If you’re a fan of Netflix’s true-crime content material, you almost certainly keep in mind the kidnapping case of Jan Broberg examined in the 2017 documentary “Abducted in Plain Sight.” The nature of Jan’s kidnapping, in addition to the emotional turmoil it prompted the Broberg household, is a harrowing and deeply unsettling story that can make you query who you belief, regardless of how shut or pleasant they could appear.
Following the documentary, Jan’s case is as soon as once more being informed, although this time by means of a dramatic lens in the Peacock collection “A Friend of the Family,” starring Colin Hanks, Anna Paquin, and Jake Lacy. Jan, alongside along with her mom, Mary Ann Broberg, served as producers of the collection, which premiered on Peacock on Oct. 6. Ahead, learn all about what Jan is as much as as we speak.
Who Is Jan Broberg?
Born to Robert and Mary Ann Broberg on July 31, 1962, Jan grew up along with her two youthful sisters, Karen and Susan, in the small city of Pocatello, ID. In the summer time of 1972, the close-knit household met Robert “Bob” Berchtold when his household moved in a number of streets away, as reported by ABC News. The Brobergs and Berchtolds hit it off straight away, as each Roberts had lots in frequent, like their youngsters being comparable in age and attending the identical church.
As the households grew nearer, Berchtold slowly began to realize their belief and have become like a father determine to the Broberg women, particularly Jan. According to the Idaho State Journal, Berchtold would often cease by their home and bathe Jan with consideration and presents. Jan’s seemingly harmless relationship with Berchtold, whom she typically known as “B,” would take a darkish flip in the fall of 1974.
How Did Jan Broberg Get Abducted Twice?
By October 1974, Berchtold was basically an extension of the Broberg household and was very shut with Mary Ann, Robert, and Jan specifically. When Berchtold approached Mary Ann and Robert at some point to ask if he may take Jan horseback driving, the dad and mom agreed to it. Berchtold, nonetheless, had different plans in thoughts. While driving Jan to go horseback driving, he drugged and kidnapped her. When Jan awoke, she was in a motor dwelling in the center of the desert (an investigation would later reveal Jan was in Mexico), in line with the Idaho State Journal.
Jan was brainwashed into considering that she was kidnapped by aliens and that she needed to full a “mission” to save lots of their planet by having a baby with a “male companion,” she informed the Idaho State Journal. While strapped to the mattress, Jan had a tape recorder subsequent to her, and she or he later recalled to the BBC, “The message said, ‘You will go to the front of the motor home and meet the male companion.’ They’d been calling me ‘the female companion’ this whole time. I get up, and who’s lying on the little sofa of the motor home? Robert Berchtold.”
Five weeks later, the FBI tracked down the pair and Jan returned dwelling with out telling anybody about the abuse and the aliens. “My dad did not ever let Berchtold back in our house, back into his life,” she defined to the BBC. “He knew something was totally wrong with him. But [my dad] didn’t know that he’d molested me or raped me because I wasn’t telling.” Berchtold solely confronted a 45-day sentence and ended up serving 10 days in jail, in line with People.
Two years later in 1974, Berchtold kidnapped Jan for the second time when she was 14. This time, quite than spend the majority of time in his motor dwelling, Berchtold took Jan to Pasadena, CA, and enrolled her in an all-girls Catholic boarding faculty beneath a distinct title, per ABC News. She was rescued as soon as once more by the FBI after three months, however this time Berchtold was despatched to a psychiatric hospital as a substitute of jail.
Where Is Jan Broberg Now?
Jan has since been on a therapeutic journey and has sought counseling to rebuild her life, the BBC reported in June 2019. She’s additionally used her story to assist different younger youngsters, in addition to dad and mom, to search for the warning indicators she and her household as soon as missed. In 2003, Jan’s mom wrote a e-book titled “Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story.” Jan informed the BBC that she hopes different survivors will really feel “empowered to move forward with their own life and to fix what’s broken” after listening to her story. Jan needs individuals to belief their instincts “and keep looking, instead of turning away.”
Outside of bringing consciousness to her story, Jan can be lively in the movie business. Among her many titles, she is an actor, most identified for starring in WB’s “Everwood” as Louise, and now a producer for “A Friend of the Family.” Touching on the affect of the present, Jan informed “Today” in October, “This way of telling the story allows the audience to become involved — to see themselves — so they can stop it in its tracks. If they notice something that is amiss in their own life — it’s not a big red flag. It’s just some spidey sense for, you know, 30 seconds.”
Catch “A Friend of the Family,” streaming now on Peacock, and watch the trailer for the collection beneath.
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