Meet Jan Broberg, the real double-kidnap victim from ‘A Friend of the Family’
Abducted in Plain Sight,” told the story of their victimization by Berchtold, a charismatic sociopath who — despite pleading guilty to kidnapping Jan and eventually being convicted for the rape of another child — never spent more than a year in prison.The Brobergs’ story is now explored in a new book, “The Jan Broberg Story: The True Crime Story of a Young Girl Abducted and Brainwashed by a Friend of the Family,” co-written by Jan and her mother MaryAnn Broberg, and in the new TV drama “A Friend of the Family” on Peacock. Starring Mckenna Grace as Jan and Jake Lacy as her neighbor, it tells the bizarre story of the Brobergs’ torment at the hands of Berchtold, who ultimately killed himself in 2005.According to Jan, now 60, the Brobergs were unprepared for the attacks that came their way after the 2019 Netflix documentary went viral.