'I want him to be a man and to own what happened and to be strong enough to do that,' Lana says during a candid interview.
- Jul 26, 2018
AceShowbiz - The sister of tragic actress Natalie Wood has called on her former brother-in-law Robert Wagner to "be a man" and own up to the "truth" behind his wife's mysterious death.
Lana Wood still has so many questions about the events that led to Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie drowning off the coast of California's Catalina Island on 29 November, 1981, after reportedly falling overboard during a luxury yacht trip with her husband her Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken, and the boat's captain, Dennis Davern.
Investigators initially ruled her passing was an accident, but in 2011, the case was reopened, and medical examiners at the Los Angeles Coroner's Office subsequently amended Natalie's death certificate, changing the manner of death to "drowning and other undetermined factors", after noting that bruises found on her body may have occurred before she entered the water.
Earlier this year, Wagner was also named as a "person of interest" in the renewed criminal investigation into his wife's tragedy, and now Lana is once again urging him to come clean once and for all.
During a candid interview on breakfast show Megyn Kelly Today, Lana said, "I want him to tell the truth. I want him to be a man and to own what happened and to be strong enough to do that".
Wagner, who was married to Natalie for a second time from 1972 until her passing, has always insisted he had nothing to do with her death, and has long suspected she fell into the water by accident as she tried to stop a dinghy from repeatedly crashing into the side of the yacht.
But Lana claims that just doesn't add up because Natalie was "terrified" of the water and had a phobia of drowning.
Lana, an actress herself who appeared in James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever, also cannot understand why Wagner won't co-operate with police officials, who are re-examining the case, citing he has no memory of the night his wife died.
"How could something like that not be in your memory? That's a traumatic, tragic thing," she said.
Representatives for Wagner have yet to respond to her comments, which Lana made while promoting her new podcast series, titled, Fatal Voyage: The Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood.
The tragic actress would have turned 80 on Friday, July 20.
