Robert Wagner Named 'Person Of Interest' In Natalie Wood Death The revelation is part of a new 48 Hours report that will premiere Saturday. we know now that he was the last person to be with Natalie before she disappeared.” Wood drowned in 1981 off the coast of Catalina Island in California during a night of yachting with husband Wagner, friend Christopher Walken and yacht captain Dennis Davern. L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Detective Ralph Hernandez doesn't liken Wood's case to an accident. She looked like a victim of an assault. I think it’s suspicious enough to make us think that something happened. I don’t think she got into the water herself, I don’t think she fell into the water.”