12-Year-Old Girl Was Found Months after Her Parents' Friend Kidnapped Her — She Is Now A Famous Actress

• A 12-year-old girl's parents made new friends who seemed cordial and immediately became close with the whole family.
• The dad of the new family friends took a liking to the girl and ultimately kidnapped her, although her family luckily found her.
• After a second kidnapping attempt, the girl was found once more, eventually going on to become a successful actress.

Making new friends can be a complicated process, especially for parents with children. One family, the Brobergs, based in Pocatello, Idaho, thought they had found the perfect family to spend time with when they became close with the Berchtolds. They became fast friends and spent a lot of time with their new companions.

The two families first met each other through their church, the Church of Latter-day Saints. By coincidence, the fathers of both families shared the name Bob, which caused a bit of confusion among the two families. Extending a friendly gesture, Bob Berchtold asked the Brobergs to refer to him simply as "B."

The Brobergs and the Berchtolds shared many hobbies and soon started to attend picnics and talent shows together, sharing music and a taste for crafts. B would offer to take the Broberg girls out for ice cream alongside his own children, and soon the families trusted each other implicitly.

Arriving in Mexico after a month on the road, B subsequently married the young girl.

B was a charismatic man, entertaining the children with wild tales of UFOs and alien abductions. Although these stories seemed like innocent fun at the start, B would soon twist them into something darker after he disappeared with the Brobergs' 12-year-old daughter Jan one evening when he was supposed to take her for horse-riding lessons.

The Brobergs considered B Jan's second father and never even considered the possibility that he had abducted their daughter. While the family sat at home, slightly anxious, B made his way to Mexico, where he married the young Jan.

Finding Jan for the First Time

After having her mind muddled with elaborate brainwashing, Jan complied with B's sordid requests. Meanwhile, Jan's parents refused to report her missing, believing B would return with the girl soon. The abductor's wife reportedly also begged them not to take the matter to the police, blaming it all on his manic depression.

Jan, on the other hand, defended her parents wholeheartedly, saying she had forgiven them for falling under B's spell.

By the time Jan's parents went to the police, B had crossed the border into Mexico with Jan in the back of a motorhome. He made her believe that he was receiving instructions from an "alien race," slowly manipulating her and making her more docile. Arriving in Mexico after a month on the road, B subsequently married the young girl.

Luckily, Jan's parents had sprung into action after three days of waiting anxiously, and by the time B arrived in Mexico and finished the ceremony, authorities had already been alerted of his presence. Shortly after the marriage, B was tracked down, arrested, and sent back to the U.S., and Jan was reunited with her family.

Back in their home country, the marriage was speedily annulled, and B was charged with kidnapping. He was sentenced to 45 days in prison, but amazingly only served ten days. After the month-long journey and B's return to society, Jan confessed that she had started to believe she was in love with her abductor.

Two years after the initial abduction, in 1976, Jan disappeared again. This time, the then-14-year-old was missing for a total of four months before her family and law enforcement managed to track her down, this time in California. B was charged with kidnapping for a second time, although he managed to avoid jail time.

Instead of serving his sentence in prison, B was sent to a psychiatric facility for five months. Luckily, Jan realized how he had manipulated her, and she and her mom worked together to write a book telling the entire story. After the book's release, six more women came forward, confessing how B had taken advantage of them as children.

Jan's Life after Being Kidnapped

According to the creator of the documentary "Abducted in Plain Sight," Skye Borgman, there were striking similarities between Jan's story and those of the other kidnap victims, including the "alien" voices that messed with Jan's mind. Borgman also delved into why Jan's parents trusted B so closely, revealing he had groomed them as well.

Broberg commented that the trusting nature of the community where the two families met played a big role in the two families' relationship, and it was later revealed that B had manipulated Jan's mom, Mary Ann, and her dad, Bob. Many people criticized the parents for allowing B to get so close to their daughter.

Jan, on the other hand, defended her parents wholeheartedly, saying she had forgiven them for falling under B's spell. She believed her parents were victims in the ordeal, commenting, "My parents didn't deny or downplay what they'd done. They said, 'We made the most terrible mistakes.'"

Jan went on to tell her story in the hopes that it would allow people to understand how abductions and manipulation can slowly creep up on people. Her mother also wanted to make amends by helping others understand how to defend themselves from such incidents, telling her side of the story, and supporting her daughter.

After years of family counseling and a slow recovery, Jan went on to become a successful actress and continued to share her story to empower others. During one of her keynote speeches, 30 years after the second abduction, B showed up in a van carrying a gun. Luckily, Jan was rushed off stage, and she never saw him again.

B took his own life in 2005, and Jan was free to live without the fear of him turning up out of the blue again. She went on to tell her story in the form of Borgman's documentary "Abducted in Plain Sight" and worked in numerous community outreaches focused on victims of abduction.

Mary Ann opened up about her relationship with her daughter, saying Jan never resented them for what happened. Both Jan and Mary Ann encouraged others to speak out against abusers, saying the well-being of children is paramount and no amount of shame should stop people from protecting victims of abduction, such as the young Kayla Unbehaun.