Robert Wagner spent decades as one of television and Hollywood’s most recognizable leading men. But no role has followed him quite like the events of November 29, 1981, when his wife, actress Natalie Wood, disappeared from their yacht Splendour near Catalina Island. Hours later, the 43-year-old star was found dead in the water.

Wagner has said that he argued that evening with Christopher Walken, Wood’s Brainstorm co-star, and later discovered that Natalie and the yacht’s dinghy were missing. But questions surrounding the night never disappeared. The investigation was reopened in 2011, Wood’s death certificate was later amended to describe the manner of death as “undetermined,” and in 2018 investigators publicly called Wagner a person of interest. Wagner has denied responsibility for his wife’s death.

Nearly four decades after the tragedy, Wagner revisited that night during the 2020 documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind, speaking emotionally with Wood’s daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner. Yet even after decades of books, interviews and investigations, the central mystery has remained unresolved.

Today Wagner is 96, and 45 years have passed since that devastating night. But one question continues to fascinate generations of Hollywood fans: What exactly happened to Natalie Wood during her final hours aboard the Splendour?