Ahead of the release of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace Season 3, the producers of the documentary series have opened up about the biggest question mark hanging over the final chapter.
Rather than focusing on Natalia’s former adoptive parents Michael and Kristine Barnett, the third and final run of the true crime docu-series turns attention to Cynthia and Antwon Mans. By all accounts, it seemed like Natalia was set to enjoy a happy ever after with her new legal guardians.
But this all changed by the end of the follow-up series, Natalia Speaks. Six months after the adoption was finalized, the Manses rang producers and claimed “she’s the enemy in the house… We’re done with her.”
As is explored in Season 3, there is far more to this story than meets the eye, and a number of shocking allegations are made about Cynthia and Antwon.
Natalia Grace’s financial situation remains unclear
The Mans couple were made the payees of Natalia’s finances when they first took her in, at which stage she was a minor. Cynthia and Antwon admit in the series that they also used her payment from Dr. Phil to buy their family a home in Tennessee.
Due to allegations of abuse and control, Natalia’s boyfriend seeks the help of the DePauls, a supportive family who wanted to adopt her back in 2012.
Nicole DePaul and her daughter, along with the producers, rescue Natalia from Tennessee and take her to their home in upstate New York. While under their care, Natalia has no money of her own, no passport, and no bank account.
In The Curious Case of Natalia Grace Season 3, Nicole expresses her frustration at the situation, as Natalia agrees to keep Cynthia and Antwon as her payees, meaning they continue to receive her disability allowance.
Things come to a head when Natalia faces a huge tax bill for money she didn’t spend – and the Manses refuse to pay it, leaving Natalia and the DePauls to face the consequences.
Although the final chapter of the docu-series ends on a positive note for Natalia, one issue that’s never resolved is whether Cynthia and Antwon did end up paying the tax bill, or if they agreed to put Natalia’s name on the house that was bought with her money.
THR sat down with Hot Snakes Media cofounders Eric and Shannon Evangelista – producers of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace – to ask them about the tax bill and whether they know how much cash the Manses earned from Natalia being in their care.
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“No, I don’t,” said Shannon. “They have a lot of stuff that was going on with GoFundMes and stuff that we weren’t really privy to other than what Natalia had told us, so there’s no real way for us to corroborate that, just because we don’t have access to exactly what’s going on on their side of things.”
What is revealed in the series is that Natalia’s payment from the Dr. Phil Show was estimated to be approximately $300,000 – but she never saw a penny herself.
Despite these past issues, Shannon has confirmed that Natalia is finally in a happy place and is starting to move on from all of the trauma she’s endured throughout her life.
“I think that Natalia is a survivor. I think she is incredibly strong. I think that right now, we’re able to verify that she is safe and she is well taken care of and that feels great,” Shannon continued.
“She’s a very strong, intelligent young woman. She’s very, very capable and she’s overcome so much in her life. We all have a lot of respect for her resilience.”
Police were notified about abuse allegations
Another question that is left unanswered is whether the police are investigating the allegations of abuse against the Manses.
In the series, it’s revealed that producers did put this to law enforcement, but “due to the confidential nature of these types of proceedings, law enforcement was not able to comment.”
Elaborating on this, Shannon told the outlet, “Whenever minors are involved, police departments really don’t want to comment.
“They want to maintain the privacy of any individuals. But when the allegations came in against the Manses, we immediately notified law enforcement.”
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter premieres across two nights beginning Monday, January 6 at 9/8c on ID, and will be available to stream on Max. You can read about what Freddie Gill said in the first chapter, Natalia’s real age, and the best true crime docs of 2024.