Reflections on the Jan Broberg kidnapping – 50 years later
Published at | Updated at
POCATELLO — As a new Peacock subscriber, I recently stumbled upon the original series “A Friend of the Family,” which dramatizes the Jan Broberg kidnapping case that happened right here in my hometown during the 1970s.
I remember this bizarre kidnapping unfolding when I was a child growing up in Pocatello and it never fully left my mind.
As an adult, I continued to follow the case — reading Mary Ann Broberg’s 2003 book “Stolen Innocence,” watching the Netflix documentary “Abducted in Plain Sight,” and viewing numerous interviews with Jan over the years.
I recently binge-watched the nine-episode Peacock series. In my opinion, some of the acting wasn’t the best and the depiction of local landscapes was off. However, the show captured the pop culture — fashion, cars and music — and the dynamics of a 1970s Mormon family in Pocatello remarkably well, while telling what really happened.
What struck me most was realizing that it has now been 50 years since Jan was returned home for good in 1976 after being kidnapped twice by the same man. Wow!
That realization prompted me to take a deep dive into this case, reflecting on how I understood it as a child versus what I know now, and what lessons this disturbing event still holds for our community.
For longtime Pocatello residents, the Jan Broberg case is likely etched in memory. Others may know it through books, documentaries and national media coverage. Either way, no one will deny that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
What happened — In a nutshell
Jan Broberg was a young Pocatello girl abducted in the mid-1970s by Robert Berchtold, aka “B” — a charismatic, married neighbor with children, a local businessman, a fellow church member and a trusted family friend.
Berchtold weaseled his way deep into the Broberg family’s life after becoming fixated on the eldest daughter, Jan. He eventually manipulated both parents, Robert (Bob) and Mary Ann, into separate sexual encounters while intending to use those actions against them to gain access to her.
In 1974, after receiving permission to take 12-year-old Jan horseback riding near American Falls, Berchtold drugged her and drove her to Mexico. During the five weeks she was missing, he convinced her she was part alien and that they were on a mission requiring her to bear his child — psychological manipulation that Jan later said left her severely brainwashed.
Shockingly, after her return, Berchtold was still allowed to have contact with the family. Two years later, he abducted Jan again at age 14, hiding her in a Catholic school in California under a false identity while he served a brief jail sentence, until authorities finally found her and brought her home.
Jan has said in interviews that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted throughout both kidnapping ordeals.
Despite the severity of the crimes, Berchtold served only a few weeks in jail in total due to legal loopholes, the family’s complicated involvement, and weak child-protection laws at the time. He even went on to abuse other young girls.
Years later, Berchtold resurfaced and stalked Jan during a public speaking appearance where she was sharing her story of survival. His presence led to his arrest for violating court orders intended to keep him away from her. Not long afterward — before he could face the full legal consequences — Berchtold died by suicide in 2005. And good riddance!
Childhood memories of the kidnapping
I was just 10 years old when Jan Broberg was kidnapped for the first time in 1974. My family — my parents, older brother, and two younger sisters — lived in the mountains above Pocatello near the top of Buckskin Road.
We didn’t get the best television reception up there, but it was a wonderful childhood. I spent my time playing outside, reading books and, perhaps unusual for a kid my age, reading the newspaper — the Idaho State Journal — every day. Not just the comics and Dear Abby, but the news.
I cut out newspaper articles and brought them to my fifth-grade class at Edahow Elementary School to share during “current events.”
That is how I first learned about the Broberg kidnapping. Even though I didn’t understand all the legal details, I understood enough. A local girl about my age had been kidnapped by someone she knew, someone her parents knew. That both frightened and intrigued me.
Even at 10, I remember wondering why her parents had let her go with this man, Berchtold, in the first place. Was he a good guy or a bad guy? Based on the limited information at the time and my 10-year-old perspective, it didn’t seem like her parents were reacting the way I imagined my own parents would. My dad was very protective of his daughters. I often thought that if someone had taken one of us kids, it would not have ended well for the kidnapper.
Two years later, when I was 12 and a 7th grader at Franklin Junior High, Jan, who was a 9th-grade student there, was kidnapped again. I couldn’t believe it. Her younger sister Karen was in my class. I didn’t know her well, but I remember her as a very sweet, quiet girl with beautiful, long blonde hair that I envied.
I don’t know how many students knew that her sister had been taken, but many of us did. Still, no one talked about it. No one asked her questions. We all seemed to tiptoe around the subject, afraid it might upset her or make things worse. Looking back, Karen seemed a bit withdrawn, which is entirely understandable considering what her family was going through.
I was thrilled when Jan was found and brought home safely a second time, although the news reports became more complicated with terms like arraignments, bail bonds, pleas and extradition — things I did not fully understand at the time. But I did understand “kidnapping charges,” and that made me feel happy and relieved.
In the years that followed, I occasionally saw Jan’s picture in the newspaper for things like singing competitions and local plays, and I remember thinking she must be a really neat girl.
The three things that shocked me most
Fast-forward 50 years, and with everything I now know, there are three major shockers that stand out to me. Beyond the obvious questions everyone asks like, “What were her parents thinking?” and “How did Berchtold serve so little jail time and even went on to abuse other children? These three details were truly jaw-dropping.
First, both of Jan’s parents admitted to sexual encounters with Berchtold. Robert Broberg acknowledged a one-time encounter, while Mary Ann Broberg had a brief ongoing relationship with him that took place between the two kidnappings. Both parents spoke openly and emotionally about these relationships in the documentary “Abducted in Plain Sight,” and those events are also portrayed in the television series.
RELATED | “Abducted in Plain Sight” shares chilling tale of local kidnapping saga
Second, Jan was so psychologically manipulated after the second kidnapping that she obtained a handgun and was going to kill her little sister, Susan, and then herself. Jan talks about this in interviews, and it is portrayed in the television series. She believed Berchtold’s threats that she and Susan would be “evaporated” and that Karen would go blind if she had contact with boys, and she had recently gone out for ice cream with one. The level of fear and control Berchtold had over her, even after her return home, is difficult to fathom.
Third, while the 1970s were over 50 years ago and may have been a simpler time, it was not the Dark Ages. I am struck by how little law enforcement and the public understood about pedophilia and predators at the time. Years later, while I was a student at Idaho State University, I heard Pete Welch — the lead detective in the case — speak in one of my psychology classes. He played a crucial role in solving the case and went on to educate the community about sexual predators for many years afterward.
Family and forgiveness
Although I did not personally know the Broberg family, I find their story both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I was saddened to learn that Robert Broberg passed away in 2018 and that Mary Ann Broberg passed about two months ago on Dec. 31.
Jan herself has said in interviews that her childhood before the kidnappings was “idyllic,” and that her parents loved and provided for her and her sisters in every way. It goes without saying that Bob and Mary Ann made profound mistakes, ones that are painfully clear in hindsight. To say they were too trusting and naive is putting it mildly. And, no family is perfect, no matter how they may appear to outsiders.
Yet the Brobergs stayed together through unimaginable circumstances. Despite everything that happened, Bob and Mary Ann ultimately forgave each other and continued to love one another, something that was portrayed poignantly in the television series.
Jan has spoken openly about being angry with her parents as she grew older and came to fully understand what had happened. In time, however, she also found forgiveness.
I remember my dad telling me as a child, “You may not forget, but you can always forgive.” That sentiment seems fitting for the Broberg family.
While I’m sure it hasn’t been easy, Jan has gone on to build a life as a mother, singer, actor and advocate, speaking candidly about her experiences and warning others about the dangers of grooming and sexual predators. Through the Jan Broberg Foundation , she continues to help survivors of sexual abuse and educate the public.
So just as I thought when I was 12 years old, I’ll say it again today: Jan must be a really neat girl.
