Natalia Grace Barnett

Case background and investigation

Natalia Grace was born in Ukraine and has diastrophic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism that affects bone growth, according to Today and ABC News (Australia). Her adoption paperwork listed her birth year as 2003. She was first adopted by a couple in New Hampshire in 2008 and was adopted again in 2010 by Kristine and Michael Barnett of Indiana.

The Barnetts came to assert that Natalia was an adult rather than a child. According to Today, a hospital examination in 2010 put her age at about eight and a skeletal survey in 2012 estimated it at about eleven. In 2012 the Barnetts nevertheless obtained an order from the Marion County probate court changing her birth year from 2003 to 1989, which made her legally 22, WRTV reported. ABC News reported that the change was granted without an evidentiary hearing and without anyone representing Natalia.

In 2013, according to Today, Natalia was placed in an apartment in Hamilton County and then in one in Tippecanoe County. Prosecutors alleged that the Barnetts rented the Lafayette apartment for her and left her there alone while they moved out of the country with their other children; several outlets report that the family went to Canada. Natalia later lived with Antwon and Cynthia Mans, who filed a guardianship petition in March 2016.

In September 2019 Tippecanoe County prosecutors charged Michael and Kristine Barnett, who had since divorced, with multiple counts of neglect of a dependent and conspiracy to commit neglect. Both denied wrongdoing and maintained that Natalia was an adult. WRTV reported that four of the counts against Michael Barnett were dismissed in February 2022. His trial began on October 24, 2022, and on October 27, 2022, a Tippecanoe County jury found him not guilty on all four remaining counts. News reports of the trial said jurors were not permitted to hear evidence about Natalia's age.

Kristine Barnett never stood trial. On March 24, 2023, a Tippecanoe County judge dismissed the case against her; WRTV reported that court documents cited insufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Her lawyer told the station that the charges should never have been filed. No one has been convicted of any offence in connection with Natalia's care.

The case drew wide attention through the Investigation Discovery documentary series The Curious Case of Natalia Grace and the 2025 drama Good American Family. According to Today and Time, a DNA-based test carried out in 2023 estimated Natalia's age at about 22, consistent with a 2003 birth year, and Time and ABC News report that her legal birth year was changed back to 2003. The Mans family adopted her in 2023, and by January 2025 she was living with Nicole and Vincent DePaul in New York, according to Today.