Natalie Wood - Death

Death

Wood died by drowning while on a weekend trip to Santa Catalina Island, California, with her husband, Robert Wagner, actor Christopher Walken, and the boat's captain, Dennis Davern. Many facts surrounding her drowning are unknown, as no one admitted seeing how she entered the water. Wood's body was discovered by authorities at 8 am on November 29, 1981, one mile away from the boat, with a small inflatable boat found beached nearby. Wagner and Walken told officials they had an argument that evening but eventually calmed down. According to Wagner, when he went to bed, Wood was not there. The autopsy report revealed that Wood had bruises on her body and arms as well as a facial abrasion on her left cheek. Later, in his book Pieces of My Heart, Wagner acknowledged that he had a fight with Natalie Wood before she had disappeared. The autopsy also found that Wood's blood alcohol level was .14, and there were traces of two types of medication in her bloodstream: a sea-sickness pill and a painkiller, which have increased the effect of alcohol. Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi ruled her death an accident by drowning and hypothermia following his investigation. According to the coroner, Natalie Wood had been drinking and may have slipped trying to board the dinghy.

The case was reopened in November 2011 after the captain of the boat, Dennis Davern, told NBC News that he lied to police during the initial investigation and that a fight between Wood and Wagner had led to her death. After nine months of further investigation, Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran amended Wood's death certificate and changed the reason of her death from accidental drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors". The amended document also now states that the circumstances of how Wood ended up in water are "not clearly established." The coroner's office has been instructed by detectives not to discuss this case. New audio recordings have been found providing authorities with new evidence.

Natalie Wood was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. Scores of international media and photographers as well as the public tried to attend Wood's funeral; however, all were required to remain outside the cemetery walls. Among the celebrity attendees were Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Elia Kazan and Sir Laurence Olivier. Olivier flew from London to Los Angeles to attend the service.