What is Netflix's Abducted in Plain Sight about, is it a true story and why are people so horrified by it?

This is what you need to know.

What is Abducted in Plain Sight about?

The documentary, directed by Skye Borgman, details how Jan Broberg was kidnapped twice by neighbour Robert B Berchtold as a young girl once aged 12 and again aged 14.

Released on Netflix in January 2019, the stranger-than-fiction story shows how the Brobergs from Idaho "fell under the spell of a sociopathic neighbour with designs on their twelve-year-old daughter" in the 1970s.

In the 90-minute documentary, viewers watch as Berchtold tricks both of Jan's parents into giving access to their young daughter.

In the first kidnapping in October 1974, Berchtold fled to Mexico with Jan where he tried to brainwash her and convince her she was an alien who need to have a baby with him by her 16th birthday to save her home planet.

The Brobergs didn't report their daughter missing until a few days later, and she was returned home a number of weeks later.

However, after she came home, the young girl didn't tell her parents what had happened.

Two years later, Berchtold kidnapped Jan again, fleeing to California, enrolling her at a Catholic girls' school and posing as her father.

The young girl was missing for 100 days before she was found and returned home.

Is it a true story?

Yes, the documentary is a true story based on the experience of Jan Broberg and her family.

According to the documentary's website, during production the team was able to acquire documents from the FBI including court transcripts, original reports and multiple audio recordings.

"This was critical to telling the constantly evolving story," they said.

Jan, now an actress, said: "It's time. People are ready to face the music that this is happening to children, and it's by someone they know, not strangers."

Why are people so horrified by it?

The documentary has left many astounded as to how the abductions happened twice over.

On Twitter, one person said: "Abducted In Plain Sight is the single craziest thing I have ever watched in my entire life."

Another added: "I just watched Abducted In Plain Sight on Netflix […] That was, by far, THE WILDEST documentary i have ever watched."

"Currently watching Abducted in Plain Sight on Netflix and it just keeps getting stranger and stranger," another person tweeted.



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