Robert Wagner Seemed ‘Irritated’ With Natalie Wood Before Her Death and ‘Nervous’ After, Witnesses Claimed

The truth about the events that led to Natalie Wood’s tragic drowning is still a mystery, but the police report, newly obtained by the National Enquirer, sheds light on how her husband, Robert Wagner, reacted to her disappearance.

The West Side Story actress, 43, went out to dinner at Doug’s Harbor Reef Restaurant on Catalina Island off the coast of California with Wagner, her Brainstorm costar Christopher Walken and yacht captain Dennis Davern on November 28, 1981.

The group not only brought their own wine but were sent two bottles of champagne by other patrons — and even broke some glasses following a toast, multiple witnesses said, according to the police report.

Authorities interviewed the restaurant’s manager, Don Whiting, about his recollection. “He thought at the time there were some possible problems between Robert Wagner and his wife,” the report reads. “He was of the impression that Robert Wagner was a little bit irritated with his wife.”

Whiting also warned the harbor master that the party should be watched as the group made their way down to their dinghy, which they took back to their yacht, the Splendour, because “he felt they had been doing some heavy drinking.”

A few hours later — at around 1:30 a.m. — Whiting heard Wagner make an emergency call over the radio that his wife was missing.

Paul Wintler, who worked at the local campgrounds, heard the call as well and offered to help with the search.

Wintler then met with Wagner aboard the Splendour, he told authorities. His “first impression” was that the Hart to Hart star “appeared to be drunk and not real shook up but nervous,” the police report reads. “He thought Mr. Wagner had possibly made a statement that he and his wife had had a fight and thought she had gone back to the bar.”

At 8 a.m. on the morning of November 29, Wood’s body was found near a cove.

Wagner and Walken were brought back to the mainland via helicopter. At that time, the report reads, the widower “was in an emotional state.”

Wagner, now 95, has always denied any wrongdoing and was cleared by investigators in 2022. The case remains open.

​​For more on the mystery, pick up this week’s issue of the National Enquirer, on stands Wednesday, December 10.