Antwon Mans, Beth Karas, Melissa Misegadis, Michael Barnett, Natalia Grace Barnett, Natalia Grace Mans, reviews, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, true crime, TV, Vince DePaul
January 9, 2025
by Carla Hay
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace”
Produced by Hot Snakes Media for Investigation Discovery
Culture Representation: Filmed from 2019 to 2024, the documentary series “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” features a predominantly white group of people (with a few black people) who are connected in some way to Natalia Grace Mans (formerly known as Natalia Grace Barnett), a Ukrainian American woman with dwarfism who was given up for adoption when she was a child has been at the center of controversies over her real age and allegations of abuse.
Culture Clash: Natalia’s second adoptive parents accused her of being an abusive adult in a child’s body and were arrested for child abandonment, while Natalia’s third adoptive parents were accused of abusing her.
Culture Audience: “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in true crime docuseries that have surprising twists and turns, but by the end of the series, viewers might grow tired of the participants’ obvious self-serving agenda to get media attention.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” (Season 1; Six episodes)
At first glace, “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” sounded like a real-life story of the 2009 horror film “Orphan,” a story about an American married couple with biological kids who adopt what they’ve been told is an 11-year-old orphan girl from Russia. In the movie, this adopted daughter turns out to be a violent terror and tries to seduce her adoptive father. It’s revealed near the end of the film (spoiler alert) that she is really an adult woman with a medical condition that makes her look like a child.
That’s a similar narrative told by Michael Barnett, the adoptive parent at the center of the first season of “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,” which interviewed Barnett before and after his 2022 trial for neglecting a dependent. In 2010, an Indiana married couple named Michael Barnett and Kristine Barnett adopted a 7-year-old girl with dwarfism named Natalia Grace, who was born in Ukraine and given up for adoption by her single mother. Natalia Grace was the youngest child of Michael and Kristine, who had three biological sons together: Jacob, Wesley and Ethan.
Michael and Kristine split up in 2014; their divorce became final in 2018. Kristine declined to be interviewed for this documentary. It’s revealed in the documentary that before the Barnetts adopted Natalia, she had been adopted by another American family in 2008. But she didn’t live long with that family, which gave up custody of her because they said Natalia had too many behavioral problems. Natalia’s first adoptive parents declined to be interviewed for the documentary.
According to Michael, not long after the adoption, Natalia began to do unusually disturbing things for someone who was supposed to be an underage child. Natalia would make sexually inappropriate comments to children and adults. Michael also claimed that Natalia had a violent temper and once threatened him and Kristine with a knife. In another incident, Michael claims that Natalia tried to electrocute Kristine. According to Michael, Natalia was also frequently violent with her adoptive brothers. Therapy and discipline for Natalia didn’t help the problem, says Michael.
Michael also claims that he and Kristine saw that Natalia had pubic hair and was menstruating. Michael says a medical exam of Natalia indicated that her approximate birth year was 1989. It’s why Michael says he and Kristine successfully petitioned a probate court in Indiana’s Marion County to change Natalia’s birth certificate to “re-age” her. As a result, Natalia’s birth year changed from 2003 to 1989 on her birth certificate.
Since she was legally considered an adult and was allegedly causing too many problems for the Barnett family, Natalia was kicked out of the home of Michael and Kristine in 2013. The couple then moved to Canada with their three sons. Before Michael and Kristine moved to Canada, they made arrangements for Natalia to live in a rented apartments in the Indiana cities of Westfield and Lafayette. She lived alone in these apartments, which were not disability-accessible for disabled people such as Natalia.
Natalia told neighbors (a few who are interviewed in the documentary) that she was an adult. Most of the neighbors who are interviewed say describe Natalie as an oddball loner who could be sexually inappropriate. However, at least one neighbor suspected that Natalia was really an underage child but could do nothing about it because Natalia’s birth certificate was changed to show that she was born in 1989.
Throughout the six episodes of the series, Michael (who moved back to the United States after his divorce from Christine) acts like what can best be described as a “drama queen.” He over-emotes, widens his eyes, wails, sobs and wildly gestures—as if all of these exaggerated body movements are ways that he thinks will make himself look more convincing. But as time goes on, the documentary reveals that Michael has credibility problems.
The documentary did a series of interviews with Michael: First, in 2019 and then in 2022, the year that he went on trial for abandoning Natalia. Kristine was also arrested and indicted for neglecting a dependent. Kristine (who also pleaded not guilty) was supposed to have a separate trial from Michael. Charges against Kristine were eventually dropped.
Michael changes his stories from 2019 to 2022. In the 2019 interviews, he claims that Natalia was the villain who inflicted terror in the Barnett household. In the 2022 interviews, Michael says that Kristine was the real villain in the household. He claims he and Natalia were victims of Kristine’s physical and emotional abuse. Michael (who says he has post-traumatic stress disorder because of Kristine) still stands by the claim that Natalia was an adult when he and Kristine moved away to Canada.
Michael claims that after he and Kristine broke up, she turned their two youngest sons against him, and they have cut off all contact with him. Michael also peppers his stories with sordid tales of Kristine’s infidelity (including her nude photos that she allegedly sent to her lovers) and admitting that he was addicted to porn during their marriage. There’s also a lurid allegation from a Barnett family friend, who claims that Kristine offered Natalia to this friend for sexual services.
In the 2022 interviews, Michael is living with his eldest son Jacob, who has autism and is interviewed in the documentary. Jacob echoes what Michael says. However, a telling part of the documentary is recording of a conversation that Michael and Jacob had when Jacob forgot to remove his microphone. In this conversation, Jacob apparently admits to physically assaulting Natalia when she lived with the family. Michael tells Jacob that Jacob won’t get in trouble for it if he doesn’t talk about it in the interviews.
The story’s twists and turns are the main reasons to watch, although there’s a noticeable void because Natalia Grace is not interviewed, due to her gag order at the time. The mystery of who’s telling the truth will either intrigue or frustrate viewers. Legal analyst Beth Karas offers commentary to try to make sense of it all. But without hearing Natalia’s side of the story (she was under a gag order until after Michael’s trial), “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” leaves many questions unanswered.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks” (Season 2; Six episodes)
The second season of this soap opera-like docuseries improves greatly from the first season by having extensive interviews with Natalia Grace to present a fuller picture of the events in dispute. Her DNA test elevates the credibility of the documentary. However, there are even more histrionics from the participants, including a dramatic reunion between Natalia and Michael. Season 2 of this docuseries was filmed in 2023.
Natalia admits to being difficult to live with at times, but she vehemently denies that she physically threated or attacked the Barnetts. She also confirms Michael’s claims that Kristine was the main abuser in the household, while Michael was a passive bystander who was also abused by Kristine. Once again, Kristine decline to comment or be interviewed for the documentary. According to the documentary, Kristine also did not respond to these abuse allegations.
In her documentary interviews, Natalia adamantly states that she was an underage child when she lived by herself after the Barnetts moved to Canada. She claims that Michael and Kristine branwashed her and told her to tell people that Natalia was an adult when she was still an underage child. The documentary’s filmmakers step up their independent investigation into the contradictory claims about Natalia’s age by getting Natalia to do a DNA test that proves once and for all what her real age is. Dental records also confirm who’s telling the truth. (Even though the results of the DNA test are widely known, this review won’t reveal that information.)
The documentary’s investigation also tracks down Natalia’s Ukrainian birth mother, who does a bref interview to explain why she gave Natalia up for adoption when Natalia was a baby. The birth mother says she couldn’t afford the medical treatment that Natalia needed for Natalia’s dwarfism. The birth mother comments that she does not want to be in contact with Natalia.
A much more disturbing revelation of Natalia’s earliest years in Ukraine is that she was most likely sexually abused by at least one unidentified adult in the orphanage where she lived and/or at the medical facility where she received medical checkups. Unfortunately, the documentary doesn’t further investigate these allegations. Natalia claims she doesn’t remember a lot of what her life was like in Ukraine.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks” shows that in the years that Natalia was estranged from the Barnetts, she befriended and eventually moved in with another married couple in Lafayette: Antwon Mans and Cynthia Mans, who claim to be strict conservative Christians. Antwon is a self-appointed, non-ordained preacher, who has given himself the nickname Bishop. Antwon and Cynthia also have several adopted and foster kids, up to 10 at a time.
From the get-go, it’s obvious that Antwon hates the idea of Natalia meeting up with Michael. It should come as no surprise that Michael and Antwon have a hostile confrontation when that meeting happens. It’s at this point that “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” starts to look less like a documentary and more like a melodramatic reality show.
Legal analyst Karas keeps things as grounded as possible in looking at the facts and asking questions out loud that viewers might be thinking. Karas doesn’t do most of the on-camera interviews because she is there mainly as a skeptical commentator. Her presence in this documentary is the primary reason why the narrative isn’t completely taken over by people who have admitted mental health struggles and problems telling the truth.
Natalia’s DNA test is a game changer. After watching this season of “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,” you can’t help but wonder why this DNA test couldn’t have been done before Michael Barnett’s trial, which would have had a very different outcome if these DNA test results had been available before the trial. A flaw in the documentary is that it doesn’t ask the attorneys from the prosecution and defense why this crucial DNA test couldn’t have been done before the trial happened.
Natalia says that Antwon and Cynthia are the parents that she wishes she had all along. A very rosy picture is painted in the season finale episode, when Natalia gets officially adopted by Antwon and Cynthia. Natalia says she’s the happiest she’s ever been because of Antwon and Cynthia. But it’s not a “happily ever after” ending.
The last thing shown in the episode is an audio recording of Antwon and Cynthia talking to the documentary producers. Antwon says, “Something ain’t right with Natalia. This girl is tweakin’. I feel like she’s the enemy in the house. And she said to us, we have held her hostage. Made us look like we’re the enemy.”
“Natalia is stabbing her family in the back over a complete lie,” Cynthia adds. Antwon continues, “She’s done other things too. But this was a new low. Natalia does not have emotions for nothing but herself. We’re done. We’re done with her.” This twist leaves Season 2 on a cliffhanger.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” (Season 2; Four episodes)
By the time the third season of this series aired, it was already widely reported that after that cryptic phone call, Natalia stayed with the Mans family but eventually had a falling out with Antwon and Cynthia in 2024, the year that these episodes were filmed. The third season of this series includes more allegations of abuse and shows Natalia to be even more confused and emotionally damaged than she was in the show’s second season.
This time, there’s another married couple who “rescues” Natalia. Vince DePaul and Nicole DePaul (in their late 40s/early 50s when they were filmed for this documentary) tried to adopt Natalia in 2009, but the adoption was not approved. Vince and Nicole live in upstate New York with their friendly daughter Mackenzie, who was in her late teens when she was filmed for this documentary. Vince, Nicole and Mackenzie all have dwarfism.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter” becomes an excruciating display of mind games and manipulation from Natalia, Antwon and Cynthia, who are all living in Nashville in the first few episodes. Natalia contacts Nicole to beg her to rescue her from Antwon and Cynthia, whom Natalia says are abusive and controlling. Nicole and Mackenzie make the trip to take Natalia, who is in on this plan for Natalia to secretly “run away” from Antwon and Cynthia after a nighttime service at a church.
This getaway scene has all the editing of a reality show, complete with Nicole doing hindsight narration of what she was thinking to make it look like “real time” thinking. There is also over-heightened reality show music that adds to the tackiness. The “getaway” is edited like it’s some super-secret undercover operation, when it’s really just adult Natalia choosing to get in a car and drive away with Nicole and Mackenzie, and not telling Antwon and Cynthia where Natalia is going.
Natalia living with the DePaul family comes with a set of problems that the DePaul family did not anticipate. After Antwon and Cynthia find out that Natalia went away to live with the DePauls, Natalia is lured back to live with Antwon and Cynthia and backs up their claims that they never abused her. Later, after Natalia changes her mind again and moves back in with the DePaul family, Natalia refuses to confirm or deny that she was abused by Antwon and Cynthia.
Meanwhile, the documentary interviews a few people who claim that they witnessed Natalia and children being physically abused by Cynthia and Antwon. Cynthia is described by these witnesses as someone who likes to use a belt for beatings. The documentary mentions that child protective services have visited the household of Antwon and Cynthia several times, but whatever investigations took place did not result in any arrests or Antwon and Cynthia losing custody of any of the children.
In a documentary interview, Cynthia admits she’s not a perfect mother and says she uses discipline methods, but she denies that it’s physical abuse. Later, the documentary repeatedly shows captions saying that Antwon and Cynthia did not respond to the documentarians’ request for comment on all the abuse allegations that were brought forth in the documentary.
Natalia’s presence in the DePaul household puts a strain on the DePaul spouses’ marriage, according to Vince and Nicole. Vince wasn’t entirely approving of Nicole’s trip to Nashville to “rescue” Natalia. He also worries that he and Nicole won’t be able to afford Natalia’s medical needs. This marital discord becomes somewhat over-dramatic when Vince gives an ultimatum that Nicole has to choose between him and Natalia.
Natalia has been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, which is an extreme fear of being abandoned. Nicole expresses frustration that Natalia (who has a tendency to lock herself in rooms) refuses to get therapy. Nicole invites a friend named Melissa Misegadis, who has a master’s degree in rehabilitation psychology, into the home to give more insight. Misegadis’ comments are informative, but without Natalia being an actual patient of Misegadis or any other therapist, the comments are just speculation and not real therapy help for Natalia.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter” is essentially a compilation of scenes of Natalia being undecided about whether or not she really wants to live with the Mans family or the DePaul family. Nicole describes Natalia as being a split personality who will publicly praise the Mans family but privately insult the Mans family. Someone might interpret Natalia as being (1) a two-faced liar or (2) an ambivalent abuse survivor, depending on whether or not someone believes that Antwon and Cynthia abused Natalia.
It’s also mentioned that Natalia has a long-distance relationship with a British man only identified as Neil, whom she met online. Apparently, Neil (who lives in the United Kingdom) did not want his real identity to be revealed in this documentary, but his sex life with Natalie gets talked about in the documentary. We really don’t need to hear Nicole describe how Natalia and Neil have videoconference/phone sex that’s so loud, Nicole (who says she’s partially deaf) can still hear this noise behind closed and padded doors. But that story is included in the documentary anyway.
And Nicole tells this story with odd giggling at the same time that she says this virtual sex activity is a nuisance that caused a big rift between her and Natalia. There are also allegations that certain people have been threatening to humiliate Natalia with “revenge porn” of sexual encounters that she had with Neil. Natalia’s boyfriend Neil is heard speaking in parts of the documentary, but his face is blurred out in all photos and videos.
There’s also another level of drama when it’s alleged that the Antwon and Cynthia have been stealing Natalia’s income (including her disability benefits and income from media appearances), which Natalia claims she willingly signed over her money to Antwon and Cynthia. However, after Natalia begins living with the DePaul family, Nicole gets very upset when she finds out that Antwon and Cynthia won’t give Natalia the money that Natalia needs to pay income tax. The documentary does not show how this problem was resolved.
The main participants’ constant bickering, meltdowns and contradictory flakiness become annoying. After a while, it’s obvious that certain people are just trying to get their own reality shows and/or more media attention. There’s a part of the documentary that shows Natalia giddily going to New York City to do an interview and photo shoot with People magazine, which wants Natalia to talk about her problems.
Natalia clearly has experienced trauma in her life. But she keeps saying contradictory things about what she wants. Legal analyst Karas is barely in Season 3 of this documentary and seems to be frustrated by this continual stream of contradictions. However, Karas makes it clear that she thinks Antwon and Cynthia are con artists and doesn’t try to hide her contempt for this couple.
In the documentary, Natalia says this is the reason why she doesn’t want to get therapy: “I don’t like depending on people. I don’t like burdening them with my problems.” Natalie also says in another interview: “I personally can’t handle anyone leaving me anymore.” By the end of this sordid mess, the only thing that’s clear is that Natalia needs therapy, not a reality show or more media exposure that would no doubt want to exploit her.
Investigation Discovery premiered “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” (Season 1) on May 29, 2023. Investigation Discovery premiered “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks” (Season 2) on January 1, 2024. Investigation Discovery premiered “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter” (Season 3) on January 6, 2025. All episodes are available for streaming on the Investigation Discovery app/website, Discovery+ and Max.