Jan Broberg Married Robert Berchtold When He Kidnapped Her; Here’s Why
In addition to kidnapping Jan Broberg in the 1970s, Robert Berchtold also married the 12-year-old girl. Peacock‘s A Friend of the Family touches on Jan and Robert’s marriage. Find out why the young girl agreed to marry her much older, already married family friend and neighbor.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding A Friend of the Family Episode 2 “The Mission.”]
Jan believed she and Robert had to save an alien planet
Berchtold first kidnapped Broberg in October 1974. As recounted in Peacock’s A Friend of the Family, Bob (Jake Lacy) picked Jan (Hendrix Yancey) up from her piano lessons the day she went missing. Jan thought she was going horseback riding with “B,” but in reality, Bob drugged Jan and drove her to an undisclosed site where he had an RV waiting.
When Jan woke up in the motorhome, she heard repeated messages from a radio addressing her as “female companion.” The voices informed her of a “male companion” who would help her complete her mission to save their alient planet.
In A Friend of the Family, when Jan finds Bob in the front of the RV, he’s bloodied and confused. He explains his alien encounter and their demand for Jan, who fills him in on what she knows. “They talked to me,” Jan tells Bob. “They said their names were Zeta and Zethra.” To save their planet, Jan believes she has to reproduce with Bob, “the male companion,” or her eternal soul will be vaporized.
Jan Broberg thought marrying Robert Berchtold would allow them to cross the Mexican border
Part of the mission Broberg was groomed to believe she was part of required that she get married to Berchtold. As explained in the Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, the first time Berchtold took Jan — because there was a second kidnapping — he took her to Mazatlan, Mexico. The age of consent was 12, so Broberg agreed to marry Berchtold so they could get back home.
“He said because we wanted to come home, ‘they would not let me come back across the border if I did not have her married to me; I didn’t want to marry her,'” Broberg explained in the documentary.
‘A Friend of the Family’ touches on the marriage
As seen in A Friend of the Family Episode 2 “The Mission,” Bob connects with his brother Joe Berchtold regarding his marriage to Jan. He wants the family’s blessing, but Mary Ann and Robert Broberg refuses. The FBI tapped Joe’s phone and are ultimately able to trace Bob’s call. Mexican authorities then arrest Bob and Jan.
However, before she is returned to her family, Bob makes sure she knows the rules of their mission. This includes not telling her parents any details.
The Broberg family refused to believe Robert Berchtold sexually abused their daughter
Episode 2 of A Friend of the Family doesn’t go into Jan’s sexual abuse. That could be because the Broberg family vehemently denied it happened.
Skye Borgman, the filmmaker behind Abducted in Plain Sight, explained to Vulture: “They convinced themselves of that, even though so many people [and] the FBI said that this is something that happened. I think it really has to do with the fact that they placed so much faith in experts, in doctors who said, ‘There has been no sexual abuse because her hymen hasn’t been broken.'”
Borgman believes the Broberg’s understanding of sexual abuse was very limited. “[They thought sexual abuse was] … purely penetration,” Borgman said. Since Jan’s hymen was intact, the Broberg’s thought: “Okay, she’s fine. She’s fine.” Borgman concluded: “That’s part of the denial as well.”
Watch A Friend of the Family on Peacock.
How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.
