5 things to know about the strange case of Natalia Grace
Natalia Grace's case began after, in 2010, an Indiana-based couple, Michael and Kristine Barnett, made the hasty decision to adopt the Ukranian orphan from a Florida center. In the days and months that followed, the couple alleged they made peculiar, strange, and harrowing encounters with their adopted daughter and even claimed that she was an older woman posing as a child.
Eventually, the Barnetts had Natalia's legal age changed and abandoned her while they moved to a different country after making sinister allegations against her. The couple were later charged with child neglect but were eventually found innocent while Natalia was adopted into another Indiana family.
ID's three-night event, which premiered on Monday, May 29, is set to conclude with the final episode of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace this Wednesday, May 31. The five-part docuseries further delves into the strange case and puts forth both sides of the story. Episode 5 airs at 9:00 pm ET on the channel.
Natalia Grace's case: Five quick facts to know about the peculiar case
1) The Barnetts were given 24 hours to decide on the adoption of Natalia Grace
The Barnetts adopted Natalia Grace in 2010 from an adoption agency in Florida. The couple claimed they made a hasty decision at the time because they were given only a day's time to make a choice. Before the adoption, they were told "she has dwarfism," and they were given "24 hours to sign," following which, otherwise, the supposed child would have been sent "straight to foster."
The now-divorced couple claims that they adopted Natalia since the latter seemed to be in danger:
"We wanted to help somebody who was in danger of never being loved."
According to her Ukrainian birth certificate, she was born on September 4, 2003, and was around six years old at the time.
Howover, Natalia's adoptive father alleged that they suspected she wasn't a six-year-old orphan and had spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, a rare kind of dwarfism that can cause skeletal abnormalities and issues with vision and hearing. The girl was barely three feet tall at the time.
2) They started noticing signs a day after Natalia was adopted
According to reports, a day after Natalia Grace's adoption by the Barnetts, her adoptive mother Kristine was shocked to discover that the six-year-old had "full pubic hair" while giving her a bath. Not long after, Kristine found Natalia's blood-stained underwear in her bedroom. When confronted, the six-year-old responded by claiming she had a period and that she had been hiding it.
According to Insider, the Barnetts claimed that she also exhibited worrisome behavior, which included urinating and defecating in the car and smearing the windows with fece. She would often "throw herself" out of the passenger door for attention in an attempt "to look like a poor, helpless little girl."
3) She tried to poison her adoptive mother once and threatened to kill the couple's biological children
Michael and Kristine Barnett accused Natalia Grace of trying to poison her adoptive mother's coffee. They claimed that she even attempted to kill Kristine by dragging her towards an electric fence. Further, on a different occasion, she allegedly put clear thumb tacks face-up on the stairs for someone to step on them.
According to the Daily Mail, Michael claimed that one night, he saw her "standing at the foot of the bed with a knife in her hand," and even threatened to stab their biological children, their three sons,
"To cause hurt or harm or mental distress to the entire family."
Doctors allegedly treating the strange child called her "a sociopath" and "a con artist."
4) The Barnetts abandoned Natalia Grace after having her age legally changed
In 2012, two years after Natalia Grace's adoption into the Barnett family, Michael and Kristine successfully had her birth year legally changed from 2003 to 1989, which revised her age from eight to 22 years old.
A year later, they left her behind in a Lafayette, Indiana, apartment and moved to Canada with their three sons. The couple had also paid a year's rent for the apartment and according to reports, only relocated so that their eldest child could start his graduate work.
Six years later, in September 2019, then-divorced Michael and Kristine were charged with multiple counts of neglect of a dependent, neglect of a dependent causing bodily injury, and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent. The former stood trial in October 2022 and was found not guilty. Meanwhile, Kristine's charges were also dismissed earlier in March this year.
5) Natalia appeared on Dr. Phil with her new adoptive parents to clear the air
After the Barnetts abandoned Natalia Grace, another Indiana couple, Cynthia and Anton Mans, took her in and made her a part of their family. The Ukranian orphan, now believed to be 33 years old, continues to assert that she was a child when her former adoptive family abandoned her and also accused her of attamepted murder. She continues to maintain her innocence, denying all allegations.
Natalia appeared on Dr. Phil with the Mans and addressed the claims that she allegedly tried to spray bleach into her adoptive mother's coffee, while they were cleaning together, in an attempt to poison her.
The final episode of ID's The Curious Case of Natalia Grace airs this Wednesday, May 31.
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Susrita Das