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Abducted in Plain Sight is a true crime documentary film directed by Skye Borgman and executive produced by Skye Borgman, Emily Kincaid and Stephanie Tobey. The 2017 release chronicled the real-life story of a young Jan Broberg's double abduction at the hands of her neighbour Robert Berchtold in the 1970s.
The plot for the film was based on Jan Broberg and her mother's autobiographical account of the incident in the 2003 published book, Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story.
Inspired by Jan Broberg's story in Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story and Abducted in Plain Sight, Nick Antosca decided to tell Broberg's story in a more detailed manner in A Friend of the Family. This true crime drama television miniseries was released between October 6 and November 10, 2022, on Peacock.
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What set the series apart from the film was that Stolen Innocence delved into the details of Jan Broberg's story, while Abducted only touched upon the important aspects of the case, which according to Jan Broberg herself, didn't do justice to the story.
In an interview with The New York Times in November 2022, Jan said:
"Abducted in Plain Sight was told in headlines. But 90 minutes was not enough time to address the reality of how people are manipulated, how their children are abused under their noses."
Disclaimer: This article contains significant spoilers. Please read at your discretion.
Abducted in Plain Sight and A Friend of the Family tells the same story in different ways
While Abducted in Plain Sight primarily focuses on Jan Broberg's abduction, A Friend of the Family focuses on the incident along with the events that led up to it. That's not to imply that the former didn't highlight the incidents that led to the eventual abduction, but that A Friend did it in much more detail.
To ensure that the incidents depicted in For A Friend of the Family were as authentic as possible, the makers allowed the Brobergs to give their inputs during the show's scriptwriting process and filming.
They also got Jan to share a special message to those watching the series. At the start of first episode of the show, Jan briefly appears on screen and says:
"I want to tell my family’s story today because so many seem to think that something like this could never happen to them, especially at the hands of someone they know and trust. But it did happen. It happened to my family. It happened to me.”
However, having said that it must be noted that certain aspects of A Friend of the Family were fictionalised for the screens for maximum dramatic effect. To ensure that the audiences know that, the makers included disclaimers in every episode.
About Abducted in Plain Sight
Abducted in Plain Sight is a 2017 documentary that narrates the story of Jan Broberg who was kidnapped two times by her neighbour, Robert Berchtold. She was abducted once when she was 12 and then again when she was 14.
The abduction didn't happen out of the blue as the Blobergs and the Berchtolds had a history together. The two families were friends before Jan was abducted for the first time.
In fact, it was a little more than friendship, as Mary Ann, Jan's mother, was having an affair with Berchtold during the time. Previously Bob Boberg, Jan's father, also had physical relations with Berchtold.
After the first kidnapping, Jan was kidnapped again when she went to visit Berchtold in Wyoming. She visited him willingly this time, as Berchtold had convinced her during the previous kidnapping that aliens wanted them to be romantically involved and maintain physical relations.
During the first abduction, the Bobergs didn't report to the police, as they were threatened by Berchtold. However, during the second kidnapping, the Bobergs informed the police who tapped Berchtold's phone and found him and Jan.
He received a sentence of 10 days in prison for the first kidnapping and for the second one he was sentenced to six months in a mental hospital. In 2015, while Berchtold was awaiting sentences for his crimes, he died by suicide.
Abducted in Plain Sight is currently streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
