Natalie Wood Death Case Reopened
HOLMES: Well, we are about 12 minutes of the top of the hour and investigators in Los Angeles are taking another look at the death of actress Natalie Wood. This was some three decades ago. At the time, her death was ruled an accidental drowning. But the case is now open again. Our Kareen Wynter is in L.A.</s>KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says Wood's husband at the time, Robert Wagner, who was on the yacht the night she died, is not a suspect in this case. But still, this hasn't stopped investigators from taking another look at this mysterious case.</s>WYNTER (voice-over): Natalie Wood was one of the most popular, sought- after actresses in Hollywood, which made her death in 1981 at just 43 years old all the more shocking, and for some, inexplicable. Sheriff officials were vague Friday about what led to the reopening of the investigation after 30 years.</s>LT. JOHN CORINA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Recently we have received information which we felt was substantial enough to make us take another look at this case.</s>WYNTER: It was Thanksgiving weekend, 1981, when Wood and her actor husband, Robert Wagner, went sailing on their yacht, The Spendour. They were joined by actor and friend Christopher Walken. That Saturday night, Wagner and Walken apparently got into a heated argument. A short time later, Wagner notified the fourth person the yacht, Captain Dennis Davern, that Wood was not on board. On Friday, Davern told CNN he thought she might have tried to take the yacht's dingy to shore.</s>DENNIS DAVERN, FORMER CAPTAIN, "THE SPLENDOUR": And I said to Robert Wagner, I said, well, you know, let's turn on the search light to see if we can see her. And he says, no, we don't want to do that right now.</s>WYNTER: Natalie Wood was discovered hours later, dressed in a nightgown and socks, floating a mile from the yacht. The autopsy revealed dozens of bruises on her body. Still, a coroner sought (ph) to squash rumors Wood was killed or committed suicide, insisting the "Splendour in the Grass" star died of accidental drowning, with alcohol to blame. An autopsy showed Wood had an alcohol blood level of .14. Even more perplexing, Wood once told an interviewer her greatest fear was dark sea water and her sister Lana later claimed Natalie didn't even know how to swim. Thirty years later the question remains, how did Natalie Wood end up floating in the Pacific?</s>WYNTER (on camera): As for Dennis Davern, well, investigators say they want to talk to him, see what he has to say this time around. Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>HOLMES: Natalie's sister, Lana Wood, spoke exclusively to our Piers Morgan last night about this mystery and about her sister's relationship with Robert Wagner, who she called R.J. Listen.</s>LANA WOOD, SISTER OF NATALIE WOOD: I would prefer to always believe that R.J. would never do anything to hurt Natalie and that he loved her dearly. Which he did. And I don't believe that whatever went on was deliberate. I've always cared about him. I always will care about him. And I would prefer to continue living the prior explanations, but I don't think that's going to happen. And it's -- as I said, very painful.</s>HOLMES: Now Wood and Wagner married in 1957, divorced five years later, then remarried in 1972. Now here's what a spokesman for Robert Wagner had to say after yesterday's announcement. And I'm quoting here. "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 at eight minutes till the top of the hour, let me bring in now our Fredericka Whitfield.</s>WHITFIELD: Good to see you.</s>HOLMES: Always good to have you. Your legal guy is going to take this one on?</s>WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, they're going to talk about that. In fact, they're also going to zero in on what else do investigators have besides the boat captain's memory and his recollection in which to reopen this case to get homicide now detectives involved as well.</s>HOLMES: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: We're going to delve into that. And then holiday travel. A lot of people are already hitting the road or hitting the skies for the Thanksgiving holiday. But how about for the December holidays. Do you have to travel anywhere? Have you bought your tickets, if you're going to?</s>HOLMES: I have. I'm good to go.</s>WHITFIELD: OK. But you have noticed that the airfare is very high, right, to most places?</s>HOLMES: Always, yes.</s>WHITFIELD: It's incredible. So the Dolans, that great financial duo --</s>HOLMES: Oh, yes.</s>WHITFIELD: They're going to be around to let us know some of the backdoor ways in which to get some deals.</s>HOLMES: The backdoor --</s>WHITFIELD: Some great -- uh-huh.</s>HOLMES: Can you -- are there really deals right now? You're just going to get doused (ph) during the holiday.</s>WHITFIELD: You're going to have to listen to them, 2:00 Eastern hour --</s>HOLMES: 2: 00. All right.</s>WHITFIELD: Because they have great ideas. And then, were you a big "Grey's Anatomy" fan when -- at the beginning?</s>HOLMES: I never got into it. No. No, I never got into it.</s>WHITFIELD: No. OK. Well, you recall that Isaiah Washington played Dr. Burke?</s>HOLMES: Of course.</s>WHITFIELD: A very powerful doctor, powerful character. And you know the demise of the departure why Gray's and Isaiah Washington split ways.</s>HOLMES: Went their ways, yes.</s>WHITFIELD: OK, well, I sit down face to face with Isaiah Washington. He has a new book out. And he will talk about that moment, why he and the television show went their separate ways and the self-discovery that ensued thereafter and what he's been involved in ever since. Take a listen.</s>WHITFIELD: Do you ever watch the show?</s>ISAIAH WASHINGTON, ACTOR: I peak in. I'm not going to lie to you, because I love Sandra Oh.</s>WHITFIELD: What happens when you -- OK, Sandra Oh. That was --</s>WASHINGTON: Oh, man, yes, I see her with that Owen guy and I'm like, oh, man.</s>WHITFIELD: Because that was your counterpart.</s>WASHINGTON: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: Your love interest on the show.</s>WASHINGTON: I'm not going to -- I'll be lying to you -- I'll be lying to you about that if I said I don't -- I peek in because I just adore me some Sandra Oh.</s>WHITFIELD: Do you ever tune in and say, I wish I was still there?</s>WHITFIELD: OK. You'll have to tune in to find out what his answer is. Does he ever wish that he was back on that show? Noon Eastern time. Again, 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00. We talk about a host of things throughout the day. And then I know what you were doing this week. You were on the red carpet.</s>HOLMES: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: Along with --</s>HOLMES: You.</s>WHITFIELD: CNN's Wolf Blitzer as well.</s>HOLMES: And you. And you.</s>WHITFIELD: I was part of his entourage. There you are with your beautiful wife Marilee there on the red carpet. Soul Train Music Awards. So 40th anniversary of soul train, peace, love and soul train.</s>HOLMES: Wow, we're getting a lot of air time here. Look at this -- look at this lovely couple.</s>WHITFIELD: You are. OK you all were there. And then I was part of, yes, Wolf's entourage. We call it the "Wolf pack." At first I was like, OK, Wolf's angels, it was Suzanne Malveaux, Brooke Baldwin and I. And then -- and there's Malcolm Jamal Warner. You remember him from "The Cosby Show." And there we are just kind of cheezing it up, having a good time hanging with Wolf. This is what life is like when you hang with Wolf Blitzer, you get the red carpet treatment. People are like climbing over seats, hurdling chairs just trying to get to Wolf Blitzer. And there is Bootsy Collins.</s>HOLMES: I swear. What was that get-up he had on?</s>WHITFIELD: Bootsy, baby. Yes.</s>HOLMES: What was that he was wearing?</s>WHITFIELD: Well, that -- that's part of his brand.</s>HOLMES: It is.</s>WHITFIELD: Come on, funkadellic (ph) and beyond, are you kidding me? Anyway, we've got a lot of good stuff coming up later on today, but we had to revisit our week because it was fun seeing you out there as well.</s>HOLMES: It was a good time there.</s>WHITFIELD: Good times.</s>HOLMES: And, Wolf, we have the pictures now, we don't have the video of his performance just yet.</s>WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, that's right. That's right. There's a great surprise performance too.</s>HOLMES: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: You'll probably recall from last year he did the Dougie with Doug E. Fresh. Well, he and Doug E. Fresh are tight.</s>HOLMES: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: They have another routine this year. That's just a hint right there. It involves a scramble board. Remember this day? So you're going to have to watch this -- this taped performance on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the 27th.</s>HOLMES: All right, Fredericka, coming up in just about four minutes.</s>WHITFIELD: Yes, peace, love and soul train.</s>HOLMES: She was having a good time the other night, folks. You have no idea. A quick break. We're going to come right back. She's only a couple of minutes away. Stay with us.