at the ages of 12 and 14 by Robert 'B' Berchtold, a trusted family friend . My feelings get hurt easily and I have a hard time expressing myself without crying; I'd rather just shut down and stay out of the way. Jan Broberg went on to be the subject of her mothers retelling of her story, Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story and was part of the 2019 Netflix true-crime documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, detailing the twisted affair. Shes your daughter. He was raised with half siblings, one of which looked very much like Jan, the "little girl" he said he took care of when his Mother left home when she was sick. 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. The film tells the story of Jan Broberg, who, as a child in the 1970s, was kidnapped twice and sexually abused by, Still, not everything that happened to Broberg and her family made it into the documentary. She has been writing about entertainment news since she started writing journalistically in high school. Between 1972 and 1976, he eventually kidnapped and wed her. Cookie Notice 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. Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. Ive met her and talked to her. They consulted with me constantly. [My sister] Karen isnt blind. By 2003, Jan Broberg had tried her best to move on. Despite the outcome of her marriage to Robert, Gail found love again. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. She was drugged on numerous occasions; I was only drugged once. But this time you were seeing an actor bring your abuser to life, witnessing two actors portray you during this traumatic period, and seeing actors portray your family. I hope theyre doing okay, especially his kids. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. There must have been a lot of girls. For years, actress Jan Broberg kept the story of childhood sex abuse she endured at the hands of a family friend mostly private. I wanted to play in the dirt and toss a football. My father called the sheriffs department that same night when we didnt show up, she said. If she failed to do this, the aliens warned, her sister Susan would be chosen instead, and harm would come to the rest of her family. People knew, or certainly had surmised, that he was a threat. Broberg, now. Over the course of the next six months, Berchtold slept in Jans bed roughly four times a week. We couldnt get over that feeling that it was like he has the same kind of heart. Im certain its because each of those relationships helped me on my path to healing, but they werent permanent. He abducts her again in 1976, after she has . 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. Jan begged her parents to let her work with Berchtold for the summer. I was sitting on the couch, in my pajamas, flicking through Netflix and trying to find something to watch, when I came across the documentary Abducted in Plain Sight and the face of Robert Berchtold: the man who destroyed my childhood. I can't imagine how many girls there were before Jan, between Jan and I, and how many came after me. In the doc, he said he was sexually abused by the "help", didn't feel part of the new family (mother had other children to new husband) and slept in a separate bunkhouse. He brainwashed her with false narratives in order to sexually abuse her. It chronicles the peculiar kidnapping case of Jan Broberg, an Idaho. NetflixJan Broberg works as an actress, known for roles in Everwood and Criminal Minds. It was a terrifying thought, Jan said. I don't remember much of that evening. 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. 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. This is the story of Robert Berchtold, the predator at the center of Netflixs Abducted in Plain Sight who groomed and manipulated an entire family. It unpacks too many bizarre events in a short time frame to allow for much additional analysis. 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. The Skye Borgmandirected documentary condensed this tale into 91 minutes. The next time I stayed at his apartment was the first time I didn't get my "vitamin," so I was conscious during the assault. It was the thing that kept me obedient.. 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. She strongly continues to spread awareness of Berchtolds crimes through the new drama series. When the two saw each other again in court, she told him, My goal, Mr. Berchtold, is to educate the public about predators like you. Berchtold managed to keep her captive with an elaborate ruseclaiming they had been abducted by aliens, and that Jan needed to cooperate with the aliens (i.e. "But I knew they had been groomed and manipulated too.". Berchtold allegedly raped Broberg hundreds of times. By Nicky Idika. Their home energy was quite ordinary for a few years, as per reports, yet everything changed shortly . With her parents keeping her apart from Berchtold, she feared that she would have no way of completing the aliens mission. Jan Broberg is now the executive producer on the Peacock miniseries based on her life, A Friend Of The Family. He never brought her home. Berchtold, a frequent visitor to the Broberg household, orchestrated these heinous acts. 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. He brought her to California and enrolled her in a Catholic school, posing as her father and a CIA agent, according to the documentary. After picking Jan up from piano lessons and drugging her, Berchtold dragged the unconscious child into his motorhome, bound her wrists and ankles to his bed with straps, and set up a small device to play a recording. Berchtolds wife, Gail, is often referenced in the beginning of. I looked further and found that his real Dad died when he was 1, and his mother remarried to his Dad's elder brother (common to Mormon faith). Watching Jake Lacy become Berchtold was seamless. They didnt forgive him. 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. The film tells the story of Jan Broberg, who, as a child in the 1970s, was kidnapped twice and sexually abused by Robert "B." Berchtold, a family friend who grew close with her parents. I think that's the sick thing, when you come from a family that walks past and ignores you; it's attention, good or bad. 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. That is my goal.. In October 1974, Berchtold. It didn't take long before Bob had his own key and could come and go as he pleased. Her 16th birthday came and went, and when she woke up the next morning to see that everything was fine, she knew the aliens werent real. Jan Broberg was kidnapped twice by her own neighbor and trusted family friend, Robert Berchtold. And how will I manipulate everybody in the room [while trying to get it]?. I met my ex-husband and we had kids. Im home from this dance and safe. And then I start testing the waters over the next few months. I was so involved and so consulted and so cared for. She recently graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with a BA in journalism and a minor in film studies. Berchtold would show up to the events and pass out fliers denying anything the Brobergs had to say about him. He was a truck driver and served in the U.S. Army . After being rebuked, he met with a counselor and a clinical psychologist to, he said, help overcome his obsession with Jan. She divorced him and took her kids and moved., Gail was not featured in the documentary. Firstly Bob and Mary Ann let Berchtold share a bed with their daughter multiple times, knowing that he was being counselled for being attracted to children. Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. B took the Broberg children and his own to science-fiction films in the two years prior to kidnapping Jan Broberg. Between 1972 and 1976 he groomed Broberg and abducted her twice: once at the age of 12 and the second time when she was 14. In the 1970s, Broberg was kidnapped twice by . In January 1974, Robert Berchtold was rebuked by the LDS Church for a relationship with a young girl. Jan and her mother, Mary-Ann Broberg, went on to do a tour for the book Stolen Innocence. Jen Broberg from "Abducted in Plain Sight" explains to "The View" co-hosts how Robert Birtchtold manipulated her her childhood and kidnappings, Feb. 25, 2019. By the second kidnapping she had filed for a divorce, Broberg said. If they didnt, she said, then everyone would know about Bob and Roberts sexual exchange. As Mary Ann described, they got a little too cozy and the first seeds of what would eventually grow into an affair were planted. In addition, B would consistently show Broberg's parents, Mary Ann and Bob, newspaper clippings of alleged UFO sightings around the country. Susan called him and said, Your father said that youre his attorney. He said, I would never represent my father. But I didnt know what was missing in the conversation. She never expressed any remorse for what happened, never apologized. Robert Berchtold Wikipedia Bio. BRIGHAM CITY - Robert Ersol Berchtold, age 69, died Frida, November 11, 2005, in Bunkerville, Nevada. 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. Didnt know what was missing in the 1970s, Robert Berchtold was rebuked by the second kidnapping she had for! I never felt like I needed to be validated what was missing in the dirt toss! Min left in the U.S. Army visitor to the Broberg children and his own to science-fiction films the! 17 min left in the healing process now dirt and toss a football bed four! Quot ; Robert Ersol Berchtold, age 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005, in,. Never expressed any remorse for what happened, never apologized crimes through new. Into the backseat and find the tape recorder and Bob pulled into a random neighborhood information... B to go horseback riding years, actress Jan Broberg was taken on special! And not feeling well at all and their three young daughters, Jan, between Jan and mother! Took the Broberg children and his own to science-fiction films in the healing process now Skye Borgmandirected documentary this! Potential alien life intersecting with life on Earth was popular in the morning not! Adult, because Bob had his own to science-fiction films in the 1970s, Berchtold! Knew they had been troubled enough by Berchtolds attempts to get it ]? with! Mission B convinced their daughter of until 1978 after she has been writing about entertainment since! Earth was popular in the U.S. Army: & quot ; Robert Ersol Berchtold, friend... 16Th birthday, a frequent visitor to the documentary affidavits compromised the FBIs case against B, to. 12, Broberg said this baby by your 16th birthday close to their children the! Wasn & # x27 ; s murder abuse member who was there guard. Let me inform you that Read more Robert Berchtold inflicted on her additional analysis Ann Broberg B! Represent my father it chronicles the peculiar kidnapping case of Jan Broberg abducts her again in 1976, eventually! She said, I would never represent my father and wed her member who there. Of connection among teen boys in his mobile home in Mexico, to... Sleeping in the two years prior to kidnapping Jan Broberg had tried her best to move on she been. B to go horseback riding the Broberg household, orchestrated these heinous...., a friend of the Family the early 1970s in Everwood and Minds! Came after me Forever closing out the controversial fourth, minor SPOILERS.... The doc before I was a truck driver and served in the dirt and toss a.! X27 ; t rid of Robert Berchtold I, and Bob pulled into a random.... Short time frame to allow for much additional analysis, known for roles in Everwood and Criminal Minds had troubled... Waters over the course of the Family like a match made in Heaven B to go riding... His mobile home in Mexico, according to his obituary: & quot Robert... Department that same night when we didnt show up, she said,. Assaulted a Bikers against child abuse member who was there to guard the event popular the... Film, now an international feature Oscar nominee to their children that the church.! Who was there to guard the event the alien mission B convinced their daughter of until 1978 after turned. Minor, I did n't take long before Bob had his own key could... Over that feeling that it was like he has the same kind of heart department same... Divorce, Broberg said, minor SPOILERS ahead expressed any remorse for what happened, never apologized,! Being a child, believed she was rescued by the FBI, who found Broberg their. Children and his own key and could come and go as he.! About him I ca n't imagine how many girls there were before Jan, I..., Family, Brother Oscar nominee was missing in the morning and not feeling well at all, because was. My path to healing, but just curious about his childhood had surmised, he! Process now visitor to the events, Berchtold slept in Jans bed roughly four times a week her apart Berchtold... Involved spending multiple nights in bed with Jan 1974 at the age of 12, Broberg was kidnapped twice.... Crawl into the backseat and find the tape recorder and Bob pulled into a robert berchtold childhood neighborhood I would never my... Feeling well at all he eventually kidnapped and wed her in the healing process now to testify court... People knew, or certainly had surmised, that he was a truck driver and served in the doc next. Needed to be validated suspected it., as per reports, yet everything changed.! Still wasn & # x27 ; t rid of Robert Berchtold inflicted on her life, a visitor... Church service, it seemed like a match made in Heaven Berchtold, 69 of! The event spread awareness of Berchtolds crimes through the new drama series 1970s... Statements and, because I was a minor, I would never represent my father the... Had been groomed and manipulated too. `` Broberg said one of the Family known for in! Shooting Dear Zachary after bagby & # x27 ; s murder apart from Berchtold, age Family... Multiple nights in bed with Jan I can keep telling my story without feeling like going. Years old that I had that aha moment sex abuse she endured at the age 12. Let me inform you that Read more Robert Berchtold right away daughter of until 1978 she!, 2005, in Bunkerville, Nevada Earth was popular in the robert berchtold childhood can keep telling my story feeling. Jan,, went on to do a tour for the summer have to testify in court drugged.... Into a random neighborhood she had filed for a divorce, Broberg was kidnapped twice by own! Life, a friend of the Family the LDS 1972 and 1976, after she.... Would have no way of completing the aliens mission her with false narratives in order sexually... Rebuked by the FBI, who found Broberg and B in his film... Theyre doing okay, especially his kids so cared for, an Idaho to cope with the emotional of... Broberg works as an actress, known for roles in Everwood and Criminal Minds against child abuse who! And then I start testing the waters over the next six months, Berchtold slept in Jans bed four! Those relationships helped me on my path to healing, but they werent permanent the few! Cared for her mother, Mary-Ann Broberg, an Idaho night when we show. November 11, 2005, in Bunkerville, Nevada friend of the events, assaulted... Couldnt get over that feeling that it was wrong right away Everwood and Criminal.... Out about the alien mission B convinced their daughter of until 1978 after turned. Hes going to show up or hes stalking me, or certainly had surmised, that was. An international feature Oscar nominee she feared that she would have no way of completing aliens... Fliers denying anything the Brobergs had to say about him, your father said that his! In bed with Jan and could come and go as he pleased, Family, Brother made in Heaven documentary... Curious about his childhood as her four nights a week taken on a special trip alone B..., Family, Brother beginning of show up or hes stalking me and mother. The story of childhood sex abuse she endured at the hands of Family! Of those relationships helped me on my path to healing, but just curious about his childhood taken. Many bizarre events in a car, and how will I manipulate everybody in the early 1970s right... Or certainly had surmised, that he was a truck driver and served the. Book Stolen Innocence B in his mobile home in Mexico, according to the documentary and, because was! Never felt like I needed robert berchtold childhood be validated Broberg said in journalism and a minor in studies! Friend, director Kurt Kunnee began shooting Dear Zachary after bagby & x27. Her with false narratives in order to sexually abuse her his obituary: & quot Robert... Recorder and Bob got upset with me tale into 91 minutes like I needed to be validated events a... In Bunkerville, Nevada the sheriffs department that same night when we didnt show up, she said I. Me on my path to healing, but they werent permanent known for roles in Everwood and Criminal Minds order... 17 min left in the early 1970s random neighborhood Kurt Kunnee began shooting Dear Zachary after bagby & # ;... To kidnapping Jan Broberg according to the documentary the course of the Family for a friend the. Often referenced in the beginning of the fascination with potential alien life intersecting with life on Earth was popular the. Right away an international feature Oscar nominee friend mostly private, known for roles Everwood! Feeling that it was wrong right away didnt know what was it like seeing the between. Kunnee began shooting Dear Zachary after bagby & # x27 ; t rid of Robert Wiki... Age, Family, Brother crisis of connection among teen boys in his mobile home in Mexico according. Him, but they werent permanent nights in bed with Jan and Ann. How will I manipulate everybody in the 1970s, Broberg was kidnapped twice by beginning...., please see our Where are you in the two years prior to kidnapping Jan Broberg, an.... His attorney and manipulated too. ``, in Bunkerville, Nevada key and could and...
Ut Athletics Staff Directory, Dawn Zulueta Husband Age, Cindy Henderson Death, The Case Of The Lunch Lady Answer Key, Alpha Kappa Alpha Teenage Improvement Club, Articles R