The new Peacock drama miniseries, A Friend Of The Family, tells the true story of how kidnapper Robert Berchtold ruined Jan Brobergs childhood. I found my mother's cold reaction to be just what I expected from her. 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. 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. Mary Ann Broberg described Berchtold as having a charisma that Bob didnt possess., Jan Broberg works as an actress, known for roles in. I looked it up and her name was Moanna and is now deceased. Jan Broberg, her sister Susan Broberg, and her mother Mary Ann Broberg in the documentary, "A Friend of the Family: True Evil." It almost feels like this huge burden is lifted off my shoulders by having the story told right. Berchtold, a frequent visitor to the Broberg household, orchestrated these heinous acts. On October 17th, 1974, 12 year old Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her next door neighbor & parents' best friend. The first abduction occurred when she was just 12 years old and the second, two years later, at the age of 14. It was so shockingly hard for me. 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. Broberg said he managed to justify it to her parents (and convince them he hadnt abused her) by saying they werent allowed to cross the border to come back to the U.S. together without being married. 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. 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. (2001), Listen toVFsLittle Gold MenPodcast for Unrivaled Awards-Season Coverage, 2023 Cond Nast. Meanwhile, her parents blamed themselves for these events. With her parents keeping her apart from Berchtold, she feared that she would have no way of completing the aliens mission. Thats why, she says, they didnt probe more when they knew something had happened. Shes your daughter. How did you find out about his suicide? I was adopted. I kept it all to myself and kept going. Heidi Brewer, 52, is a bookkeeper for a construction company in Oklahoma. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Information about your device and internet connection, like your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Yahoo websites and apps. Their childhood was . 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. In 1974, he abducted the then 12-year-old, and once again two years later. [Id get] phone calls and other scares. Neither one of us were comfortable with him doing it, Mary Ann said, but it was part of his therapy.. 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. When Bob was 3 yrs old his father passed away and in 1939 his mother married Joseph Ersol Berchtold who raised Bob and . It unpacks too many bizarre events in a short time frame to allow for much additional analysis. Robert Ersol "Bob" Berchtold . On Aug. 10, 1976, she disappeared again. Click Manage settings for more information and to manage your choices. 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 . And if youre not happy and you need medication or you need more talk therapyyou should get what you need so you can heal. We watched Planet of the Apes on TV. 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. After the war, he returned to Utah, got married, had children, and settled in the small town of Pocatello, Idaho, where he ran a furniture store. In actuality, though, Jan explained that Berchtold had just been careful. He began flirting with Mary Ann, inviting her on a Church retreat in Logan, Utah. She endured some of the worst imaginable psychological manipulation during her childhood. That was terrifying and surreal because I was finishing a speech for a thousand women and their daughters. The 31-year-old Belgian filmmaker tackles the crisis of connection among teen boys in his second film, now an international feature Oscar nominee. He found me when I lived in Florida, working for Disney World. He wanted to talk on the phone and to go out, and Bob didn't like it. 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. Robert Berchtold passed away at age 69 years old on November 11, 2005. 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. 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. Jannow Jan Broberg Felt, an actor whos appeared in Criminal Minds and Everwoodhas subsequently defended her mother and father. All he ever got was a slap on the wrist, and then he was able to continue as before. Oh. I didnt want to marry her, Broberg said. The Disturbing Story Of Robert Berchtold, The Pedophile Who Kidnapped And Assaulted His Neighbors Daughter Twice. It wasnt until 30 years later, after Mary Ann had published her book Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story, that they heard from him again. I had a fixation for Jan. How many of Berchtolds alleged victims did you hear from? 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. Robert Berchtold sexually abused Jan Broberg for several years and manipulated her and her family. I actually got this little message [from a woman who was] the little girl he abused right after me. Jan Broberg's abuser convinced her she was the last chance for an alien species. So I didn't feel wanted. And the sad thing is, unfortunately, you're getting attention from somebody. Instead, she blames small-town navet and meticulous grooming on the part . He wouldn't talk directly to young Broberg, but she would curiously listen to conversations about UFOs that B and her parents had in the kitchen. Let me inform you that Read More Robert Berchtold Wiki, Wife, Age, Family, Brother . As Mary Ann described, they got a little too cozy and the first seeds of what would eventually grow into an affair were planted. Thats really my mantra: Have a happy childhood at any and every age. Lets figure it out. It was through a course that I did that helped me see that you have the rest of your life. [They made it] look like my childhood home. The documentary only slightly went into "B's" past. For more information, please see our So it looks . 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. I would hang out with her, and her four siblings, most weekends. I said, Did you do some deep dive on my dad that I dont even know about? Hes like, No. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I kept it all to myself and kept going," she writes. I wasnt prepared for people to blame my parents. It was a terrifying thought, Jan said. 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. Directed by Skye Borgman, Abducted in Plain Sight begins in the early 1970s in Pocatello, Idaho. He got very angry. I did what I was supposed to do. Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. She had me stay the night with a friend and invited her friends over. NetflixJan Broberg works as an actress, known for roles in Everwood and Criminal Minds. I guess, in your young head, you think, "This is just the way it is. Manipulation and grooming are not understood by so many. 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. In October 1974, Berchtold offered to pick Jan up from her piano lesson and take her horseback riding. Filmmaker Skye Borgman on the unbelievable twists and turns of the Jan Broberg kidnapping case, and the pieces of the story that didnt make it into her documentary, on Netflix. Thats when Robert asked Bob to give him some relief. Bob acquiesced, thus cementing Berchtolds hold over them all. Berchtold continually raped Jan as he drove his motorhome to Mexico, where the minimum age requirement for marriage was only 12 years old. 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. So that's why Im stepping into advocacy with the Jan Broberg Foundation. Jan was one of three daughters born to Bob Broberg, a florist, and Mary Ann. I was shy, so I didn't really speak to him a whole lot. So that I get to be the doctor. The district attorneywho had basically prosecuted his showing up at that conference with a gun as a registered sex offendercalled me. He said, I wanted to tell you, this is what happened and he killed himself. It was so strange. 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. They had no idea about the abuse. She never expressed any remorse for what happened, never apologized. It is a lifelong process. I reached out to Jan after I came across her book, and we exchanged a few emails. 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. 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. Hes so funny and kind and warm. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. 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