If you’re like me, you probably finished the second season of the Natalia Grace saga with your jaw on the floor. That cliffhanger was something else. One minute, Natalia is finally being adopted by the Mans family, looking like she’s found her "forever home," and the next, we hear a frantic, ominous phone call from Antwon Mans claiming she’s "the enemy" and that they’re "done."
It felt like a punch in the gut after everything she’d already been through with the Barnetts. Well, Natalia Grace documentary season 3—officially titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter—finally hit screens in early 2025, and honestly? It’s even messier than we expected.
The Midnight Escape Nobody Saw Coming
The third season doesn't waste any time. It picks up right in the thick of the fallout between Natalia and the Mans family. If you thought the Barnetts were the only ones with a flair for the dramatic, you haven't seen anything yet.
Basically, things at the Mans household went south fast. Natalia was reportedly communicating with a man named Neil from the UK over Facebook, which Antwon and Cynthia didn't like one bit. They felt like she was being manipulated; she felt like she was being controlled.
The documentary shows this wild "escape" that happened in late 2023. Natalia literally fled from the family during a late-night church service in Nashville. Imagine that. She ducks out, hops into a waiting van, and heads straight for the airport. It sounds like a spy movie, but for a young woman with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (a rare form of dwarfism), it was a desperate bid for independence.
Who was in the van? Nicole DePaul.
If that name sounds familiar, it's because the DePauls have been lurking in the background of this story for years. They are a couple who also have dwarfism and actually tried to adopt Natalia way back in 2009 before the Barnetts ever entered the picture. It’s kinda poetic, in a weird, true-crime sort of way.
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Why the Mans Family Turned on Her
People have been arguing online about whether Natalia is "manipulative" or just a victim of a really bad system. Antwon Mans didn't hold back in the new episodes. He claimed Natalia was "tweaking" and accused her of saying they held her hostage.
But the documentary digs deeper into the "why."
Natalia has been diagnosed with:
- PTSD (hardly surprising)
- ADHD
- Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)
That last one is the big one. RAD happens when kids are severely neglected and never learn how to bond properly with caregivers. When you look at Natalia's life—an orphanage in Ukraine, being bounced around, abandoned in an apartment at age nine—it makes total sense. She doesn't know how to "be" in a family because she's never had a stable one.
The Mans family seemingly reached their breaking point with her "episodes," but the show highlights a pretty big power imbalance. They were "Bishops" and "Pastors" who took her in, but the environment eventually became one where Natalia felt she couldn't grow.
The DNA Truth That Changed Everything
One thing The Final Chapter reinforces is the DNA evidence from season 2. For years, Kristine and Michael Barnett insisted she was an adult "con artist." They even got a court to legally change her birth year from 2003 to 1989.
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The DNA test proved they were wrong.
The tests confirmed Natalia was around 22 years old in 2023. This means she was definitely a child—about 6 to 9 years old—when the Barnetts adopted her. Seeing her face when that was confirmed was heartbreaking. She wasn't an adult "Orphan" villain; she was a kid who needed help and got a one-way ticket to an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, instead.
Where is Natalia Grace Now?
Honestly, for the first time in sixteen episodes, there’s a glimmer of something resembling peace.
As of 2026, Natalia is living in Upstate New York with the DePauls. It hasn't been a perfect transition—Nicole DePaul admitted on camera that the Mans family kept trying to "wheel her back in" with constant phone calls early on—but she seems to be thriving.
She's focusing on "normal" adult things:
- Studying for her GED.
- Learning how to drive.
- Taking therapy seriously.
She’s also expressed a dream of becoming a grade school teacher. It’s a bit of a "full circle" moment for someone whose own childhood was stolen by legal filings and "re-aging" scandals.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Case
A lot of the "true crime" community still looks for a villain. Is it Michael? Is it Kristine? Is it the Manses?
The truth is more boring and more tragic: the system failed. The Indiana court system allowed a child to be legally aged into an adult without a proper medical oversight. That's the real crime. While the Barnetts were never convicted of the heavy neglect charges (Michael was acquitted, Kristine's were dropped), the documentary doesn't let them off the hook.
The footage of Michael Barnett in the earlier seasons—the over-acting, the floor-slapping—contrasts sharply with the more grounded, if still chaotic, footage of Natalia’s current life. You've got to wonder if anyone in this story is actually "normal," or if they're all just products of a media circus that spiraled out of control.
Taking Action: How to Follow the Case
If you're looking to dive deeper into the legalities or want to support cases like Natalia's, there are actual steps you can take beyond just binge-watching the show:
- Watch the full "Final Chapter" on Max or Discovery Plus. It’s only four episodes, so it’s a quick (but heavy) watch.
- Look into the "Natalia's Law" discussions. There has been talk in some legal circles about changing how "re-aging" petitions are handled to ensure a situation like this never happens to another foster child.
- Support Dwarfism Awareness. Organizations like Little People of America (LPA) offer resources that help people understand the actual medical realities Natalia faces, which are often ignored in favor of the "scary adult" narrative.
The story of Natalia Grace isn't really a "whodunnit" anymore. It's a "how did we let this happen." Watching season 3 doesn't just give you closure on the Mans family; it forces you to look at how easily a child can disappear into the cracks of the law.
She isn't the "enemy in the house" anymore. She's just a young woman trying to figure out how to drive a car and pass a math test. And honestly? That's the best ending we could have hoped for.
Next Steps
To stay updated on Natalia's progress, you can follow her verified social media accounts, which she now manages herself under the guidance of the DePauls. Additionally, check out the 2025 scripted series Good American Family on Hulu, starring Ellen Pompeo, which dramatizes the early Barnett years if you want a different perspective on the events that led to the documentary.