How did Natalia Grace travel to unrecorded with Michael and Kristine Barnett?

Michael says successful the bid that helium and Kristine and their 3 sons, Jacob, Wesley and Ethan, were surviving the "pinnacle of life" successful 2010: blessed family, large location successful Westfield, Ind.,, six figures successful their slope account. 

They were primitively going to follow a Haitian child, Michael says, but the 2010 earthquake that devastated the land federation unopen down the process.  

So, connected April 26, 2010, helium and Kristine adopted Natalia Grace. Her Ukrainian commencement certificate stated she'd been calved Sept. 4, 2003, Michael says, and they were told she had a uncommon benignant of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. 

(Natalia herself has maintained—in interviews and tribunal testimony—that she was a small miss erstwhile the Barnetts adopted her, afloat stop, and did not either endanger to harm oregon effort to harm members of the family.)

Shutterstock

Another mates who looked into adopting Natalia earlier the Barnetts, Dwayne and Robin Farris of Austin—who, similar Judith, person forms of dwarfism—say they were suspicious when Natalia's erstwhile adoptive parents asked to beryllium reimbursed for erstwhile aesculapian expenses for the child, but they headed retired to New Hampshire to conscionable her anyway. And, to them, thing conscionable wasn't right.

"I couldn't enactment my digit connected whether it was the concern that was evil, oregon Natalia, determination was thing incorrect with her," Dwayne says. "And I deliberation that's the archetypal clip I've ever wholly trusted that intuition."

Why did the Barnetts fishy that Natalia Grace wasn't truly 6 years old? 

The time aft they adopted Natalia, Michael says successful the series, Kristine went to springiness the miss a bath and screamed erstwhile she saw that Natalia had pubic hair. Michael says helium searched online whether that was possible, and work that pubic hairsbreadth could commencement to look connected a miss arsenic young arsenic 8. But, helium continues, helium and his woman figured that this was a kid who evidently needed emotion and compassion and it didn't substance if she was a small older than they were told.

(Natalia said on Dr. Phil successful 2019 that she was 8 years old, "maybe astir 9," erstwhile the Barnetts adopted her.)

A fewer months later, Natalia told them that she'd been having periods and hiding the evidence, Michael says. A household person heard successful an audio signaling says Kristine had recovered stained socks that Natalia had utilized arsenic sanitary pads and past thrown retired the window. "She said, 'This isn't normal, what person I gotten myself into?'" the person recalls. "And truthful I said, 'You request to commencement uncovering retired however aged she is.'"

Kimberly Franklin, Michael's younger sister, recalls successful the bid proceeding that the Barnetts had recovered "period underwear" hidden successful Natalia's room. 

Also wrong the archetypal fewer months of adopting Natalia, the Barnetts arranged for a play day with Elva Reyes' daughter, Therese, who had the aforesaid benignant of uncommon dwarfism and was besides 6 years old.

As Elva and Therese, present 14, recall on the show, it was beauteous evident to them—pointing to pictures of the girls taken successful 2010— that Therese and Natalia were not the aforesaid age.

Investigation Discovery

But they were shocked, helium says, when one of the specialists they met with labeled their adopted girl a sociopath—meaning, she was afloat successful power of her actions and knew precisely what she was doing.

"'You're each successful utmost danger,'" helium recalls the therapist telling him and Kristine. "At that constituent successful time, we already knew that. We had been surviving that."

But, Michael notes, nary substance however disturbing Natalia's behavior, helium and Kristine ne'er considered taking her backmost for a minute, still convinced that they (and therapy) could assistance her.

Even when, helium alleges, Natalia poured cleaning fluid into Kristine's java and told her, constituent blank, she was trying to poison her. Jake says successful the amusement that, to this day, helium can't portion thing that's been retired of his sight. (Natalia has denied purposely putting cleaner into the cupful oregon different trying to poison Kristine.)

How did authorities get progressive with the Barnetts and Natalia Grace?

To observe the day of 1 of their sons, the Barnetts went to Traders Point Creamery, a moving dairy where visitors could beverage the cows. Michael says Natalia got a gleam successful her oculus erstwhile staffers warned them to enactment distant from the perchance lethal electrical fence on the property.

Michael alleges that Natalia tried to propulsion Kristine into the obstruction and everyone came rushing to the country of the struggle, wherever Natalia was flailing about.

Two Traders Point staffers interviewed successful the series, however, callback otherwise, with 1 remembering that the "little idiosyncratic seemed to beryllium much calm and rational" and the ma "seemed to beryllium making the concern worse."

In a video signaling of a forensic interrogation from 2019, Natalia is seen telling a prosecution researcher that her feet had been hurting that time and, erstwhile she sat down, Kristine tried to propulsion her up and past fell—"kind of adjacent to the fence," Natalia says, but she did not effort to wounded her mother. 

Regardless, connected that time an ambulance was called to the dairy, Michael recalls, and Natalia ended up committed to Larue Carter, the Indiana State Mental Hospital, for a intelligence evaluation.

Hospital employees—who wished to stay anonymous but are heard connected the amusement successful audio recordings—shared that Natalia was transferred to the big helping aft they saw pubic hairsbreadth portion administering a sedative injection via her backside.

Once she was astir big antheral patients, according to the staffers, she flirted with them constantly. After she'd been astatine the infirmary for a fewer weeks, Michael says, they got a telephone to travel prime Natalia up due to the fact that she was creating a disturbance with her intersexual advances.

Back home, arsenic Michael recalls, Kristine threatened Natalia that if she didn't commencement telling the truth, she'd person to slumber outside.

She successful crook locked the miss retired of the house—and though, Michael says, he felt excessively atrocious to permission her retired determination each night, Natalia was outside long capable for a neighbour to spot her and telephone kid services.

When did the Barnetts effort to chopped ties with Natalia Grace?

In 2012, Michael and Kristine petitioned the Marion County Probate Court to person Natalia's authoritative commencement day changed from 2003 to 1989, making her 20 erstwhile they adopted her. As relayed successful the series, the tribunal granted the petition.

The pursuing year the couple moved to Ontario, Canada, truthful that then-15-year-old Jake—a prodigy who was profiled on 60 Minutes in 2012 and was the taxable of Kristine's 2014 publication The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing, Genius and Autism—could statesman postgraduate studies.

Natalia stayed down successful an flat they had rented successful Lafayette, Ind. Michael describes a litany of services that were successful a two-block radius, including a Salvation Army, a market store that took nutrient stamps and a learning halfway wherever Natalia was going to get her GED. (Michael continued to wage the rent and bills, Natalia told Dr. Phil.)

Tippecanoe County Jail

A justice dismissed a fig of the charges against Michael successful February 2022, but helium inactive went connected proceedings that October connected 3 counts of neglect and 1 number of conspiracy to neglect a dependent. 

Natalia—who was legally bound to springiness her birthdate arsenic 1989 connected the witnesser stand—testified that she wasn't susceptible of caring for herself erstwhile Michael and Kristine moved away, that they near her successful a second-story flat with stairs she could hardly navigate and she didn't navigator oregon cognize however to usage astir appliances.

"I wanted to beryllium with the Barnetts," she said. "I wanted to unrecorded with them."

The defense, arguing that she had made it wide that she wanted thing to bash with Michael oregon Kristine, countered with video of Natalia at the market store and crossing a thoroughfare connected her own.

After conscionable a fewer hours of deliberations, Michael was recovered not guilty. He was initially subpoenaed to attest against Kristine, but prosecutors yet dropped their lawsuit against his ex-wife successful March. Her proceedings was scheduled to begin in April.

Asked for remark astatine the time, Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Patrick Harrington pointed to the connection successful his question to dismiss: "The State believes determination would beryllium insufficient grounds astatine proceedings to beryllium the charges successful this origin beyond a tenable doubt."

Kristine's attorney, Mark Nicholson, told WLFI's News 18 that his lawsuit "can't judge it's over" and that the charges should person ne'er been filed successful the archetypal place.

Harpo Productions

Harpo Productions