Actor Robert Wagner, now 87, has been named a ‘person of interest’ in Hollywood star Natalie Wood’s drowning. The tragedy occurred in 1981 and has always gone unexplained.
Investigators want to speak to the actor (best-known for his role as Number Two in the Austin Powers trilogy) about the circumstances surrounding her death, it was revealed in an interview with CBS’ 48 Hours. A new documentary about the incident called Natalie Wood: Death in Dark Water is due to air on CBS in America this Saturday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant John Corina says: “As we've investigated the case over the last six years, I think he's more of a person of interest now. I mean, we know now that he was the last person to be with Natalie before she disappeared.”
The death of Wood, who was renowned for her roles in Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story, was initially deemed an accident after a two-week investigation, but the case was reopened by LA County Sheriff’s Department in 2011. A coroner's report in 2013 concluded her death should be left as “undetermined”.
She went missing from her family’s yacht, The Splendour, after spending the night drinking with Wagner, Captain Dennis Daver, and Natalie’s friend and fellow actor, Christopher Walken. The next day, she was found floating off the coast of Catalina Island in California, dressed in a red vest and nightgown.
