The Netflix True Crime Thriller You Won’t Believe Is Real
In an age where true crime is one of the trendiest entertainment genres and nearly everyone and their dog claims to be a murder mystery expert, it takes a story that’s borderline unbelievable to shock a true crime enthusiast. Unfortunately for Jan Brogerg, her story is much stranger than most, and much darker, too. Abducted in Plain Sight is the Netflix documentary about Jan, a woman who was kidnapped as a child — not once, but twice, by a man who was a lover to both her parents, and who used alien psychology to manipulate his victims.
The True Crime Story Goes Dates Back To The ’70s
Abducted in Plain Sight, also known as Forever B, was directed by Skye Borgman and originally released in 2017. This documentary takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the unbelievable and shocking kidnappings of Jan Broberg in the 1970s. The film was later picked up by Netflix in 2019, capturing the attention of a wider audience and leaving viewers in disbelief.
The Victim Was Kidnapped Twice
Jan Broberg was a 12-year-old child living in Idaho when she first became the target of her neighbor Robert Berchtold, also known as “B.” Like the start of many kidnapping events, Berchtold began his plot by gaining the trust of Jan’s family. What sets Abducted in Plain Sight apart from other true crime stories is the astonishing level of trust, shame, and complicity Berchtold managed to instill in Jan’s religious parents, manipulating them into still trusting him even after he was caught kidnapping their daughter, leaving Jan vulnerable to being kidnapped by him again.
Filming Was Extremely Emotional
After the release of Abducted in Plain Sight, director Skye Borgman shared the challenges of understanding the family dynamics during the editing process. Unraveling the secrets of the traumatic events that had happened nearly 50 years ago was a frustrating process that eventually forced Borgman to take a six-week sabbatical from the project after the emotional process began to take a toll on her mental health.
Both Parents Were Romantic With The Kidnapper
Abducted in Plain Sight uncovers shocking revelations about the Broberg family, including both Jan’s mother and father’s romantic entanglement with the kidnapper, Berchtold. The family’s denial of the seriousness of Berchtold’s actions, fueled by their own indiscretions, added additional layers of complexity to the situation. Throughout the documentary, Brogman emphasizes the impact of faith and trauma on the family’s ability to confront the reality of the situation.
Aliens Were Involved In The Cover Up
One of the most bizarre twists in the documentary involves Berchtold’s use of an “alien-abduction” grooming technique on Jan. Abducted in Plain Sight explains how Berchtold used a cassette tape to convince 12-year-old Jan that aliens would kill her family if she didn’t “procreate” with him. This story seemed so strange to Borgman when she first heard it that she believed Jan had either made it up or had come up with a protective false memory to protect her from her trauma, that is until another alleged victim shared a similar experience and confirmed the tactic to be true.
What You Don’t See In The Documentary
Due to time restraints, several details were left out of Abducted in Plain Sight, including a dangerous encounter between Jan’s mother and Berchtold involving a gun. There is more to the story that Borgman would like to include in a potential sequel, including the Broberg family’s faith, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and how it played a significant role in their extraordinary capacity for forgiveness.
Abducted In Plain Sight Is Streaming On Netflix
Abducted in Plain Sight stands as a testament to the unimaginable depths of manipulation, trust, and forgiveness within a family. The documentary leaves audiences both shocked and contemplative about the vulnerabilities that exist in our closest relationships as they turn off the TV screen and wonder how in the world the show they just watched is real.
