Between 1972 and 1976, he eventually kidnapped and wed her. I already knew of Jan, before I was an adult, because Bob had talked about her. The undeniably horrific saga of Jan Broberg's kidnapping at the hands of her neighbor Robert Berchtold not once but twice while she was 12 and 14, respectively, is honestly unlike any other. 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. In his February 11 special, the comedian reflects on the loss of his partner, Lynn Shelton, while also tackling hot-button issues like abortion and fascism. With the emotional adventure of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever closing out the controversial fourth, Minor spoilers ahead. "I met my ex-husband and we had kids. Who is Robert Berchtold's Family? Photo: Courtesy Jan Broberg. Some people know him as Robert or "B," but he was Bob or Dad to me. BRIGHAM CITY - Robert Ersol Berchtold, age 69, died Frida, November 11, 2005, in Bunkerville, Nevada. Over the course of the next six months, Berchtold slept in Jans bed roughly four times a week. He anesthetized her with sleeping pills and raped the girl up to maybe 200 times. The disturbing Netlifx documentary, Abducted in Plain Sight details Berchtold abducting Broberg when she was 12 years old. Its like a heavy coat that I wore and that was a burden for me until the day I decided I could take it off. The first thing she said was, "I suspected it." But, according to Broberg, both parents retracted their affidavits days after signing them. We watched Planet of the Apes on TV. How is this possible? I never in a million years thought this guy was stupid enough to show his face [around me]. Idaho, who quickly become close pals with their new neighbor, Robert Berchtold, and his wife and kids. But six other women came forward with their own stories about Berchtold, and Jan Broberg filed a stalking injunction against him after he was arrested at one of her speaking engagements. With her mother, she wrote a book, "Stolen Innocence," about her experiences. I met my ex-husband and we had kids. In actuality, though, Jan explained that Berchtold had just been careful. Its too painful for them to realize that they allowed that to happen to her.. 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. He didn't have to: my mother let him take me. Once that moment happened, I believed it entirely, completely, and I knew [aliens] were watching me. She loves movie villains (specifically Loki), Bojack Horseman, Harry Styles and writing creative fiction and poetry in her spare time. Robert Berchtold: Who Was He? In January 1974, just over a year after Berchtold met the Brobergs, he was reprimanded by the High Council of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because of his involvement with another young girl. 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. He abducts her again in 1976, after she has . So we went out to eat, he took me to a movie,we got some ice cream, then we went back to his empty apartment. I entered into a homosexual relationship with her father in order to have access to Jan, Berchtold later admitted. Then, when I was 17-and-a-half, I dated a guy who wanted to have a relationship with me. That was a really crazy little period of time. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Thats like looking at my brainwashed self again. Posted: 21 August 2021. Truth is, you don't really want to know what happens to Robert Berchtold after the events of the series. Robert Berchtold Wikipedia Bio. I didn't know the abuse was wrong until I was 12 or 13. At home, Jan was distant. '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. For years, actress Jan Broberg kept the story of childhood sex abuse she endured at the hands of a family friend mostly private. Im still human. Thats why, she says, they didnt probe more when they knew something had happened. I finally told my mother about the abuse. 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. Theres a lot more to the story. 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. By clicking Accept all you agree that Yahoo and our partners will process your personal information, and use technologies such as cookies, to display personalised ads and content, for ad and content measurement, audience insights, and product development. With her parents keeping her apart from Berchtold, she feared that she would have no way of completing the aliens mission. I found out from Jan that Bob died by suicide in 2005. Yet, despite the wealth of content, many viewers continue to have questions over exactly what happened to Robert Berchtold after the traumatic events. After learning about Robert Berchtolds vile actions, read the story of Jody Plauch and his father, who killed his abductor on live television. They had no idea about the abuse. I found my mother's cold reaction to be just what I expected from her. Thats why Im so grateful to have this series. Robert Berchtold. As it turned out, Berchtold had helped Jan escape out of her bedroom window that night. Shes your daughter. A friend sent it to them. I'm still in the struggle. Bob kidnapped Jan twice, whereas he never kidnapped me. I feel that he cheated death, as he was never really held accountable for what he did. What was it like to film that? So it looks . The Brobergs seemingly knew. After returning to her family, Berchtold kidnapped . When the Brobergs met the Berchtolds at a church service, it seemed like a match made in Heaven. The day after the series premiered, Broberg says she feels huge relief that a more complete version of the story is available. 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. Not as much as I have been in past years. Theyre the bravest people I know, willing to try to help the rest of you see what they didn't. Thats not in the documentary, Broberg said. In one, her underwear is clearly visible. My little sisters not missing. Afterward, Berchtold maintained his grasp on their lives by ensnaring both of the Brobergs in a sexual relationship before kidnapping their daughter for a second time two years later. It almost feels like this huge burden is lifted off my shoulders by having the story told right. By 2003, Jan Broberg had tried her best to move on. But Berchtold did not just kidnap Broberg oncehe entrapped Brobergs religious parents in such an elaborate web of trust and shame that he managed to convince the family to drop the most serious charges against him, continue letting him spend time with their young daughter, andin the most shocking twist of allkidnap her a second time when she was 14. Some viewers hit the roof, wondering how any parent could let their kid be taken by the same person twice. Heidi Brewer with her son and two daughters. Jan Broberg whose story about being kidnapped by her neighbor Bob Berchtold inspired Peacock's "A Friend of the Family" has written a new book about the experience, with her mother MaryAnn. Rian Johnson, Halle Berry, and More Share Their Inspiration, From the Archive:Who Stole the Oscars? Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Robert Berchtold. 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. It didn't take long before Bob had his own key and could come and go as he pleased. Part of the problem is that Abducted in Plain Sight, a 90-minute movie in a field populated mostly with six- or eight-hour series, is focused entirely on telling a story rather than illuminating it. his) demands if she wanted her family to stay safe. Now I do. In addition, B would consistently show Broberg's parents, Mary Ann and Bob, newspaper clippings of alleged UFO sightings around the country. 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. Jan, being a child, believed she was in love with him and that they still had to complete their mission. 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. In one, her underwear is clearly visible. "Berchtold took her away in a motor home on the afternoon of Oct. 17, 1974," ABC News reported . He hoped to give Zachary a glimpse of his father. His brother Joe had even visited while Jan was there, and he noted that Robert, looked happier than hed ever been.. I wasnt prepared for people to blame my parents. 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. Jill and I were very close, we were like sisters. Ad Choices, Broberg, who first shared the true story of her kidnapping in the documentary, Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Fragile Snowflake Donald Trump for Allegedly Trying to Censor Him. 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.. The 1967 film Guess Whos Coming to Dinner starred Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton as a ne, As the open-hearted matriarch Hattie Mae in Tyler Perrys 2022 film A Jazzmans Blues, Amirah Vann demonstrates a great tenderness and fierce love to b, This story includes spoilers for Saint Omer. On October 17th, 1974, 12 year old Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her next door neighbor & parents' best friend. He gave her allergy medication that knocked her out and drove with her to Pasadena, California where he enrolled her in a Catholic school with the alias Janis Tobler, feeding the nuns a fake story about being a CIA agent who needed someone to care for his daughter. That forever changed my DNA. The affidavits that they signed, they retracted four days later. The story is dramatized. Broberg woke up strapped to a bed in an unidentifiable confined space that she learned years later was B's mobile home. I'd been led up to that moment," Broberg said. 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? Listen and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Stitcher or the ABC News app. It was sad that I didnt know some of the things that I know now. You have a cameo in the final episode. My dad did that with every boy I ever went on a date with. And before she and Berchtold were separated, he informed her that the aliens had contacted him with instructions for Jan not to speak of the mission or to have contact with any other men. One of the scenes in Abducted in Plain Sight that best encapsulates the strangeness of its story comes midway through, after the second time a teenager named Jan Broberg has been kidnapped by a close family friend. [It was] something that my dad did to every boy I ever dated. That brainwashing, for me, was something that [lasted] a short period of time. 2 . I immediately started to sob and then [had] this elation feeling. And how will I manipulate everybody in the room [while trying to get it]?. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Around the same time, Berchtold went on a drive with Bob Broberg where he complained about his sex life with his wife and expressed that his needs werent being met. "I had my moments of being angry and upset," Broberg says about resentment towards her parents. 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.". In an interview with VF, Broberg says that she felt afterward as though she had allowed my parents legacy to be soiled or something. NetflixMary Ann Broberg described Berchtold as having a charisma that Bob didnt possess.. Jan, now 56,. I wanted to play in the dirt and toss a football. The reality, though, is that the extraordinary nature of the revelations in the film, and their insufficient excavation, end up overshadowing the much more urgent subject at hand. It was released on October 2022 on Peacock and had its finale on November 10, where Jan Broberg appeared as Dr. Carr, the real therapist the Berborg worked with. Its very close in every way to how it truthfully unfolded. Jan and her mother, Mary-Ann Broberg, went on to do a tour for the book Stolen Innocence. They settled in Utah, where . He brainwashed the little girl to believe that she was half alien and half human, and that her mission in life was to have a child with him. 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. And if youre not happy and you need medication or you need more talk therapyyou should get what you need so you can heal. October 5, 2022. And so many adults knew, but nobody did anything. Thats when Robert asked Bob to give him some relief. Bob acquiesced, thus cementing Berchtolds hold over them all. I moved back to Texas to stay with one of my brothers, and my mother stayed in Utah. Cookie Notice 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]. I know that theyve been invited to share their side [of the story], including his ex-wife, but theyve never wanted to talk to anybody. Berchtold, who was now living in Salt Lake City, Utah, had enrolled Jan at an all-girls Catholic school in Pasadena, California. Years later, Bob told me that he gave me the sleeping pill to physically manipulate me so he would be able to have intercourse with me without tearing. He said, I wanted to tell you, this is what happened and he killed himself. It was so strange. Berchtold and his family often had sleepovers with the Broberg children. I actually got this little message [from a woman who was] the little girl he abused right after me. Jan Broberg was kidnapped twice by her own neighbor and trusted family friend, Robert Berchtold. He even showed up at a speaking engagement of yours with a gun. 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. I remember waking up in the morning and not feeling well at all. Jan had two younger. Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. 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. I never go anywhere [for a speaking engagement] where it didnt happen to somebody in that room or to somebody close to them in that room. We couldnt get over that feeling that it was like he has the same kind of heart. He would pick me up from school and take me to his place, his motor home, our place or just in the car in the middle of nowhere. All but 45 days of his prison sentence were suspended, and B ended up only serving 10 days in prison. Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. She traveled to meet him, and he begged her to leave her husband and live with him. 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. Pete Welsh, the lead FBI agent investigating Jans disappearance, had to drill that into our minds, Mary Ann explains in an interview. That companion was B, and the mission was to have a child with him before Broberg turned 16 years old. They didnt have to do that, but they did. I could do that too, but I didnt have to wear it all the time. The following article contains discussions of sexual violence and suicide. It all started in 1972 when Berchtold met the Broberg family at a church service in Pocatello, Idaho, and quickly became an esteemed family friend. According to his obituary: "Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. 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. I was 9 years old when I first met Bob in 1978. 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. He was a truck driver and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Broberg told. 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. Other revelations, though, come thick and fast. They didnt forgive him. Berchtold allegedly raped Broberg hundreds of times. I never saw a psychiatrist or a therapist. Peacocks new drama miniseries, A Friend of the Family, is based on the real events of what happened to Robert Berchtold and the Broberg family in the 1970s. I reached out to Jan after I came across her book, and we exchanged a few emails. In August 1976, Berchtold convinced Jan to leave her home and come with him, creating the second kidnapping. Or at least remove them from having access to children and young people. It wasnt about Mary Ann. Susan called him and said, Your father said that youre his attorney. He said, I would never represent my father. Today, Jan Broberg has a "wonderful relationship" with her parents. As she headed home, Berchtold called Bob and told him of their affair. I felt she had dismissed me. What was it like seeing the scenes between Jake Lacy and your character during the kidnapping? Then, on Christmas Eve, Gail Berchtold stopped by the Brobergs house and asked them to drop any charges against her husband, presenting them with affidavits to sign. I mean, he just never really stopped. Have you been in touch with them? After Brobergs first kidnapping, B blackmailed her parents, Bob and Mary Ann, into signing affidavits claiming he had consent to bring their daughter to Mexico. 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. 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. He told the Brobergs he needed to sleep in Jans bed. I never felt like I needed to be validated. She doesnt recall violent rape but said, I would just look at the leaves If you just look at the leaves, itll be okay.. Privacy Policy. 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