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." He was a truck driver and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. As we have discussed above Gail was the ex-wife of Robert Berchtold, who abducted his neighbour, Jan Broberg Felt. Ive met her and talked to her. Do.. Robert Berchtold was born on November 6, 1920, and died at age 50 years old in August 1971. Heidi Brewer, 52, is a bookkeeper for a construction company in Oklahoma. 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. That is the only reason we told our story. But now this man she didn't really know could let himself in at any time. He was sentenced to five years probation and five years in prison. Yet, despite the wealth of content, many viewers continue to have questions over exactly what happened to Robert Berchtold after the traumatic events. Generally, I am pretty happy and pretty great about 90% of the time. The encounter quickly became sexual. 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 vanished from their lives, but managed to avoid going to prison. 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. Abducted in Plain Sight viewers learned B kidnapped Broberg a second time from her parents home in Idaho in 1976 when she was 14. On Aug. 10, 1976, she disappeared again. In one, her underwear is clearly visible. Berchtold vehemently tried to denounce the book, claiming that they were lying about him and about the truth for a profit. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Robert Berchtold is an abuser who groomed the Broberg family in order to become close to their 12-year-old daughter Jan. 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. If you can [watch] and go, That would never happen to me. "I met my ex-husband and we had kids. 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. This is happening everywhere right now in 2022. All views expressed in this article are the author's own. This kidnapping lasted for approximately four months, until she was rescued again by the FBI. Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. Then he twisted that into, They want us to get married, and then everything will be okay. 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. Thats why Im so grateful to have this series. I could look at the coat. The new Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight is a bewildering account of one girls kidnapping by a family friend. The disturbing Netlifx documentary, Abducted in Plain Sight details Berchtold abducting Broberg when she was 12 years old. In 1972 in Pocatello, Idaho, when the Broberg family met the Berchtold family at church, immediately the . A staff writer for All That's Interesting, Austin Harvey has also had work published with Discover Magazine, Giddy, and Lucid covering topics on mental health, sexual health, history, and sociology. Was your deprogramming gradual over the years, or was there one turning point in your life where everything clicked? 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. Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. Directed by Skye Borgman, Abducted in Plain Sight begins in the early 1970s in Pocatello, Idaho. 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. The story is dramatized. Between 1972 and 1976, he eventually kidnapped and wed her. 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. They didnt want to know. NetflixMary Ann Broberg described Berchtold as having a charisma that Bob didnt possess.. Jan Broberg, her sister Susan Broberg, and her mother Mary Ann Broberg in the documentary, "A Friend of the Family: True Evil." 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 . The kids played together; the parents enjoyed each others company. That companion was B, and the mission was to have a child with him before Broberg turned 16 years old. The Skye Borgmandirected documentary condensed this tale into 91 minutes. B took a particular interest in 12-year-old Jan as well, often showering her with gifts and inviting her on trips. I remember there was another girl that he was "seeing" at the time. [There] was the brainwashing that was groomed into me before I was kidnapped[like being led to believe] that there were aliens. However, the family still wasn't rid of Robert Berchtold. NetflixBerchtold and his family often had sleepovers with the Broberg children. [Berchtold] was [close to another family] when he died. 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. My mother worked two jobs, so there was a lot of time for that. I guess, in your young head, you think, "This is just the way it is. 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. I said, Did you do some deep dive on my dad that I dont even know about? Hes like, No. I guess it doesn't matter at this point, but since the doc is out and everything.looks like any kin he had will never speak of him Scan this QR code to download the app now. He was a truck driver and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. In 1976, he spent 10 days in jail after accepting a plea deal based on the first kidnapping, then was sentenced to a mental facility for 6 months. Over the course of the next six months, Berchtold slept in Jans bed roughly four times a week. He explained to Bob that he had a traumatic childhood, including having sex with an aunt when he was four. BRIGHAM CITY - Robert Ersol Berchtold, age 69, died Frida, November 11, 2005, in Bunkerville, Nevada. I moved back to Texas to stay with one of my brothers, and my mother stayed in Utah. Shes the one who identified [her mother] in the audience, who she hadnt seen for seven years and wouldnt call mother. Shes like, Shes here, so he must be nearby.. By Nicky Idika. When Bob was 3 yrs old his father passed away and in 1939 his mother married Joseph Ersol Berchtold who raised Bob and . 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. 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. Bagby's childhood friend, director Kurt Kunnee began shooting Dear Zachary after Bagby's murder. Susan called him and said, Your father said that youre his attorney. He said, I would never represent my father. 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. According to an online obituary, she tied the knot with former Marine James Leslie Wadman in 1988. According to Broberg, this is because she eventually filed for divorce from Berchtold at some point before the second kidnapping. 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.". She never expressed any remorse for what happened, never apologized. I was so involved and so consulted and so cared for. Before we moved to Salt Lake City, my mother had been so overprotective of me that I wasn't allowed to play in the front yard by myself. The Corpsewood Manor Murders: A Story Of Satanism, Sex Parties, And Slaughter, Denver Man Convicted Of Gunning A Woman Down With An AK-47 Because Her Dog Pooped Outside His Home, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. We watched Planet of the Apes on TV. 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. Jamie Lee Curtis Is Both Weepy and Giddy About Her First Oscar Nomination. 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. I made statements and, because I was a minor, I didn't have to testify in court. 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. 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. I was invited into the writers room to give very detailed suggestions that made it just that much more real. In a candid conversation, Broberg tells VF about the surreal experience of seeing her abuser brought to life again. I think people get [now how] we were so close to the [Berchtold] family.. I'd been led up to that moment," Broberg said. He became a friend from a stranger and someone the family felt comfortable around. After being rebuked, he met with a counselor and a clinical psychologist to, he said, help overcome his obsession with Jan. 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. You have to believe victims. I don't believe she had a relationship with Bob but I think she really liked him and was hoping for more. 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 . 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. Now, Jan said, she sees that it was likely because she wasnt a little kid anymore. The movie includes pictures Berchtold took of Jan as a 12-year-old girl, all straw-colored hair, wide eyes, and freckles. 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. Born May 17, 1930, in Beaver Falls, he was the son of the late . I immediately started to sob and then [had] this elation feeling. 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. Berchtolds wife, Gail, is often referenced in the beginning of. How are you, Susan? She traveled to meet him, and he begged her to leave her husband and live with him. I wonder if he abused her at all? Thats why, she says, they didnt probe more when they knew something had happened. Bob noticed that Berchtold had become sexually aroused. My dad did that with every boy I ever went on a date with. After learning about Robert Berchtolds vile actions, read the story of Jody Plauch and his father, who killed his abductor on live television. Born in 23 Oct 1924 and died in 7 Dec 1980 Erie, Pennsylvania Robert F Berchtold I don't remember much of that evening. He continued to try to terrorize me in the weirdest ways. 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.. They had no idea about the abuse. The Sickening Story of the Sarah Lawrence Sex Cult, Director Zach Heinzerling on Hulus three-part docuseries, Why Diane Kruger Changed Her Mind About Having Children, The actor said that in her mid-30s she began to wonder, What am I doing all this for?, Marc Maron Grapples With Grief in New Stand-Up Special. Well, often showering her with gifts and inviting her on trips that into they... Bagby & # x27 ; s childhood friend, director Kurt Kunnee began shooting Zachary. 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