Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of abuse, assault and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
Abducted in Plain Sight is a true crime documentary film that tells the story of a now 60-year-old Jan Broberg who was a victim of multiple abductions and prolonged sexual abuse during the 1970s when she was only 12 and 14 years old respectively. Her family’s neighbor and close friend, Robert Berchtold was behind the kidnappings and manipulated both, Broberg and her parents into maintaining a close relationship with him.
In 1972, the Broberg family and the Berchtold family met through church, in a small town in Idaho. Jan Broberg told Fox News Digital that Berchtold was married and a father of five when they had met him. The families were neighbors in a middle-class neighborhood in Pocatello. Robert Berchtold reportedly became a parent figure to Jan Broberg, over the years.
Broberg was sent off for a horseback ride with Berchtold in 1974 when she was 12. She was offered what she believed were allergy pills before she lost consciousness. She woke up strapped to a bed in a small space, which she later discovered was his RV. A strange voice in the vehicle convinced Jan Broberg that she was partly an alien and that the survival of the extra-terrestrial beings required her to procreate with a male of their choice, ABC News reported.
Broberg was missing for an entire month and was sexually assaulted during this time. The FBI managed to find Jan Broberg along with Richard Berchtold in his mobile home in Mazatlan, Mexico. Jan didn’t report any sexual activity being inflicted on her at the time and continued to believe that she had to procreate with Berchtold before she turned 16, as per the instructions of the voices.
Abducted in Plain Sight: Was Jan Broberg’s kidnapper convicted of any crimes?
After Berchtold was convicted of kidnapping. He was initially sentenced to five years in probation and five years in prison. However, the sentence was reduced to 45 days. He finally ended up serving only up to 10 days behind bars, Fox News reported. Several factors were at the center of this weak sentence given to Berchtold.
The Berchtolds threatened to expose a sexual act that Berchtold and Jan’s father, Bob were engaged in before the abduction. He used this threat to blackmail the couple into signing an affidavit that gave Berchtold consent to take their daughter to Mexico, the Independent reported. These affidavits reportedly weakened the abduction and assault case against Berchtold who then began a sexual relationship with Mary Ann, Jan Broberg’s mother. He allegedly manipulated her into an eight-month-long affair.
In 1976, Robert Berchtold kidnapped Jan Broberg for the second time, when she was 14 years old. She remained hostage for four months before the FBI tracked Jan down. Berchtold reportedly joined Jan in a Catholic school where he pretended to be her father and a CIA Agent. Jan Broberg believed in the mission to procreate for the aliens until she turned 16.
After the second abduction, Robert Berchtold was charged with first-degree kidnapping. He was acquitted on grounds of a mental defect and was later asked to spend time at a psychiatric facility. He later came after the Brobergs when they decided to go public with their story. In 2004, Jan Broberg got a restraining order against Robert Berchtold. He died by suicide in 2005 while he was awaiting trial for assaulting a member of BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse).
Abducted in Plain Sight was released on Netflix on May 26, 2017. It tells Jan Broberg’s story of repeated abductions, manipulation, and sexual abuse.
