Hollywood Legend Alert: Natalie Wood's Mysterious Death Under Investigation Again After 30 Years

The West Side Story star drowned off Catalina Island while on a boat with on-again love Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken in 1981

By Natalie Finn Nov 18, 2011 4:19 AMTags
Robert Wagner, Natalie WoodTom Wargacki/WireImage

One of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries is about to get a second act.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's homicide bureau is taking another look at the 1981 death of Rebel Without a Cause and Westside Story star Natalie Wood, whose drowning off Catalina Island was ruled an accident at the time.

In a statement to E! News, the sheriff's department said that investigators were recently contacted by "persons who stated they had additional information" about the actress' death, and they are moving forward based on that investigation.

And Robert Wagner is all for it.

"Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the L.A. County Sheriff's department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death," said a rep for the actor, who was married to Wood (for the second time) when she died.

Wood and Wagner were married from 1957 to 1962, and then again from 1972 until her death.

Wood was 43 when, on Nov. 28, 1981, she died during a yacht trip to Catalina with Wagner and her Brainstorm costar Christopher Walken.

L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca told the Los Angeles Times that they want to talk to the boat's captain, who worked for the Wagners, based on comments he made concerning the upcoming 30th anniversary of Wood's passing, calling his comments "worthy of exploring."

The story goes that Walken and Wagner started arguing while having drinks aboard the yacht, Wood excused herself to go to bed and subsequently disappeared. The medical examiner later determined that she had consumed seven or eight glasses of wine beforehand and her death was ruled an accidental drowning.

"I have gone over it so many millions of times with people. Nobody heard anything," Wagner told the Times in 2008.