A year after the cliffhanger ending of Natalia Speaks, Investigation Discovery is set to drop The Curious Case of Natalia Grace Season 3, examining what really happened with Cynthia and Antwon Mans.
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace was one of the biggest true crime documentary releases of 2023, telling the stranger-than-fiction tale of a Ukrainian orphan who was adopted by an American family, Michael and Kristine Barnett, in 2010.
The Barnetts later accused Natalia of lying about her background. After having her age legally changed to an adult, they forced her out of their home and into an apartment, one that was inaccessible despite her disability.
In January 2024, the second season, Natalia Speaks, arrived. Following extensive DNA testing, it was confirmed that Natalia was, in fact, a child when she was made to live alone. She also accused the Barnetts of abusing her while she was under their care.
Although she eventually found a happy home life with her new adoptive parents, Cynthia and Antwon, Natalia Speaks ended with an audio recording of the Mans claiming to producers that Natalia “stabbed her family in the back” and that they are “done with her.”
Since then, the Mans family have been on an Instagram break while Natalia has removed her Insta account altogether, leading to more questions about what happened between them.
It was uncertain whether this would be explored in a follow-up documentary series – until now. This week, Investigation Discovery dropped a teaser trailer for The Curious Case of Natalia Grace Season 3, officially subtitled The Final Chapter.
The footage expands on the phone call conversation with Antwon, who says, “We got a situation… She got this dude online. He turned her against us.”
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But according to others involved, it’s a different story. Legal analyst Beth Karas appears again, this time accusing the Mans of knowing “how to silence people.”
The teaser then shows snippets of various acquaintances saying things like, “Behind closed doors they’re monsters” and “I kept telling Natalia, ‘You need to go before you get killed.’” Another claims that the Mans “are a cult.”
It ends with producers asking Natalia what she’s hiding, to which she responds, “Can we cut?” Alongside the teaser, ID has revealed Natalia Grace Season 3 will drop in January 2025.
Clearly, there’s still a lot more story to be told here, this time focusing on the Mans rather than the Barnetts. As one viewer pointed out, “This story has so many twists and turns. At this point I believe everyone’s lying with some sprinkles of truth here and there.”
Another said, “She’s a girl who had to grow up extremely fast. She didn’t have time to grow up normally because they rushed adult life on her. Then she moved in with people who treated her like a kid and most likely controlled her money.
“Now she is an actual adult and wants to date and just live her life but they don’t want her to because they wouldn’t be getting her money anymore.”
While you wait for Season 3, you can read about whether Kristine Barnett ever went to jail, where to watch the Natalia Grace docs, and the moment Natalia confronted Michael.