Docuseries on Ukrainian orphan Natalia and her adoptive parents aired this week
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The story of a Ukrainian orphan adopted by an Indiana couple made international news when the parents were accused of abandoning Natalia all alone in Lafayette while the rest of the family moved to Canada.
The parents, in turn, claimed Natalia was not a child, as they were led to believe, but an adult ― and that she tried to kill them.
On Jan. 1, 2024, Investigation Discovery premieres the continuing story in a second docuseries, "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks." Characterized as the second season of this tale, the latest picks up where the three-night, May 2023 docuseries, "The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace," left off.
In the trailer, released Tuesday, Natalia refutes claims that she went on a murderous task.
"I was never in y'all's room with a knife," Natalia tells her adopted father, Michael Barnett in the trailer for the six-part series
"I know what I saw," Michael Barnett responds.
In 2010, as the Journal & Courier has reported through the years, Michael and Kristine Barnett adopted Natalia, who they believed was 6 years old. Natalia had been diagnosed with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a rare genetic disorder affecting the spine and resulting in short stature and skeletal anomalies.
The parents claimed that the genetic disorder made Natalia appear far younger than she really was, and, as reported, the Barnetts petitioned in June 2012 for a Marion County court to alter Natalia's Ukrainian birth records.
The court changed her birth year from 2003 to 1989.
After Natalia was changed to be an adult by the judge, her adoptive parents got her qualified for federal assistance and moved her into a Lafayette apartment in July 2013, according to court documents.
By the court's determination, Natalia was 24; by original birth records, she was almost 10.
Four charges of neglect of a dependent were dismissed for legal reasons, Michael Barnett went to trial in October 2022 on allegations he neglected Natalia based on her handicap, not her age, since that was legally adjusted by another court. A jury acquitted him of all charges.
Earlier this year, Kristine Barnett faced trial on charges of neglect of a dependent based on Natalia's handicap. In March, the prosecuting attorney, Patrick Harrington, dismissed all counts. Tippecanoe Superior 2 Judge Steve Meyer signed the order, ending a three-and-a-half year case of she-said-she-said.