Inside Arrest of Orphan Natalia Grace's Adoptive Parents as Bizarre Mystery Deepens In New Doc

A quick refresher: Michael and Kristina Barnett claimed Natalia -- who was born with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia -- came to them through an adoption agency in 2010 and were told she was six at the time. But they began to doubt her age and, in June 2012, Marion County Superior Court agreed to legally change the girl's birth record to indicate she was born in 1989 and not 2003. Shortly after that change, the Barnetts set her up with her own apartment.

The previous hour of the six-part series detailed her alleged issues in the first apartment her parents set up for her in Westfield. After continued complaints from neighbors about her behavior, her lease wasn't renewed and she was forced to relocate.

Michael participated heavily in the doc, appearing in this episode to claim that the new place was in a perfect location for all her needs -- with a Salvation Army, bus stop, mental health facilities and a grocery store where she could use food stamps all nearby. As neighbor Kyna Weaver noted, however, the apartment was located on the second floor -- something she believed was problematic for someone with Natalia's needs, no matter her age.

Weaver said that after Natalia moved in near her, Grace came to her home saying she didn't have any food and needed to call her parents. She allegedly didn't know how to use a phone, however, or know her parents' number. Kyna was immediately concerned, saying she felt like the girl "was left to the wolves," before detailing just how dangerous the area was. "It's a necessity to be armed," said Weaver, who noted she carries a weapon on her both outside and inside her own home. Another neighbor, a sex offender, also said Natalia was always alone.

Weaver broke down in tears as she expressed regret for not doing more to help Natalia, saying she hoped "she's having a good life and I hope she gets the justice she deserves." She added, "Regardless of her age, she was very scared and alone and that situation should have never ever happened. If I saw the Barnetts, I'd just start swinging."

The neighbor said that at one point, Natalia just "disappeared," before the Barnetts got a call from her adult GED center saying they hadn't seen her either. Eventually, the parents learned she was staying with a woman named Cynthia Mans. Michael called that a "concerning" development, adding that after speaking with Cynthia herself, they called adult protective services to look into it. He went on to allege that Mans spent "all of Natalia's food money," became Natalia's social security beneficiary and began subletting out the girl's apartment. As this was allegedly going on, the Barnetts were in Canada, though Michael and Kristine divorced in 2014 and he moved back to Indiana, calling the split "not amicable" and "rough."

For some reason, there weren't any public developments in the case for another five years ... when Detective Brandon Davenport called Mans asking whether they ever considered adopting Natalia.

"We actually tried to do legal guardianship and the courts denied it. She's been with us since 2014. So 5 years. Her parents did a number on this child and they were so angry at her, they had her electricity cut off. I told her, you don't have to stay there no more, you're just gonna live at my house," Mans was heard saying in a recorded phone call with Davenport. Cynthia went on to claim that Natalia was "scared of Kristine," who would call "yelling at her."

Michael then received a visit at his home from the detective, who began asking a lot of questions about Natalia. In recorded audio from the visit, Michael called Kristine a "master manipulator" and claimed she dropped Natalia in Lafayette because she believed it was a "white trash town" where nobody would care or notice their daughter and she couldn't "con or manipulate" anyone. When asked by the detective how old he believed Natalia was in 2019, Michael said, "if I had to put money on it, 20, 22" ... which would have made her around 15-16 when they moved her into her first apartment.

Following the conversation and an investigation, the Barnetts were charged with neglect -- something Michael said blindsided him.

"To be charged with something like this, it's embarrassing, it's appalling, it's disgusting, it's degrading," he said. "Suddenly, I am the bad guy of the universe but my ex-wife Kristine was the one in power. I had no control over any of this."

The neglect charges then lead to a battle between the exes over who was really responsible for what happened with Natalia. Since Kristine didn't do interviews for the documentary, all viewers really saw was Michael's point of view, as well as his son Jacob, who lives in his basement. Michael claimed he hadn't seen his other sons in years, saying they "want nothing to do with seeing me." He added, "We all were abused in that household and Kristine was the purveyor of abuse."

The doc included videos Kristine took of herself reprimanding Natalia, with Michael alleging his ex-wife used to make the girl stand with her nose against a wall until she made a list of people she had previously "lived with" and came clean about who she "really" was. He said one of those sessions lasted hours, so long that Natalia had "defecated on herself." Michael also claimed he told police he saw Kristine "beat the holy hell" out of Natalia on multiple occasions, before reenacting what one of the alleged beatings looked like by getting on his hands and knees. In audio from his conversations with Davenport, he said, "I'm stunned that Natalia's body did not break into a thousand pieces."

Messages exchanged between Michael and Kristine on social media showed him claiming he had a recording of one of the alleged beatings -- before telling Kristine, "She deserved it, but still." She didn't appear to deny the allegations, writing, "Whatever, she was very evil and you know it. She's a sociopath. How dare you compare yelling at me to flipping out on a criminal in my house impersonating a 3 yr old. Threatening and poisoning people and lying to get my husband to sleep in her room!"

The last moments of the fourth episode focused on Jacob's POV, as he claimed his mother and adoptive sister had a "hostile" relationship. He said he felt Kristine believed the girl was "a hostile agent" who "is not who she says she is and intends harm."

"From my mom's perspective, Natalia infiltrated our family and wanted to harm us. So my mom denied possibly doing anything wrong and if anything she was operating under the advice of therapists," he said. "I can assure you no therapist would advise this particular action. If a therapist did, they would lose their license."

"It's clear someone wronged someone else. It's easy to go around and categorize people into clusters of good people and bad people but good people do bad things, bad people do good things. I just don't want blame to be falsely assigned," he continued, admitting that he and his mother were "kind of going through it" at the time of the interview.

"Recently, I had a lot of questions about childhood and concerns. I called her. I expected her to maybe acknowledge some of the things I was saying. I wasn't necessarily looking for an apology, but I didn't even get that," said Jacob. "I did ask her about some stuff relating to Natalia, but I don't think I'm comfortable sharing here. Partially, I'm protecting my mom by not being explicit here. My mom is definitely not 100% innocent, so I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place, where I don't want to hurt anyone. And I recognize that that might not be possible."

When a producer off-camera said that Jacob could help "exonerate a little girl," he didn't feel comfortable saying more. He then got up and walked off frame ... but didn't remove his microphone. He was then caught on a hot mic talking to his father about the interview with producers.

"So I told them about my last interaction with my mom. But I guess the moral thing I've been struggling with is if there's some shred of hope that she can be redeemed, I don't think it's worth dragging her character down more," he said to his dad, clearly having concerns about what he should or shouldn't say when speaking on camera.

"I told the full and complete truth. That's a nice way of saying I put two rounds in a shotgun and I fired," Michael told his son. "It's okay. I feel like I deserve the right to tell my story. I did not tell them that. I didn't tell them about kicking down the stairs."

"Kicking down the stairs we said we're not going to say right? My plan going into today was to not tell them that," said Jacob, who was worried about "legal recourse" to whatever story it was they were trying to hide. He then noticed he was still wearing a microphone, as the episode ended with him saying, "I am such an idiot. F---."

Michael was cleared of all four neglect charges he was facing on October 27, 2022, while the charges against Kristine were dismissed in March 2023.