I found out from Jan that Bob died by suicide in 2005. The 31-year-old Belgian filmmaker tackles the crisis of connection among teen boys in his second film, now an international feature Oscar nominee. She recently graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with a BA in journalism and a minor in film studies. Shes your daughter. The twisted tale began in the early 70s in the small town of Pocatello, Idaho. They got confirmation on Nov. 11, 1976 102 days after Jan left her home. 2 . She was missing for several months, as he was able to trick her parents into believing that he wasn't aware of her whereabouts. Broberg told. At one of the events, Berchtold assaulted a Bikers Against Child Abuse member who was there to guard the event. In January 1974, Robert Berchtold was rebuked by the LDS Church for a relationship with a young girl. And yet several local families had been troubled enough by Berchtolds attempts to get close to their children that the church intervened. Her dad owned Atkin Florist, while her mother was a homemaker. But Jan became even more withdrawn, and all the while, she was still thinking about what would happen to her family when she failed to complete the mission.. No word and many, many years have gone by and, you know, can you imagine how awful it would be to discover that this was your dad? She divorced him and took her kids and moved., Gail was not featured in the documentary. 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. How did you find out about his suicide? 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. As Jan Broberg later described in the documentary Abducted In Plaint Sight, Everyone had a best friend.. He found me at college. He became a friend from a stranger and someone the family felt comfortable around. 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. My father called the sheriffs department that same night when we didnt show up, she said. 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. Berchtold said he was listening to a series of tapes meant to help curb his desire, but also claimed that he would need to spend more time with Jan to help him get over his obsession. My sister Susan, who is an attorney, called his son Jimmy, an attorney. 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. Thats the only truly contact that ever has happened. 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. Up until her kidnapping at the age of 12, Broberg describes her childhood in Pocatello as wonderful and idyllic. I could dig into the pockets. Jannow Jan Broberg Felt, an actor whos appeared in Criminal Minds and Everwoodhas subsequently defended her mother and father. "Many harmed by child sexual assault. So I didn't feel wanted. 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. Im home from this dance and safe. And then I start testing the waters over the next few months. 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. My mother had four biological sons and she wanted a girl, so she adopted me. He brought her to California and enrolled her in a Catholic school, posing as her father and a CIA agent, according to the documentary. 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. I was such a happy girl. I was adopted. 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. He found me when I lived in Florida, working for Disney World. I felt she was unaffectionate as a parent: there were no hugs or "I love you"s when I was growing up. The [A Friend of the Family team] were sensitiveThey wanted it to be told in an honest, complete, and realistic way. The disturbing Netlifx documentary, Abducted in Plain Sight details Berchtold abducting Broberg when she was 12 years old. He began flirting with Mary Ann, inviting her on a Church retreat in Logan, Utah. She had slowly begun to question whether the aliens were real, but a small part of her still believed in them. She was rescued by the FBI, who found Broberg and B in his mobile home in Mexico, according to the documentary. 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. B blackmailed Brobergs parents, Bob and Mary Ann, into signing affidavits claiming he had consent to bring their daughter to Mexico after the first kidnapping, according to the documentary. In 1972 in Pocatello, Idaho, when the Broberg family met the Berchtold family at church, immediately the . 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. Did. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. He, on some other level, was able to truly do what great actors do, which is to figure out what, What do I want? So does a legal system that allowed Berchtold to kidnap, drug, and rape a child and receive a virtual slap on the wrist. Abducted in Plain Sight viewers learned B kidnapped Broberg a second time from her parents home in Idaho in 1976 when she was 14. Bob and Mary Ann, Agent Welsh states, were told to cut off communication with the Berchtolds. I was making great strides in my life and my career and my familyall the things that I am so grateful for. We watched Planet of the Apes on TV. In actuality, though, Jan explained that Berchtold had just been careful. I was so involved and so consulted and so cared for. When Berchtold asked if he could share a bed with 12-year-old Jan as 'therapy' for overcoming his own childhood abuse, her parents were so brainwashed that they bizarrely let him. That brainwashing, for me, was something that [lasted] a short period of time. I was 9 years old when I first met Bob in 1978. Looking back as an adult, Jan Broberg has called Berchtold a master manipulator. No one in her family could see it at the time, but Robert Berchtold had started grooming the family the moment they met. Of course, my insecurities show, and my anger pops out. He wanted to talk on the phone and to go out, and Bob didn't like it. Robert Berchtold. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Robert Berchtold. I wonder if he abused her at all? I didn't learn to swim because she was afraid I would drown. As it turned out, Berchtold had helped Jan escape out of her bedroom window that night. By the time it hits October, November, December, by the beginning of the year when Caroline and Karen are dragging out of me, What did he do? I knew that that [the alien] part wasnt real. According to Newsweek, Jan Broberg grew up to become an actress and an advocate for victims of childhood sexual abuse. 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. This kidnapping lasted for approximately four months, until she was rescued again by the FBI. 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. The Peacock drama miniseries A Friend of the Family shows how Jan Broberg was kidnapped twice when she was a child after her abductor ingratiated himself with her parents. I can't imagine how many girls there were before Jan, between Jan and I, and how many came after me. For years, actress Jan Broberg kept the story of childhood sex abuse she endured at the hands of a family friend mostly private. I was interviewed for two days for the documentaryI spoke with Jan for hours and then the following day I spent hours being interviewed by the journalist. I really believed it. He hoped to give Zachary a glimpse of his father. . Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Grace M. Galarraga is a writer based out of Southern California. 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. Jake Lacy is a well-known American actor who has appeared on The Office, Girls, The White Lotus, Better with You, and I'm Dying Up Here. What happened to the Berchtold children? You have a cameo in the final episode. And did that give you some sort of relief or closure? We'll never know. Im not in contact with them. How are you, Susan? I was invited into the writers room to give very detailed suggestions that made it just that much more real. When Jan Broberg shared the story of her stranger-than-fiction kidnapping in the 2017 documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, she did not anticipate the charged response it would elicit. BRIGHAM CITY - Robert Ersol Berchtold, age 69, died Frida, November 11, 2005, in Bunkerville, Nevada. They settled in Utah, where . In one, her underwear is clearly visible. If Jan wasnt pregnant and Susan refused to take Jans place, she was going to shoot Susan and then herself. 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 the Broberg family, confessional to a fault, are primed more for honesty than for self-inspection. 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. All rights reserved. Which he adds, emphatically, They. 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. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. So Broberg was thrilled to help reframe her and her parents story in Peacocks new limited series A Friend of the Family, which was created by Nick Antosca (The Act and Candy) and invited Broberg and her mother, Mary Ann, to act as producers. In one, her underwear is clearly visible. People knew, or certainly had surmised, that he was a threat. 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. In spite of the fact that Robert (or B) was born on February 7, 1936 close to Tremonton, Utah, he spent the majority of his childhood in the Mountain West region with his mother, several of his siblings, his stepfather, and his stepfather's biological father. 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. Thats when Robert asked Bob to give him some relief. Bob acquiesced, thus cementing Berchtolds hold over them all. But, according to Broberg, both parents retracted their affidavits days after signing them. I think I realized from the friends that I had at the timeyou could just tell that their relationship with their father figureswas different to mine. 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. The Skye Borgmandirected documentary condensed this tale into 91 minutes. In January 1974, Robert Berchtold was rebuked by the LDS . Not trying to sympathize with him, but just curious about his childhood. It tells the story of how the Brobergs' close family friend and neighbor, Robert Berchtold, developed a fascination with then 12-year-old Jan Broberg. Ive met her and talked to her. I remember waking up in the morning and not feeling well at all. 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. "When people ask me about the brainwashing, I'm like, 'It took 10 seconds.' It was really when I was 30 years old that I had that aha moment. I could read the scripts. I got to have meetings with the art department, the costume departmentI went to the location of the home they found. Born in 23 Oct 1924 and died in 7 Dec 1980 Erie, Pennsylvania Robert F Berchtold He was a truck driver and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Robert Berchtold, a close friend of the Broberg family who has turned serial child abductor, kidnaps Jan Broberg, age twelve, in 1974. Jan, being a child, believed she was in love with him and that they still had to complete their mission. Berchtold was a friend of the Broberg family. Nonetheless Berchtold, even after his conviction and his briefest of interludes in prison, was able not only to be around children, but also to purchase and run a family-fun center as a business. So that I get to be the doctor. We think hes in the parking lot. Im like, What? Heidi Brewer with her son and two daughters. When they showed up at the front door, my dad would stick his hand out and go, Hello, doctor. And then they would come in and he would give them the corsage that he had made for me, to give to them, so they could give it to me for free. Karen Campbell, one of Jans sisters, comes closest to analyzing what happened when she posits that her parents are simply experts in denial. In 1974 at the age of 12, Broberg was taken on a special trip alone with B to go horseback riding. Who would know? [My sister] Karen isnt blind. Average Age & Life Expectancy Robert E Berchtold lived 5 years shorter than the average Berchtold family member when he died at the age of 69. 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. I was hurt and angry that, after all of that, nothing had really happened to him. Now I wont be able to sleep.. Berchtold made them believe his therapist had advised him to work through his pedophilia by sharing a bed with Jan. My dad did that with every boy I ever went on a date with. Or, see how Michaela Garechts kidnapping was finally solved 30 years after her death. So it looks . Then, when I was 17-and-a-half, I dated a guy who wanted to have a relationship with me. There was definitely relief: Okay. When I moved back to Texas, I got a job and I moved on. For more information, please see our And then this really deep sorrow and sadness for all the people, all the girls, his whole familyall the people who he had affected. By Nicky Idika. There's somebody else who's doing it.". The abuse went on for seven-and-a-half years. And so many adults knew, but nobody did anything. I knew what he was doing, Bob said. And then he had her wait outside while he abused me. The documentary only slightly went into "B's" past. 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. 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Our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights family met the family. Journalism and a minor in film studies people knew, but a small part her... Invited into the writers room to give him some relief, until she was going to Susan...

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