TV
Published January 4, 2024, 12:08 PM ET
Their “strange” story isn’t over yet.
The wild Investigation Discovery docuseries “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” ended its second season with a shock on Wednesday.
In season 2, titled “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks,” there is a confrontation between Natalia and Michael (her former adoptive father), in which he solely blames his ex-wife Kristine for the couple's marriage to Natalia let down.
He asks for forgiveness, which Natalia grants.
Natalia was subsequently adopted by Antwon and Cynthia Mans, her legal guardians, who took her in after she was abandoned by Michael and Kristine.
But just as things are looking up for Natalia, the season's cliffhanger ending reveals that her new guardians might not be all that different from Michael and Kristine.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” got another twist. Natalia Grace, who suffers from a rare form of dwarfism, has been accused by her adoptive parents of being an adult posing as a child. Dr. Phil The ending of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks ended on a shocking note. ID
In the final minutes of Wednesday's episode, a title card appears that reads, “Two weeks ago and six months after Natalia's adoption, producers received a shocking phone call.”
An audio recording is then played in which Cynthia and Antwon claim they were tricked by Natalia.
Antwon says: “Something is wrong with Natalia. This girl pinches. I feel like she is the enemy in the house. And she said to us: We have held her hostage. Made us look like we were the enemy.”
Cynthia adds: “Natalia stabs her family in the back for a complete lie.”
Antwon and Cynthia adopted Natalia Grace after her nightmare, but they may be no better than their old adoptive parents. ID Natalia Grace confronts Michael, her adoptive father, in The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks. Investigative discovery
Natalia's strange and “strange” story began in 2010 when Michael and Kristine Barnett adopted her. Her adoptive parents thought Natalia, who suffers from a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, was a six-year-old orphan from Ukraine. However, the Indiana couple accused Natalia of being a sociopathic adult posing as a child.
In the first season of the shocking ID docuseries, Natalia's former adoptive father Michael Barnett claims: “[Natalia] threatened to stab my sons, drag their bodies outside and bury them under the deck. She tried to poison and kill my wife!”
The Barnetts accused Natalia of being emotionally and physically abusive and of standing over the sleeping couple with a knife in her hand – a claim she denies.
Michael and Kristine Barnett claimed that after being adopted, Natalia Grace turned out to be a “sociopathic adult” and pretended to be a child. Investigation Discovery Kristine and Michael Barnett, Natalia's first adoptive parents. Investigative discovery
The couple later claimed to have discovered that she was menstruating.
“We don't know who she is. We don’t know where she really comes from,” Michael said. “Who the hell is this person?” As far as I know, she has lived in Ukraine for 20 years.
“She had taken knives from the kitchen and hid them under her bed,” Michael says in the document. “[She said]“I’ll kill you in your sleep.”
In 2012, the couple had Natalia admitted to the Larue Carter psychiatric hospital in Indianapolis.
“She is not a child. This is an adult,” an unnamed hospital official said in the document.
Michael Barnett, Natalia's first adoptive father, was charged with neglect but found not guilty. Investigation Discovery Natalia Grace has denied the allegations. MAX
Natalia publicly denied all allegations. In 2019 she went to “Dr. Phil” and said the claims were “not true at all” and that she was 16 years old in 2019.
After Natalia was released from the mental institution, Michael and Kristine legally changed her age to 22 and placed Natalia alone – without adjustments for her special needs – in a residential building in Lafayette, Indiana.
“They fired her,” legal analyst Beth Karas, one of the document’s lead authors, told The Post in May 2023.
“The idea that they would be placed in an apartment with no modifications or an occupational therapist is heartbreaking.”
“They fired her,” one legal analyst said of the Barnetts’ behavior toward Natalia Grace. MAX Natalia moved in with Antwon and Cynthia Mans after the Barnetts. ID
Michael says in the documentary that it was Kristine's idea to leave Natalia alone so she could fend for herself. He and Kristine divorced in 2014.
That same year, Natalia moved in with Antwon and Cynthia Mans, whom she met by chance when she was struggling to care for herself.
Law enforcement investigated Natalia's case between 2014 and 2019 to determine whether the Barnetts had unfairly failed her.
In September 2019, Michael and Kristine were charged with two counts of neglect.
Michael was found not guilty of neglect on both counts in October 2022. The neglect charge against Kristine was dismissed in March 2023.
DNA test results have since shown that Natalia is currently around 22 years old and was under 10 years old when she was first adopted by the Barnetts.
“They portrayed me as a big monster,” Natalia Grace said. MAX Natalia thought she had found a better home with Antwon and Cynthia Mans – but maybe not. ID
“This little piece of paper throws every single lie the Barnetts have said into the trash with a match,” Grace tells Antwon about the DNA test in the documentary’s second season.
“This is so big. Because literally, it's been 13 years of just two people getting their asses fucked,” she continues. “You ruined a child’s life. They portrayed me as a big monster when in reality they were.”
It seems like Natalia's bizarre story with Antwon and Cynthia Mans has finally found a happy ending for her – but not so quickly.
The final title card promises a third part of the document. ID
In the final moments of Wednesday's episode, Antwon is heard claiming, “Natalia has feelings only for herself.” We're done. We’re done with her.”
The episode ends with another title card that says, “Natalia’s story will continue.”
A third season of the docuseries has not been officially announced. The post has asked ID for comment.
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