How Natalia Grace's Boyfriend Neil Helped Her Escape the Mans Family amid Abuse and Fraud Claims (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Viewers ofThe Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speakswere left in shock last January asNatalia Grace’ssensational story revealed one final plot twist — something stranger than fiction.

“Something ain’t right with Natalia. This girl is tweaking," Antwon said to producers in a voiceover last year. “I feel like she’s the enemy in the house. And she said to us, we have held her hostage. Made us look like we’re the enemy.”

PEOPLE Magazine Cover Story on Natalia Grace.Allison Michael Orenstein

Allison Michael Orenstein

In this week’s PEOPLE cover story, Natalia speaks out for the first time since 2019 about her life today after having to flee the family she loved for over a decade. As she grew into adulthood at age 21, tensions developed between her and the Manses over her independence and romantic life that she couldn’t ignore any longer.

After her father Antwon discovered she was exchanging messages with a man named Neil on Facebook — including alleged sexually explicit videos and photos he seized— he took her phone away and forbid her to continue her budding relationship. “Something ain’t right with Natalia," he says in the docuseries. “She’s got this dude online. He turned her against us. She’s ready to go to hell with gasoline panties on.”

Natalia Grace and the Mans family.

Meanwhile, although Natalia declines to confirm or deny it, several witnesses including neighbors and friends claim on the show’s new season —The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter,premiering Jan. 6 and Jan. 7 on Investigation Discovery and streaming on Max — that they saw the Manses whip Natalia with a belt, slap her in the face, lock her in a room and assault her.

Anna Newlin, who once lived with the Mans family with her child, alleges in the show that Natalia was kicked down the stairs and abused. Her ex-husband Matthew claims he witnessed Antwon brutally beat Natalia with a belt in the basement of their church. “I kept telling [Natalia], ‘You need to get the hell up out of there,” says Matthew, while crying on camera inThe Final Chapter. “You need to go before you get killed!”

DePaul family and Natalia in kitchen: from left Mackenzie, Natalia, Nicole and Vince.Investigation Discovery

Investigation Discovery

Nicole and Natalia then drove back to New York, where Natalia is currently living with DePauls.

“Hey babe, I’m so, so thankful you found me,” Natalia tells her boyfriend in a phone conversation from the DePauls' car. “I love you so much.”

The two first started messaging each other on social media. “At first it was just like a small message and then I grew feelings and he grew feelings,” Natalia says. “I just opened up my heart. It felt really good.”

Soon after, Neil reached out to producers and told them that he believed Natalia was in danger and needed to get away from the Manses. At the same time, he reached out to the DePauls for help.

“At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know who you are,’ and I just thought it was just some person, and so I ignored Neil,” Nicole tells PEOPLE exclusively. “He finally sent me some proof that he was really him — then I believed that I was talking to an actual person that knew Natalia.”

Natalia Grace in New York on October 3, 2024.Allison Michael Orenstein

Several other people who appear in the docuseries claim that the Manses stole Natalia’s money, using some of it to buy a new home. Neil—whose face is concealed in the docuseries—claims to have called the police on them. But PEOPLE was unable to confirm with authorities that the Manses were investigated. They were never charged with a crime.

Cynthia Mans says inThe Final Chapter, “The first thing that popped in my head was [Neil] was either going to ask for a ransom—because it’s not a secret that, you know, we got a little bit of money—or he’s going to get [Natalia] over there and traffic her.”

Since Natalia left Nashville and moved to New York state, the DePauls—who, like Natalia, are little people and have a daughter, Mackenzie, 19, close to her age—have provided her with a long-sought sense of stability.Nicole candidly confesses that while their life together today is usually harmonious, there are times when they don’t trust Neil and the family doesn’t always get along with Natalia. But that’s to be expected, she says, especially with someone like her, who has been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, a behavioral condition common in orphanages, along with her having anxiety, ADHD and PTSD.

“Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah,” says Nicole. “But when you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don’t just get rid of them when they don’t fit into your puzzle. Natalia’s been through so much.”

Looking back on her journey, Natalia admits, “It’s been a big learning curve for me. For the most part, I’ve made peace. It is definitely a blessing to be alive today. And there’s nothing I can do to change the past.” Now that’s she’s has fallen in love, moved out of the Manses household and can deposit money into her own account— Natalia says shefinallyfeels free.

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapterpremieres January 6 and January 7 on Investigation Discovery and streams on Max.

source: people.com