- Natalia saw a lot of different professionals for her mental health and this is what they said.
The police weren’t going to charge her with anything and they thought she needed to go to the mental hospital instead. The Barnett’s wanted her to have long-term mental health help but that didn’t really work out they way they all planned it to.
First, she was transferred to the adult wing as soon as they knew she had
pubic hair. Staff said she was sneaky, aggressive and manipulative. And ultimately, she was found to be “propositioning male staff” and kicked her out of the mental hospital.
Beth Karas, a former prosecutor and current attorney in New York recognized that she’s had a lot of diagnoses but that there’s a lot of questions about this case. She was shocked with the allegations that she was trying to kill the family and the family never contacted the police.
One night, while Kristine is trying to figure out “who are you” and questioning Natalia. She made Natalia sleep outside for the night but about halfway through Michael brought her into the house.
Child Protective Services was called on the Barnett’s. When the police came,
Michael says “it’s clear” that the police were there to protect the family, that Natalia wasn’t in danger. Hence the situation at the mental hospital.
Her age comes back into play and they contact the adoption agency to see if they can talk to the other family for more information. Anna Gava, her biological mother said over the phone that she had been dealing with all of this for 17 years, giving the idea that Natalia had in fact been born in 2003.
Natalia was first adopted by Gary and Diane Ciccone in 2008 and by 2009, they wanted to unload her. However, they left their contact information on one of Natalia’s luggage tags and the Barnett’s found it. 
Kara says it’s going to be hard to get down to the truth of what really happened because there are so many different stories coming from so many different people. Even with her diagnosis and what happened at the mental hospital.
By the end of 2012, the Barnett’s have been living with Natalia for two years, scared for their lives everyday. Regarding her age, the investigator told the Barnett’s that they needed to get it changed.
Re-aging is not that uncommon in overseas adoptions. The idea is to shave a couple of years off of a kid makes them more “attractive” to people that want to adopt.
Natalia was re-aged from 2003 to being her birth year was now 1989, including a new birth certificate and a new ID with her “new” information. Once she was out of the hospital, they moved “22 year old” Natalia into her own apartment.
The Barnett’s claim this apartment was the best thing for her, near a GED center, a grocery store, a bus line and more. Neighbors of Natalia wanted to help her and saw her parents as ignoring her and not trying to help her. This place was a far cry from the mental hospital but was it best for her?
Watch for more on this story. What do you think of it so far and do you know how it ends?