Natalie Wood investigation may be nearing end

LOS ANGELES — Detectives hope the renewed interest in the mysterious 1981 drowning death of actress Natalie Wood will bring forward new witnesses who provide the information needed to determine if the case was a crime or tragic accident. If not, it may be the end of the investigation, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s official said Monday.

The actress, 43, was on a yacht with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the boat captain on Thanksgiving weekend of 1981. After a night of drinking, her body was found floating in the waters off Southern California’s Catalina Island.

Investigators initially ruled her death as an accidental drowning. But the case was reopened in 2011 to see whether Wagner or anyone else played a role after the boat’s captain said he heard the couple arguing the night of her disappearance.

Detectives have reclassified Wood’s drowning as a “suspicious death” and say Wagner is a person of interest in the case. But the evidence collected so far hasn’t reached the threshold for a murder investigation and there are no immediate plans to file criminal charges, detectives said Monday.

Several new witnesses have come forward since the case was reopened, including one who described hearing yelling and crashing sounds coming from the couple’s stateroom, officials said. Shortly after that, separate witnesses who were on a boat that was in the water nearby heard a man and woman arguing on the back of the boat and believe the voices were those of Wood and Wagner, according to detectives.

Those witnesses corroborated the account of the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern, who had told detectives he heard Wood and Wagner arguing in their cabin on the boat and went to check on them. When he went to their cabin, Wagner told him to go away before Wagner and Wood ended up arguing on the back of the boat, sheriff’s homicide Lt. John Corina said Davern told investigators.

Wagner, now 87, has denied any involvement in Wood’s death and his attorney has said he fully cooperated with investigators.