unilad homepage
unilad homepage
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • World News
    • Crime
    • Health
    • Money
    • Sport
    • Travel
  • Music
  • Technology
  • Film and TV
    • News
    • DC Comics
    • Disney
    • Marvel
    • Netflix
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Neighbors of adopted girl accused of being 22-year-old woman reveal chilling conversations they had with her
Home>Film & TV>News
Updated 15:19 28 Dec 2023 GMTPublished 10:15 28 Dec 2023 GMT

Neighbors of adopted girl accused of being 22-year-old woman reveal chilling conversations they had with her

"Like a serial killer or something."

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: Investigation Discovery

Topics: US News, World News, Parenting, News, Crime, Documentaries

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a freelance journalist with words in Daily Express, Cosmopolitan UK, LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She is a former Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible.

Advert

Advert

Advert

The neighbors of Natalia Grace spoke out about the adopted 'child' in a documentary about the bizarre case.

In 2010, Kristine and Michael Barnett adopted Natalia Grace - who they say they believed to be six-year-old child at the time.

However, in iD documentary The Curious Case of Natalia Grace - the first season released earlier this year - the Barnetts accused Natalia of being an adult with dwarfism who masqueraded as a minor.

Advert

The Barnetts claimed Natalia was not only pretending to be a lot younger than she actually was, but had also tried to harm them.

They later moved her out of their home to an apartment in Indiana in 2011 and legally changed her age to 22 years old.

The family moved to Canada and faced charges of neglect for abandoning a child, but the charges were later dropped.

However, they later addressed the story in documentary The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, claiming they'd all been 'abused' by Natalia - who they branded a 'sociopath - and Natalia's neighbors spoke out too.

Natalia Grace with Kristine and Michael Barnett.
Investigation Discovery

In the documentary, which came out in May this year, some of Natalia's neighbors spoke out about her behavior in the community.

Sue McCallum said: "She was really a pest to everybody. Nobody liked her, nobody. They kind of felt sorry for her, but they were leery about her and really didn't want her around."

McCallum also alleges Natalia made her grandson feel 'uncomfortable' so much so, he asked her to leave their house and McCallum banned her from returning.

She adds: "She seemed to hang around all the older, real old guys a lot and she was talking sexual things to them."

Fellow neighbor Toby Miles echoed: "She would want to know when our son would be home. Not our daughter, our son. That's when things went from uncomfortable to weird and almost borderline inappropriate. It just got to a point where we felt uncomfortable as parents."

And the neighbors' accusations only get worse from there.

Natalia has accused the Barnetts of ruining her life.
Warner Bros. Discovery

Miles also accused Natalia of being 'like a serial killer or something'.

Miles' wife, Melanie, added Natalia allegedly said she 'stood over [the Barnetts] with a knife' which led the family to take 'all the knives away'.

The neighbors also allegedly heard Natalia say she'd 'tried to poison them' and so was forced to 'live in the garage for a while'.

Natalia denies allegations she tried to harm her adoptive parents.

Her real age has since been confirmed in a follow-up documentary The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks set for release in the new year.

And she has accused Kristine of 'training her to lie' about her age, condemning the family for 'ruining' her life.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF NATALIA GRACE: NATALIA SPEAKS will premiere across three consecutive nights on ID beginning Monday, January 1, airing nightly from 9-11PM ET/PT.

  • 23-year-old influencer accused of ‘leading drug trafficking ring’
  • Man accused of plotting to kill Erika Kirk shared chilling online posts, police reveal
  • Family of 15-year-old girl speak out after she was found dead in singer D4vd’s abandoned Tesla
  • FBI gives update on chilling discovery in search for dad accused of killing three daughters

Choose your content:

a day ago
2 days ago
  • Olivia Wong/Getty Images
    a day ago

    Bam Margera's savage response to possibility of reuniting with Jackass co-star Johnny Knoxville

    Margera and Knoxville's friendship broke down during the making of Jackass Forever

    Film & TV
  • Tubi
    a day ago

    Sophia Bush praises Hollywood changes around child actors after playing a teenager when she was 24

    Bush stars as chaotic mother Milly in Tubi's new film Summer's Last resort - a far cry from the teen characters she played back in the day

    Film & TV
  • Temptation Island
    2 days ago

    Man on reality show loses control after seeing girlfriend on secret camera

    Sara and Gabriele's love was put to the test on the Netflix series, but then along came Lorenzo

    Film & TV
  • Aurore Marechal/Getty Images
    2 days ago

    Jodie Foster slams Brad Pitt film F1 revealing why she thinks it was made by AI

    "AI is one more giant step forward into changing the industry," Foster told the Aspen Festival of Ideas

    Film & TV