In fact, Peacock’s drama miniseries A Friend of the Family is based on horrifyingly terrifying real events that happened to the Broberg family in the 1970s. This dramatised account really marks the third time that this topic has been discussed in popular culture; the first two times were in Skye Borgman’s 2017 Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight and Jan and Mary Ann Broberg’s own book on the subject, Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story. The events shown in A Friend of the Family are nearly totally accurate, and Jan, who later went on to become a professional actor, also makes an appearance before the first episode ever airs. Like with the book, Jan wishes to raise awareness about ways to stop such heinous atrocities from happening to anybody else and to assist those who have been affected by similar events and traumatic memories.
How Did Jan Know Robert Berchtold? How Was She Kidnapped The First Time?
Jan Broberg knew Robert Berchtold well enough during her formative years in Pocatello, Idaho, to refer to him as her best friend. Since they first met in 1972 at their nearby church, the Brobergs and Berchtolds have been close friends. Both of the families were deeply devout, and Bob and Mary Ann Broberg extended a warm welcome to Robert and his wife Gail when they moved into the area. Jan, Susan, and Karen were the three daughters of the Brobergs, who also cherished spending time with the Berchtolds’ little children. But over time, Robert, or Bob, as he chose to be called, became particularly close to the Brobergs, and he quickly became the three young girls’ favourite brother B, or just B. Every day, Robert would drive the girls and his boys, who went to the same neighbourhood school, to class. Robert would also spend time with Bob Broberg, occasionally hanging out at the latter’s flower store. The man had been very close with Mary Ann as well, and he had told them about his failing marriage. As the two families grew closer, obvious warning signs and the transgression of healthy boundaries were gradually overlooked as Robert began to spend more time alone with Jan, who was at the time between the ages of eleven and twelve. For the purpose of Robert’s depression therapy, the Brobergs had even permitted Robert to sleep next to the girl in the same bed. Even after the events of a night in October 1974, they continued to think that their best friend and neighbour had no bad intentions for them, their daughter, or any of them. Jan had been missing for days after Robert had taken her for horseback riding lessons when she was twelve years old. Even though Bob and Mary Ann were worried when their daughter didn’t come home, they just called the police to find out if any vehicle accidents had possibly occurred. They didn’t file a missing person report because they had no reason to distrust Robert at this point. But after a few days, their worry understandably increased, and the FBI quickly became involved.
Robert and Jan, who had been gone since the former had transported the young girl there, were eventually located, and they even had a marriage certificate created with their names on it. Jan was held in Robert’s RV for this entire period, where she was subjected to sexual assault and was being prepared for it. Through speakers in her van room, the girl was led to believe that she had been kidnapped by extraterrestrials who needed her to become pregnant with their other hostage, Robert, in order to save their world. Additionally, she had been warned that her younger sister would be seized in place of her and subjected to the same trauma if she failed to carry out the mission or inform anyone else. Young Jan was persuaded by this terrifying circumstance, and she persisted in believing it for the following four years as Robert proceeded to prepare her for other instances. Robert was charged with abduction after the two were discovered in Mexico and returned to the United States by authorities, but he utilised his cunning and manipulative ways to find a way out of the situation or at least have the charges lowered. Robert had already developed intimate and sexual relationships with both Bob and Mary Ann Broberg before to the initial kidnapping episode, and he now took advantage of this. He threatened to make Bob and his family’s life in the religious and conservative-minded community very unpleasant by disclosing Bob’s homosexual aspirations in court and in the community. The Brobergs were forced to sign an affidavit stating that Robert had their permission to take Jan to Mexico and that they were aware of this. Robert Berchtold, who consented to a plea deal for federal kidnapping, received a relatively light jail term—just 10 days—thanks to this affidavit and information about his parents’ close relationship with him.
How Was Jan Kidnapped Again A Second Time?
Even though the kid’s parents made an effort to avoid the Berchtolds, Robert has maintained an indirect relationship with the young girl ever since Jan returned to her home in 1974 and Robert moved back to Pocatello shortly after. The child was frequently reminded of the mission she still had to fulfil in order to save her younger sister, and Robert used to leave gifts and notes for Jan in her room at their home. The girl was too afraid of the repercussions of saying anything to her parents or to the authorities, so Robert had persuaded her not to divulge anything that had occurred during their time together before she had been brought back from Mexico. During this period, Robert was also able to persuade Mary Ann of his love for her and his wish to marry her and start a family with her somewhere else in the nation. Robert Berchtold once more abducted a now fourteen-year-old Jan in August 1976, but this time he pretended that she had fled the house of her own free will. Due to this, only two weeks after the occurrence, the Brobergs notified the FBI that their daughter was missing. This time, Robert brought Jan to California and registered her at a Pasadena Catholic school and hostel. In the school’s records, he had subtly changed Jan’s name to Janice Tobler, and he had persuaded the administrators that he was a CIA agent, for which reason any information about him or Jan (who he said was his daughter) needed to be kept a secret. Robert kept calling the Brobergs, claiming to be in contact with their daughter on the phone, while the youngster was secreted away at the school. The only way Jan would be able to go back to her home in Idaho, he insisted, was for them to sign a document allowing their daughter to marry the man.
The FBI, who was by this time also looking for the man, was eventually able to locate Jan in the California school and Robert in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jan was returned to her home and her family while the man was detained again. Even at this young age, Jan did not actually speak about what had occurred to her; it was not until she had matured further that she began to wonder what all she had through. She gradually told her sister, and then her parents, about the entire incident. She also came to the realisation that evil Robert had practically raped her using the alien story. Her own words indicate that this revelation and the subsequent healing process ended up being the most challenging aspects of the entire situation, which makes sense.
What Ultimately Happened To Robert And Jan?
Robert Berchtold was ultimately given a six-month prison sentence to be served in a mental facility even after the second kidnapping, after which the guy was allowed to leave and go free. Years after the events, in 2003, Jan Broberg and her mother, Mary Ann, released a book about them. As a child, Jan Broberg struggled with her trauma and ambitions to become an actor. The two ladies, who had both been duped and deceived by the sexual predator, wanted to share their experience with the world in an effort to stop such incidents from happening in the future and to basically raise awareness of these realities. As soon as Robert became aware of this, he began stalking the women once more, this time accompanying them on their book tour. Robert was required to comply with a court order to avoid Jan for the remainder of their lives after Jan filed a restraining order against him to stop him. In order to offer security at this time, Jan also turned to a biker club called Bikers Against Child Abuse, and Robert finally got into a fight with one of them. The man was ultimately found guilty of this crime, but before he could get a prison sentence in 2005, he took his own life.
A Friend of the Family executive producers Jan and Mary Ann continue to raise awareness with their remarkably tragic and startling tale. Regardless of how people may interpret them, Jan’s major goal is to get people to consider the possibility of such situations and to keep this topic of dialogue alive.
See More: A Friend Of The Family Ending, Explained: Was Robert Berchtold Ever Punished For His Crimes?
