With the show leaving everyone in shock, fans are curious to know the real story behind A Friend of the Family. It focuses on a little child, not more than 12, who was kidnapped. Later, when she turned 14, the kidnapper struck again and abducted her once more, thus making it the most traumatic experience in her lifetime. Peacock made this crime drama series for their platform, but is it inspired by true events? Let us understand the same but before, look at the plot that unfolds in the show.
A Friend of the Family starts with Robert Berchtold. It is all set in the year 1974. He happens to be a close friend of the Broberg family. The two families live around each other, and they also meet during the holidays and other events in the country or to have dinner on the weekends. Jan Broberg, who was 12 at the start of the series, is a part of the Broberg family and is described as a beautiful girl. Robert kidnaps her.
Well, later, she was returned to her family through the support of police officers. But later, when the FBI intervenes in the case of a lot of children getting abducted, they hire Jane for her help because Robert is an obvious suspect. Robert then abducted Jane again in the same manner later in 1976 when she turned 14 years of age. Now, what is the credibility of this story? Is it true that Jan was kidnapped twice by the same man?
A Friend of the Family True Story
A Friend of the Family is based on a true story and the real-life events of the characters that we see on the show. Back in 2003, Jan, as well as her mother, narrated the story through the help of a memoir. It is called Stolen Innocence: The Jan Bromberg Story. I mean, it is too hard to believe for an instance that something this grave could happen to a single person in a span of two years, right? Let us jow break down the events which were reported through the memoir.
It all started in the years 1972 when the two families in question met with each other at church in Pocatello in, Idaho. The two families became instantly inseparable. Bob had three daughters named Jan, Susan, and Karen. The cheerful Mr. Bob Berchtold, whom the girls called B, was a charming fellow. He had a wife named Gail and five kids.
Problems start when B starts getting attached to Jan and Jan alone. He starts to spend a lot of time with her even though she is practically 10 or 11 years of age when the two families meet. Her parents had rising concerns about a grown man spending so much time with their little daughter.
But B told them that he was abused as a child sexually. This was why part of his church-approved therapy asked him to spend more time with children, especially their daughters, because it helped him rejuvenate his lost childhood.
How Did B Plan The Con?
Later, when the FBI was involved in the investigation of the crimes, they broke it down to the fact that B always wanted to put the marriage between Mary Ann and Bob in danger so that they get more involved in their issues rather than raising their children. This would make Jan feel lonely, and she would believe that it is only in him that she can place her trust.
B started an affair with Mary Ann and took help from Bob to relieve himself sexually. When the two were going through a divorce after the affair was revealed, he took advantage of Jan on his side. Later, the parents reconciled. But Jan was lost. She was abducted by B under the fact that she is an alien and is on a mission on Earth to have a baby with a male counterpart. This male counterpart was supposed to be B.
This was when Jan disappeared with B when the two had gone horse riding but never returned. Gail begged the Brombergs not to involve the law in between, but after five days, they had no choice but to do so after the officers found B’s car, whose windows were smashed and there were blood stains on the backseat.
Now, B had manipulated Jan into believing that she had to complete this mission and he was a lien himself. If she refuses to complete the task, she will be killed, and her sister Susan will be used for the same instead. When he took her to this secluded place, he revealed that he was the male companion for the job and raped her for five weeks.
B’s Arrest For The First Time
After this, B called his brother Joe Berchtold and told him that he and Jan were married in Mexico, where the law allows it. But in the USA, they will need permission from the Bromberg family to officially provide their consent for the same if they want to see their daughter again. Without giving it any second thought, Joe involved the FBI and told them about the case.
They were able to trace the call to Mazatlan in Mexico and arrested B a month later. B then starts manipulating Jan once again so that she can never tell the story of the aliens and her mission, as well as the pills or the sex, to anyone. If she even says a single word, her sister Susan will be taken instead, and Karen will go blind. It would also result in her father’s death.
Now, Gail starts blackmailing the Brombergs that they should drop the charges or else she will reveal Mary Ann’s affair to the police and the world. Thinking about the shame it would cause them, the couple agreed. B gets released later and starts his usual routine of coming to Jan’s room at night and sleeping with her.
B’s Arrest For The Second Time and The Second Kidnapping
In the trial that was arranged for him, he pleaded guilty to federal kidnapping. The sentence for him was five years, but the Judge reduced it to 45 days, out of which he only served ten on account of good behavior. This was a very weird story that shook the entire town. Marry-Ann and Bob themselves started having troubles with their marriage because of B and how they were left broken and manipulated by the man.
Later, after two years, when Jan was finally 14 years old, she was kidnapped again. There was a note in her house that said that she was going away with B and that her family should not contact him again. He might have manipulated her once more regarding that alien story of his. After two weeks, when the Brombergs finally notified the FBI, they started an investigation.
B used to call Bob from time to time in order to inform them about the heinous things that Jan had started to do in order to earn money. The FBI then pin down B’s location in Salt Lake City. As they arrest him, the two find out that Jan is not with him.
Later, when they carried out a huge search party, they found Jan in Pasadena inside a Catholic school. He also manipulated the nuns there into believing them that she was his daughter, and they both were refugees from Lebanon from the conflict that took place in the 70s. He also told them that he works as a CIA agent.
After B is arrested, he is sent to Idaho. Jan came back home only to find out that the business Bob ran had been burnt to the ground. It was B who hired two of his inmates to do the task. His crimes were never enough, just that of kidnapping and arson and impersonating the CIA. He was just sentenced to spend time in a mental health facility.
Where are Jan and B Now?
Now Jan was obviously getting older and in her prime teenage years. She started to wonder about the validity of the whole alien story. In order to confirm the same, she told her sister Karen and best friend, who begged her to tell her parents. The two now got her some professional help. Now, after 28 years, Jan and Mary Anne wrote a book about these events and pinned the trauma on B.
B started his own counter-approach, and the two parties ended up in court. B was finally convicted for his crimes but committed suicide before he could be sent to jail. So yes, A Friend of the Family is based on the very real and traumatizing story of Jan Bromberg.
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