Who is Robert Berchtold's Family? Jan has this very colorful story of what happened to her, and none of that happened to me. You can live in the 90%, which is the rest of your life, and be in charge. That womans two daughters had been raped and molested [by him], and they ran away from home. In addition, B would consistently show Broberg's parents, Mary Ann and Bob, newspaper clippings of alleged UFO sightings around the country. I was making great strides in my life and my career and my familyall the things that I am so grateful for. This all culminated in Berchtolds first abduction of Jan Broberg in 1974. 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. By Nicky Idika. 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. He told the school that he was CIA, and that they were on the run.. So I felt like I was protecting her from being hurt, by allowing the abuse to happen. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. On the day that I was filmingIm on set and I have a little scene with ColinIm standing there, talking to those two [actors] and all of a sudden, Colin sticks his hand out to Nick and he says, Hello, doctor. And I looked at him and I went, Oh, my gosh, how did you know? [That was one of] my dads funny phrases. Thats why I think the documentary was a first step in some ways because it really taught me what was still missing in the conversation. Berchtold was sentenced to five years in prison anyway but served only 10 days. But I didnt know what to do in my 20s and 30s and 40s. According to Newsweek, Jan Broberg grew up to become an actress and an advocate for victims of childhood sexual abuse. I felt she was unaffectionate as a parent: there were no hugs or "I love you"s when I was growing up. But Jan became even more withdrawn, and all the while, she was still thinking about what would happen to her family when she failed to complete the mission.. Having not wanted to spend an extended period of time in prison, Robert Berchtold died by suicide during November of that year. He took her inside the motor home and abused her, while I waited outside. He drugged her and transported her to Mexico in his RV. She has been writing about entertainment news since she started writing journalistically in high school. Truth is, you don't really want to know what happens to Robert Berchtold after the events of the series. 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. 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. Jill and I were very close, we were like sisters. SANTA CLARA, Utah (ABC4 News) - Jan Broberg does not blame her parents for her abductions and rape at the hands of trusted family friend Robert Berchtold- even though many who watched the explosive documentary "Abducted in Plain Sight" on Netflix do blame them. Berchtold allegedly raped Broberg hundreds of times. 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. We will find the advocacy and the legal ways to put serial predators behind bars. He became a friend from a stranger and someone the family felt comfortable around. I found out from Jan that Bob died by suicide in 2005. 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. All he ever got was a slap on the wrist, and then he was able to continue as before. That event would set off a series of events for a series of tragic events in the life of Jan Broberg, which she discussed in the documentary Abducted in Plain Sight as well as . 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. Berchtold had a family of his own, and his children would often play with the Broberg kids, including Jan, according to ATI. He first kidnapped Jan when she was 12-years-old. She and her family went on to be manipulated by him for years, even after she was returned home from the kidnapping. The movie includes pictures Berchtold took of Jan as a 12-year-old girl, all straw-colored hair, wide eyes, and freckles. I'm insecure and don't feel like I deserve better. It chronicles the peculiar kidnapping case of Jan Broberg, an Idaho. We'll never know. Information about your device and internet connection, like your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Yahoo websites and apps. If you can see yourself in this story, then we succeeded. They consulted with me constantly. I did what I was supposed to do. If she did, he said, her dad would be killed, her sister Karen made blind, and Susan taken in her stead. "Everybody loved him.". NetflixBerchtold and his family often had sleepovers with the Broberg children. Thats when Robert asked Bob to give him some relief. Bob acquiesced, thus cementing Berchtolds hold over them all. The affidavits compromised the FBIs case against B. His mother was still alive during the whole ordeal, she would have been 60 years old or so when he abducted Jan, Must have been hard for her witnessing this of her son. 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. 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. Its a surreal experience. 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. Berchtold and his family often had sleepovers with the Broberg children. But . 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.. We didn't meet in person until we filmed the documentary, A Friend of the Family: True Evil. I was good around adults and I was a people pleaser. 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. The new series also delves into how said abductor Robert "B" Berchtold manipulated the family.. And if you saw the 2017 true-crime documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, you know that Jan's father, the late Bob Broberg (who . In truth, Berchtold drugged the 12-year-old and staged the scene to make it seem as if the two of them had been captured and taken away against their will. Vanity Fair: Your story is so complicated, but the show does a great job at laying out this elaborate abduction plan beat by beat to show how Berchtold targeted your whole family. Was your deprogramming gradual over the years, or was there one turning point in your life where everything clicked? "That's a story I heard at Christmas time.". He took us to science-fiction movies. I didn't learn to swim because she was afraid I would drown. That is my goal.. Broberg woke up strapped to a bed in an unidentifiable confined space that she learned years later was B's mobile home. On October 17th, 1974, 12 year old Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her next door neighbor & parents' best friend. Rian Johnson, Halle Berry, and More Share Their Inspiration, From the Archive:Who Stole the Oscars? He doesn't want to think about it. 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. She was rescued by the FBI, who found Broberg and B in his mobile home in Mexico, according to the documentary. He was a truck driver and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He wanted to talk on the phone and to go out, and Bob didn't like it. Heidi Brewer on the documentary, A Friend of the Family: True Evil. In a candid conversation, Broberg tells VF about the surreal experience of seeing her abuser brought to life again. Robert E Berchtold of Logandale, Clark County, Nevada was born on February 7, 1936. Monday on "The View," Broberg discussed her childhood and the steps taken by family friend Robert Berchtold, who went by the nickname "B," to manipulate the family and kidnap Broberg twice. and our 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. That was heartbreaking. Every hand goes up. He even showed up at a speaking engagement of yours with a gun. It was through a course that I did that helped me see that you have the rest of your life. 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 felt she had dismissed me. I looked it up and her name was Moanna and is now deceased. His brother Joe had even visited while Jan was there, and he noted that Robert, looked happier than hed ever been.. I don't remember much of that evening. But a lot of people just didnt.. For years, actress Jan Broberg kept the story of childhood sex abuse she endured at the hands of a family friend mostly private. 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. After Jan threatened to find her own way there, Mary Ann bought her a plane ticket and sent her to Berchtold. 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. It felt like we were meeting dad. 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. He drove her to California, where he enrolled her in an all-girls Catholic school claiming that she was his daughter. Thats why, she says, they didnt probe more when they knew something had happened. Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. 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 get to be the examiner. I moved back to Texas to stay with one of my brothers, and my mother stayed in Utah. So that I get to be the doctor. When Broberg was 12, Robert Berchtold kidnapped her and played a recording that told that she was half-alien, and that she had to have a baby with Berchtold by the time she was 16 to save the. He continued to try to terrorize me in the weirdest ways. It's hard to say what impact the abuse had on my life. 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.". Her saga was admittedly complicated: When she was 12 and living in Idaho in the 1970s, a close family friend and neighbor who was decades older, Bob Berchtold, drove off with her one day, having told Brobergs parents he was taking the child horseback riding. Her saga was admittedly complicated: When she was 12 and living in Idaho in the 1970s, a close family friend and neighbor who was decades older, Bob Berchtold, drove off with her one day, having. I was working on myself. But now this man she didn't really know could let himself in at any time. The details that follow spiral quickly from strange to appalling. He was raised with half siblings, one of which looked very much like Jan, the "little girl" he said he took care of when his Mother left home when she was sick. When I went to the premiere with my sisters and mother, they all got to meet Colin Hanks and spent some time with him, a little more than just a hello. I wonder if he abused her at all? 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. 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. It happened to my whole family, this man was a master and my parents saved my life. It was Jan.. Grace M. Galarraga is a writer based out of Southern California. When I first met [Hendrix]. 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. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. 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. Do.. Jan and her mother, Mary-Ann Broberg, went on to do a tour for the book Stolen Innocence. We never called em pedophiles; Im sure it was in the dictionary someplace, Agent Welsh says. Some viewers hit the roof, wondering how any parent could let their kid be taken by the same person twice. My little sisters not missing. Berchtold went from seducing both Bob and Mary Ann, driving them apart while learning their weakness simultaneously. October 5, 2022. Now I do. Due to the violence at her book tour, Jan Broberg filed a restraining order against Berchtold, which she was granted for life. I think he just knew that I cared about her. The first time Berchtold kidnapped Broberg, he took her to Mexico and married her. "Berchtold took her away in a motor home on the afternoon of Oct. 17, 1974," ABC News reported . I was such a happy girl. I don't believe she had a relationship with Bob but I think she really liked him and was hoping for more. Let me inform you that her husband Robert Berchtold was behind the kidnapping of Jan Broberg Felt in the 1970s when she was just 12 years old. The movie includes pictures Berchtold took of Jan as a 12-year-old girl, all straw-colored hair, wide eyes, and freckles. Berchtold, played by Jake Lacy, did not just target Jan (Hendrix Yancey and Mckenna Grace), the series makes clear. And so many adults knew, but nobody did anything. 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. I could dig into the pockets. Jan has since said that meeting me was "validating." It is made up of one wild story after another about 12-year-old Jan Broberg who went missing when a family friend, Robert "B" Berchtold, abducted her one sunny afternoon in 1974. Born in 23 Oct 1924 and died in 7 Dec 1980 Erie, Pennsylvania Robert F Berchtold I finally told my mother about the abuse. 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. Jan was one of three daughters born to Bob Broberg, a florist, and Mary Ann. When I woke up and that voice was therepeople often say, How long did it take for you to be brainwashed to believe that [aliens had kidnapped you]. I said, 10 secondswhen I [first] heard the voice [in the RV]. The planting of the seeds is where all of that nefarious grooming and manipulation happened, before that moment. 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. It was really when I was 30 years old that I had that aha moment. Berchtold, who was now living in Salt Lake City, Utah, had enrolled Jan at an all-girls Catholic school in Pasadena, California. I think people get [now how] we were so close to the [Berchtold] family.. I'd been led up to that moment," Broberg said. . Berchtold killed himself in 2005, before being sentenced for simple assault, criminal trespassing, and disorderly conductcharges stemming from that conference where he showed up with the gun. Generally, I am pretty happy and pretty great about 90% of the time. I didn't know it was wrong right away. Mary Ann was involved in an eight-month affair with B post kidnapping while she was still married to Bob, even though she knew he was her daughters abductor. Joe alerted the FBI, and they traced Berchtold to a hotel in Mazatln where he was arrested and transported back to the United States. When I was 10, Bob tried to use the same alien story on me that he had used on Jan Broberg [an earlier victim who was abused by Robert Berchtold from 1972-1976. How is this possible? I never in a million years thought this guy was stupid enough to show his face [around me]. Obviously, you still are affected [every day]. 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