5 harrowing details about Natalia Grace's story from The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter, explored

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter premiered on January 6, 2025, and deals with Natalia's controversial allegations about her adoptive parents.

The premiere episode introduced the DePaul family, who are long-time friends of Natalia and tried to adopt her. However, they remained unsuccessful since she was taken first by Michael and Kristine Barnett and then by Cynthia and Antwon Mans.

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter will run for 4 episodes and will continue to show the twisted life of a Ukrainian orphan, Natalia, whom the Barnett family adopted and then accused of lying about her age and that she was an older person who pretended to be a child.

Diagnosed with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a type of dwarfism, Natalia was adopted by Cynthia and Antwon Mans, when the Barnett family disowned her in 2013. While things were smooth, initially, trouble came back after almost a decade when Natalia claimed that she was being abused by the Mans.

In this final chapter, the DePauls, who previously wanted to adopt Natalia enter the scene as they try to help her become free of the Mans. Let us now explore in detail the twisted and shocking details that emerged about Natalia and her adoptive family over the course of the four episodes.

The Manses family does not help Natalia pay her taxes

In the documentary, Natalia accused the Manses of using the money they get from fostering children for their own expenses. Moreover, when Natalia demanded some money that the couple earned from her public appearances, they refused to do so.

They also made her agree that she had no claim over the Manses’ family home, despite that house being made with her money. It was also revealed that Cynthia is the receiver of Natalia’s monthly social security money.

What came out as more shocking was when Cynthia and Antwon refused to help Natalia pay a tax of $104,000, which she allegedly acquired because of them. The couple, however, refused it, saying,

“We told her we would go in on it because it was our money, but we never said we was paying that whole thing. That devil’s a liar.”

It was Nicole and Vincent who came to help Natalia with these financial troubles and also to help her become independent from the Manses.

Natalia initially did not admit the abuse that the Manses subjected her to

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace revealed that multiple witnesses confirmed that Natalia was subjected to various forms of abuse by the Manses, which included physical abuse like hitting her with a belt, locking her inside a room, and slapping her.

However, surprisingly enough, Natalia never agreed to these allegations while being on camera. But a very different story was told by Nicole and Mackenzie, her daughter, who said that Natalia confided in them in private. Nicole said,

“Every now and then, she’ll drop little tidbits about the abuse that went on in the Manses. Natalia has admitted to me firsthand that she has been whooped by both Cynthia and Antwon.”

Mackenzie added,

“[Natalia] did mention whooping — scared-of-Antwon-type whooping. Hitting anybody with a disability is already messed up, let alone a child, let alone somebody with such severe dwarfism.”

Robert Madewell, another witness also verified the claims, adding that the Manses even abused his son as Cynthia refused to let him use the washroom. The Manses however did not comment on these claims.

Nicole installed hidden cameras in the Manses' house

To prove the contradiction of Natalia’s statements regarding the abuse by the Manses, Nicole decided to set up hidden cameras inside the Manses house. Though this appears to be twisted and unethical, Nicole mentioned that she did so only after letting Natalia know. These cameras brought forth the truth in Nicole’s statement as Neil, Natalia’s boyfriend, was heard telling her,

"I think maybe you should talk to someone about some of this stuff, you know? I mean, some of it was pretty brutal."

To this, Natalia responded affirmatively.

Natalia's conflicting feelings towards the Manses despite the abuse

After a decade of living with the Manses, when things got too difficult to handle, Natalia realized she had to leave. During these years of living with the Manses, she continuously kept the DePauls updated about the abuse she had to go through because of the Manses.

It was the DePaul family who planned her escape with the help of Natalia’s overseas boyfriend, Neil. However, Natalia, despite all the abuse she had faced from the Manses still seemed to be emotionally attached to them as right after getting in the car with the DePaul family, she let Cynthia know that she was safe and wasn’t abducted or dead.

The Manses could have been blackmailing Natalia Grace

Nicole, in an attempt to understand Natalia's contradicting attitude towards the Manses, stated that the Manses might have been blackmailing Natalia based on her texts and calls.

The Manses were known to take away Natalia’s phone on multiple occasions and therefore, it is very likely that they had access to her romantic history and other personal details. This could give them potential grounds for blackmailing her, which can provide a valid explanation of her conflicting behavior towards them.

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace can be streamed on Max.