In addition, B would consistently show Broberg's parents, Mary Ann and Bob, newspaper clippings of alleged UFO sightings around the country. Thats like looking at my brainwashed self again. And this 10% experience, you cant let it ruin the rest of your life. Watch it on Netflix. 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. Berchtold went from seducing both Bob and Mary Ann, driving them apart while learning their weakness simultaneously. I really believed it. Kerry Washington Goes for LaughsAnd TruthIn Hulu Comedy. Jamie Lee Curtis Is Both Weepy and Giddy About Her First Oscar Nomination. He frequently called Mary Ann, confessing his love to her and asking her to meet him in Utah to talk about everything. Taylor Swifts opening act on her debut album, Trumps Relationship With Jared and Ivanka. In the beginning, he would say, "Do what you're told," and then, when I was 13, he said, "If it's not you, it's going to be somebody else." The first time Berchtold kidnapped Broberg, he took her to Mexico and married her. 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. Broberg told. If Jan wasnt pregnant and Susan refused to take Jans place, she was going to shoot Susan and then herself. He told her she had been abducted by aliens and that if she didn't have his baby, her sister would go blind and her father would be murdered. Joe alerted the FBI, and they traced Berchtold to a hotel in Mazatln where he was arrested and transported back to the United States. Warning: Contains SPOILERS for A Friend of the Family. Its a surreal experience. 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. By the second kidnapping she had filed for a divorce, Broberg said. 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. My dad isnt dead. 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. In the doc, Brobergs recount the emotional & sexual manipulation, insidious schemes & depraved actions that allowed church-going Idaho family to fall under the spell of a sociopathic neighbor, who would stop at nothing to be with their daughter. But . Robert Berchtold was ultimately given a prison sentence, but rather than face life behind bars, he downed a bottle of heart medication with Kahla and milk and ended his life. 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. 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 . In a new book, Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story, Felt's mother reveals the details of the actress's childhood memories. 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. He is survived by his wife,. 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. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Obviously, you still are affected [every day]. In August 1976, Berchtold convinced Jan to leave her home and come with him, creating the second kidnapping. "But I knew they had been groomed and manipulated too.". He took me by her house, picked her up and took us both to his motor home. I didnt know people wouldnt get it. Robert Berchtold was born on November 6, 1920, and died at age 50 years old in August 1971. 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. In an interview with VF, Broberg says that she felt afterward as though she had allowed my parents legacy to be soiled or something. How was that? Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. He was sentenced to five years probation and five years in prison. Watch the exclusive trailer for the sharp upcoming series, starring Washington as a single mom whose father (Delroy Lindo) comes to live with her after being released from prison. 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. [My sister] Karen isnt blind. Jan, now 56,. I'm still in the struggle. After all, as profiled in both Netflix's 'Abducted in Plain Sight' as well as Peacock's 'A . Berchtold was born on February 7, 1936 in Tremonton, Utah. She endured some of the worst imaginable psychological manipulation during her childhood. 18 months later, while out on bail & awaiting trial for kidnapping, Robert Berchtold abducted Jan for the 2nd time, triggering FBI manhunt. The details that follow spiral quickly from strange to appalling. 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 . Her dad owned Atkin Florist, while her mother was a homemaker. And before she and Berchtold were separated, he informed her that the aliens had contacted him with instructions for Jan not to speak of the mission or to have contact with any other men. Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. In 2005, Berchtold was found guilty of the assault committed during the Stolen Innocence book tour. With a corresponding friend for every family member, the families quickly grew close to one another, and B became like "a second father" to Broberg. 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 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.". "Everybody loved him.". He took her inside the motor home and abused her, while I waited outside. We watched Planet of the Apes on TV. You can change your choices at any time by visiting your privacy controls. Much of the outrage targets Jans parents, who participated fully in the documentary, and whose behavior in response to Berchtolds prolonged abuse of their daughter strikes many viewers as shockingly inadequate at best. I was 10 and she was 12. Neither one of us were comfortable with him doing it, Mary Ann said, but it was part of his therapy.. It unpacks too many bizarre events in a short time frame to allow for much additional analysis. I was such a happy girl. In a candid conversation, Broberg tells VF about the surreal experience of seeing her abuser brought to life again. 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. I never saw a psychiatrist or a therapist. So I didn't feel wanted. He took us to science-fiction movies. Heidi Brewer, 52, is a bookkeeper for a construction company in Oklahoma. That was terrifying and surreal because I was finishing a speech for a thousand women and their daughters. 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. The Broberg family met the Berchtold family through their church in a small town in Idaho in 1972, according to the documentary "Abducted in Plain Sight." I found my mother's cold reaction to be just what I expected from her. When the Brobergs met the Berchtolds at a church service, it seemed like a match made in Heaven. She was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by her neighbor and family friend Robert "B." Berchtold when she was 12 and again when she was 14. "That's a story I heard at Christmas time.". Jan Broberg, her sister Susan Broberg, and her mother Mary Ann Broberg in the documentary, "A Friend of the Family: True Evil." 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. Thats when Robert asked Bob to give him some relief. Bob acquiesced, thus cementing Berchtolds hold over them all. Jan Broberg: I was very involved. 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. It's hard to say what impact the abuse had on my life. Oh dear. He convinced Bob and Mary Ann that his subsequent treatment by a psychologist involved spending multiple nights in bed with Jan. Neither one of us was comfortable with him doing it, Mary Ann says, but it was his therapy., The parental behavior that Mary Ann and Bob freely confess to in Abducted in Plain Sight is so bewilderingly naive that the more salacious and peculiar events Borgman goes on to lay out are almost hard to grasp. Bob kidnapped Jan twice, whereas he never kidnapped me. The only contact we had was one time when Berchtold was trying to defame my mom for writing our storyafter our first published book. Do.. I told my husband about what happened but he doesn't want to know the details. 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.. 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. Berchtold made them believe his therapist had advised him to work through his pedophilia by sharing a bed with Jan. And the Broberg family, confessional to a fault, are primed more for honesty than for self-inspection. All he ever got was a slap on the wrist, and then he was able to continue as before. That brainwashing, for me, was something that [lasted] a short period of time. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. If you can [watch] and go, That would never happen to me. He doesn't want to think about it. The abuse went on for seven-and-a-half years. When Brobergwas 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 extra-terrestrial species]. Born in 23 Oct 1924 and died in 7 Dec 1980 Erie, Pennsylvania Robert F Berchtold She doesnt recall violent rape but said, I would just look at the leaves If you just look at the leaves, itll be okay.. Everybody gets hurt. The series stars McKenna Grace as Jan, along with Jake Lacy as Robert "B" Berchtold, . [Berchtold] was [close to another family] when he died. She also reveals how she managed to shake Bs grooming, what happened to B in later years, and whether her family has heard from any of the other Berchtolds since. In hindsight, I don't think Bob would ever have done anything to Jill. I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. Jan begged her parents to let her work with Berchtold for the summer. He would pick me up from school and take me to his place, his motor home, our place or just in the car in the middle of nowhere. The Brobergs seemingly knew. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. 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. 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. March 21, 2004 -- Actress Jan Broberg Felt says her childhood abductor returned when she decided to share her strange and frightening story with the world. "It's the smokescreen that a master manipulator creates," Broberg warned. "I had my moments of being angry and upset," Broberg says about resentment towards her parents. It was Jan.. But a lot of people just didnt.. 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. 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. The affidavits compromised the FBIs case against B. After years of intense grooming, Jan started to gain romantic feelings towards Berchtold. The Berchtold family also had a baby girl when they met in the Peacock dramatization. I looked it up and her name was Moanna and is now deceased. So that's why Im stepping into advocacy with the Jan Broberg Foundation. But she called the police. I get to be the examiner. Berchtold, played by Jake Lacy, did not just target Jan (Hendrix Yancey and Mckenna Grace), the series makes clear. 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. 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. I was 9 years old when I first met Bob in 1978. You have to believe victims. He would mention it every once in a whilethat I was specialbut he never mentioned that I needed to have a child to save some race or anything like that. Abducted in Plain Sight viewers learned B kidnapped Broberg a second time from her parents home in Idaho in 1976 when she was 14. Not trying to sympathize with him, but just curious about his childhood. In one, her underwear is clearly visible. Michael has been already been convicted and released for time served, but followup episodes happened, along with an HBO dramatization that appears further down in this list. The 31-year-old Belgian filmmaker tackles the crisis of connection among teen boys in his second film, now an international feature Oscar nominee. Im certain its because each of those relationships helped me on my path to healing, but they werent permanent. [They made it] look like my childhood home. The result is a documentary that exposes them for public scrutiny without pausing to really interrogate their actions. And did that give you some sort of relief or closure? Firstly Bob and Mary Ann let Berchtold share a bed with their daughter multiple times, knowing that he was being counselled for being attracted to children. 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