Why were Natalia Grace's adoptive parents charged and where are they now?

A former Indiana couple, Michael and Kristine Barnett, claim they adopted a Ukrainian girl named Natalia Grace when she was about six years old in 2010. The now-divorced couple say they saw red flags about Natalia’s age and nationality immediately after the hasty adoption. They also allege that Natalia tried to kill them on more than one occasion.

In 2012, The Barnetts successfully petitioned to have Natalia's year of birth changed from 2003 to 1989, and a year later, they left her alone in an apartment and left the country. In September 2019, Michael and Kristine Barnett were charged with multiple counts of abandoning their daughter.

Reports state that Michael was found 'not guilty' in a trial in October 2022 and earlier this year in March, Kristine was also acquitted of all charges. The latter is currently living in Florida.

ID's five-part docuseries, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, will further explore the case against Natalia's former adoptive parents and their current whereabouts. The latest series premieres in a three-day event which premiered earlier on Monday, May 29, 2023.

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The Barnetts were charged of child neglect for abandoning Natalia Grace and were only recently cleared

In 2012, two years after adopting Natalia Grace, the Barnetts were successful in their appeal to the court to have the birth year of their adopted daughter changed from 2003 to 1989. Her age was then changed from eight to 22 years old.

The following year, Michael and Kristine Barnett left Natalia behind in a Lafayette, Indiana apartment, and relocated to Canada with their three biological sons. They claimed to have paid a year's rent on the property for her to live there. The move reportedly took place as the oldest Barnett boy -- considered to be highly intelligent -- could begin his graduate work.

In September 2019, six years later, the former couple was charged with multiple counts of neglect of a dependent, neglect of a dependent causing bodily injury, and conspiracy to commit neglect of a dependent.

Michael was found not guilty in October 2022 and the charges against Kristine were also dropped in March this year.

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Natalia Grace denied claims made by her former adoptive family who alleged that she attempted to murder them

Natalia Grace, an orphan from Ukraine, now believed to be 33 years old, continues to assert that she was a child when she was allegedly abandoned by the Barnetts, her former adoptive family who claimed that she threatened them, tried to cause them harm on more than one occasion, and have accused her of attempted murder.

Responding to the Barnetts' allegations that she was an adult, Natalia, who made an appearance on Dr. Phil in 2019, claimed that none of the Barnetts' allegations are true and that she has always "just wanted people to hear [her] side."

According to reports, she told the show's host, Dr. Phil, that she initially believed she found the "right" family after her adoption. She has always denied claims by the Barnetts that she tried to hurt or kill them and had even responded to Kristine's accusations that she tried to spray bleach into her adoptive mother's coffee while they were cleaning together in an attempt to poison her.

The Barnett family adopted Natalia in 2010, believing she was just six years old. Now, her birthdate is official reported to be September 4, 1989, and not 2003. After the Barnetts abandoned her, another Indiana couple, Cynthia and Anton Mans, took her in and made her a part of their family.

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The Curious Case on Natalia Grace aired on ID earlier, with the concluding episode premiering this Wednesday, May 31.