Obviously, you still are affected [every day]. 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. Shes your daughter. Robert, his wife Gail Toyn Berchtold, and their children moved to Pocatello, Idaho, perhaps in the early 1970s, only to live next door to the equally religious Broberg family. Cookie Notice He even showed up at a speaking engagement of yours with a gun. Robert Ersol "Bob" Berchtold . All views expressed in this article are the author's own. He wanted to talk on the phone and to go out, and Bob didn't like it. Jan Broberg is now the executive producer on the Peacock miniseries based on her life, A Friend Of The Family. He frequently called Mary Ann, confessing his love to her and asking her to meet him in Utah to talk about everything. 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. I wanted to play in the dirt and toss a football. 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. If Jan wasnt pregnant and Susan refused to take Jans place, she was going to shoot Susan and then herself. Information about your device and internet connection, like your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Yahoo websites and apps. Jannow Jan Broberg Felt, an actor whos appeared in Criminal Minds and Everwoodhas subsequently defended her mother and father. That was terrifying and surreal because I was finishing a speech for a thousand women and their daughters. He called me before it came on the news. I remember waking up in the morning and not feeling well at all. We, Yahoo, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. How many of Berchtolds alleged victims did you hear from? They didnt forgive him. Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. After returning to her family, Berchtold kidnapped . Then he twisted that into, They want us to get married, and then everything will be okay. As Mary Ann described, they got a little too cozy and the first seeds of what would eventually grow into an affair were planted. Was your deprogramming gradual over the years, or was there one turning point in your life where everything clicked? 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). 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. He told the Brobergs he needed to sleep in Jans bed. You can change your choices at any time by visiting your privacy controls. I guess, in your young head, you think, "This is just the way it is. "When people ask me about the brainwashing, I'm like, 'It took 10 seconds.' Berchtold went from seducing both Bob and Mary Ann, driving them apart while learning their weakness simultaneously. Robert Berchtold was born on November 6, 1920, and died at age 50 years old in August 1971. Jan has this very colorful story of what happened to her, and none of that happened to me. Kerry Washington Goes for LaughsAnd TruthIn Hulu Comedy. 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. 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. I entered into a homosexual relationship with her father in order to have access to Jan, Berchtold later admitted. Berchtold would show up to the events and pass out fliers denying anything the Brobergs had to say about him. Brewer feels she did not get a chance to properly tell her story. Jan Broberg: I was very involved. 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]. 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. And how will I manipulate everybody in the room [while trying to get it]?. She endured some of the worst imaginable psychological manipulation during her childhood. Some viewers hit the roof, wondering how any parent could let their kid be taken by the same person twice. By Nicky Idika. She was drugged on numerous occasions; I was only drugged once. Berchtold, played by Jake Lacy, did not just target Jan (Hendrix Yancey and Mckenna Grace), the series makes clear. Broberg was missing for roughly a month during the first kidnapping, during which she was sexually assaulted by B. Our two families, with the popcorn, watched Star Trek and Lost in Space. Or at least remove them from having access to children and young people. Berchtold was born on February 7, 1936 in Tremonton, Utah. I got to have meetings with the art department, the costume departmentI went to the location of the home they found. 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 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. After being rebuked, he met with a counselor and a clinical psychologist to, he said, help overcome his obsession with Jan. While on the road to Mexico he . 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. The following article contains discussions of sexual violence and suicide. 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. My father called the sheriffs department that same night when we didnt show up, she said. I did this terrible thingthat part took me until that day I hung up the coat. The [A Friend of the Family team] were sensitiveThey wanted it to be told in an honest, complete, and realistic way. I don't believe she had a relationship with Bob but I think she really liked him and was hoping for more. I made statements and, because I was a minor, I didn't have to testify in court. There was definitely relief: Okay. I was so involved and so consulted and so cared for. So if we can find that community of support and do that, then that will not only raise awareness, it will prevent future abuse. These guys were crazy and those stupid people, then we failed. 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. The new Peacock drama miniseries, A Friend Of The Family, tells the true story of how kidnapper Robert Berchtold ruined Jan Brobergs childhood. At one point, she planned on buying a gun and explaining to her sister Susan what was going to happen. Grace M. Galarraga is a writer based out of Southern California. I was 10 and she was 12. It was Jan.. They didnt want to know. The master manipulator from Utha has a lengthy history of having a particular lust for young females. "I was this special person that was going to have this special child that was going to save the world," Broberg explained. 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. Jake Lacy in A Friend of the Family (Image credit: Peacock ) In the summer of 1972, Robert Berchtold moved a few blocks away from the Brogberg family in Pocatello, Idaho. It took Jan years to learn to cope with the damage Robert Berchtold inflicted on her. Pete Welsh, the lead FBI agent investigating Jans disappearance, had to drill that into our minds, Mary Ann explains in an interview. Broberg continued to believe the make-believe alien story up until her 16th birthday. My dad isnt dead. 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. Abducted in Plain Sight viewers learned B kidnapped Broberg a second time from her parents home in Idaho in 1976 when she was 14. Faith leaders knew. Netflix first recounted the harrowing story in the 2019 documentary Abducted in . 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. Here is where Borgmans unwillingness or lack of space to parse exactly whats going on feels most acute. As far as the other scenes, I think I really have been able to [separate myself]. My mother had four biological sons and she wanted a girl, so she adopted me. I never saw a psychiatrist or a therapist. I can't imagine how many girls there were before Jan, between Jan and I, and how many came after me. After earning the Broberg family's trust with his charismatic personality, Berchtold began grooming daughter Jan (Mckenna Grace and Hendrix Yancey in different time periods) in 1972, and. Robert 'B' Berchtold, her abuser, played by Jake Lacy, had befriended Mary Ann in the church and spent a good two-year time gaining their trust. I told my husband about what happened but he doesn't want to know the details. 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. 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. It really was amazing. 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. You mentioned hearing from another woman who had been abused by Berchtold. 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. For more information, please see our They were just extraordinary. Although he ruined Jans childhood, Berchtold never fully paid for his vile crimes against Jan Broberg in prison. Youve revisited this chapter of your life before in your books, documentary, and speaking engagements. 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. I reached out to Jan after I came across her book, and we exchanged a few emails. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Robert Berchtold. 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. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. I met my ex-husband and we had kids. Be the creator of your life. 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. Susan called him and said, Your father said that youre his attorney. He said, I would never represent my father. I had a fixation for Jan. 18 months later, while out on bail & awaiting trial for kidnapping, Robert Berchtold abducted Jan for the 2nd time, triggering FBI manhunt. [Berchtold] was [close to another family] when he died. We didn't meet in person until we filmed the documentary, A Friend of the Family: True Evil. It was an interesting thing. Im so glad youve found relief. I immediately started to sob and then [had] this elation feeling. But, as Welsh described, they were duped in a terrible, terrible way. The man Berchtold saw was not a licensed psychologist his license had been revoked. Growing up Mormon, Broberg told "The View" co-hosts she was somewhat familiar with the "Mary, Jesus, and Joseph story," and B told her a similar story through the voice recordings. 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. I wanted this for a long timeto tell the story in a way that would affect the most change and the most understanding so that people could avoid this happening in their own life or help any traumatized young person get to a healthy, happy place. 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. 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. I don't remember much of that evening. Jan returned home, but only briefly. A few people in the movie vaguely assert that it was the 1970s, and no one really understood what pedophiles were, or that intimate friends and family members could also present a real danger to children. 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. I felt she was unaffectionate as a parent: there were no hugs or "I love you"s when I was growing up. It's hard to say what impact the abuse had on my life. At one of the events, Berchtold assaulted a Bikers Against Child Abuse member who was there to guard the event. This is happening everywhere right now in 2022. "Many harmed by child sexual assault. Having not wanted to spend an extended period of time in prison, Robert Berchtold died by suicide during November of that year. I said, Did you do some deep dive on my dad that I dont even know about? Hes like, No. He drugged her and transported her to Mexico in his RV. . They are curious about where the real Robert Berchtold is now. 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 . Yet, despite the wealth of content, many viewers continue to have questions over exactly what happened to Robert Berchtold after the traumatic events. I was working on myself. They settled in Utah, where . Filmmaker Skye Borgman left out a scene which featured a meet-up that Mary Ann had with Robert Berchtold in a car park, allegedly involving a firearm and her brother (via Vanity Fair). (2001), Listen toVFsLittle Gold MenPodcast for Unrivaled Awards-Season Coverage, 2023 Cond Nast. After a career of playing affable characters, the Emmy-nominated actor discusses his darkest turn yetand what made him feel okay playing a real-life bad guy. Jan, being a child, believed she was in love with him and that they still had to complete their mission. 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. 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. He holds a bachelor's degree in screenwriting (widely considered to be a bad move) from Point Park University. Not. Abducted in Plain Sight was first released as a documentary in 2017 with the title Forever B, but its gained rather more traction this month after being added to Netflixs true-crime library. 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