Growing up, I've always been intrigued by unsolved murder mysteries. My dad and I always watched cop shows, being that he was an officer himself, and we would race to see who would figure it out by the end of the hour. He would win, usually, but he still sparked one of my favorite pastimes. I love trying to piece together cold cases.

One of the stories I was most interested in was the mysterious death of Natalie Wood.

Known for her roles in Miracle on 34th Street, Rebel Without a Cause, and West Side Story, Wood grew up in the spotlight. She was very young, nineteen to be exact, when she married her husband Robert Wagner the first time. They divorced in 1962, then remarried in 1972 after Natalie divorced another man. However, their reconciliation was cut short when she disappeared from Wagner's yacht on November 29, 1981. She was later found floating facedown about a mile away, not far from Blue Cavern Point on Catalina Island, (Vanity Fair: Natalie Wood's Fatal Voyage 2013).

She was found north of the dingy belonging to the yacht, known as the Splendour, whose ignition was switched off with oars locked. She was only wearing a flannel nightgown, wool socks, and a red down jacket. Before her death, she had apparently drank seven to eight bottles of wine, leaving her blood alcohol level at .14.

In her adolescence, she was fearful of dark water. She became even more so when her mother apparently took her to a psychic that told her she'd die by drowning. Wood also had an accident on set for a film where the bridge she was on collapsed and sent her into deep water. Her fear became crippling from that moment on,(Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Strange Drowning of Natalie Wood 2017).

So why was she willing to go on this boat with her husband, Wagner, and costar at the time, Christopher Walken?

It is said Wagner became jealous of how close Wood and Walken were while filming Brainstorm. So he visited them while they were on set and invited Walken to come on their yacht with them. They all, including Captain Dennis Davern, had been drinking for most of the weekend.

Fast forwarding to the night of her death, yells had been heard all night from the direction of the Splendour, but a party at a neighboring boat kept witnesses unsuspecting. Then, later on in the night, a distinct scream was heard from their boat, a woman screaming "Help me! Someone, please, help me!" It is assumed that it was Natalie, but the boatman who had heard it knew there was a party going on nearby, and he only assumed it was the party when a man responded, "Okay, honey, we'll get you," in a mocking tone, (Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Strange Drowning of Natalie Wood 2017).

Several theories have swirled around her shocking death, one of them the original ruling of her death as accidental. There were signs that she never started the dingy and that she had struggled to get back on it. Nail marks were dug well into the side of the boat itself.

Robert Wagner claims this theory. He explained with much detail in a book that he knew she probably had trouble with the waves crashing against the vessel. He claimed she had always had problems with them. For that reason, he believes that she had slipped and fell on a build-up of algae on the steps and ended up in the water, (Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Strange Drowning of Natalie Wood 2017).

However, evidence proves that there was no disruption in the algae where he says she slipped.

Broken glass from a wine bottle on the floor in the salon was also claimed by Wagner to have fallen from rough seas. The captain disputes this, claiming that Wagner grew jealous over Wood and Walken, throwing it on the ground and accusing Walken of trying to sleep with Wood.

However, many disregard the captain's remarks due to suspicion that he too had feelings for Wood. He also didn't come forward with information until years afterward, and then released it to tabloids in an unlikable way.

Despite this, in 2009 Wagner admitted to breaking the wine bottle, a very uneven statement from the man who seemed to have the most iron-clad alibi besides Walken and the captain. Also, Walken's testimony is closer to Captain Davern's than to Robert Wagner's. So, personally, I believe his statements shouldn't be ruled out.

Captain Davern claims that Wood and Wagner fought, Walken stepped in briefly and left the argument. Walken agrees, but they both differ on how the argument ended. Davern claims they continued to argue, he heard the dingy being untied, and that Wagner returned to the Davern's quarters looking "tousled and sweaty". Walken says the couple made amends.

It doesn't look good for Wagner, and it really shouldn't.

The case reopened in 2011, as professionals changed the cause of death from "accidental drowning" to "drowning and other unknown factors". It was determined that her bodily injuries were questionable and probably were on her body before she entered the water, (Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Strange Drowning of Natalie Wood 2017).

Nevertheless, I feel like that isn't enough closure for a case. They decided to leave things undefined. They only had limited evidence, I understand, but they have all three witnesses alive. I feel like Walken, Davern, and (especially) Wagner know something they're not telling.

To finalize, AdWeek did a story on Captain Davern and how he penned a letter in 2016 claiming that Natalie's daughter is convinced everyone is involved in a conspiracy. He also claimed that the mystery lies with the Wagners, (Splendour Captain Dennis Davern Pens Impassioned Open Later 2016). This I don't doubt one bit.

Testimonies should be taken from everyone once more. Sure, it is proven that people remember things differently after so many years, but it is still evidence regardless. They wouldn't have reopened the case if they didn't suspect something more than an accident.

It is a shame that Natalie Wood died in such a horrific way, be it homicide or accidental, and that should not be overlooked. She found herself falling victim to her deepest fear, and that's the worst part of it all. I believe that the investigation should remain ongoing until a better conclusion is reached.

As for my final stance on this case, I'm very suspicious of Wagner. I'm even suspicious of Walken. I feel like there is a conspiracy around her death. It's a yacht, not a cruise ship. There has to be more than what we know. I'll leave it to Captain Davern's final words in his letter – "I believe Natalie Wood was murdered."