Transcript
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Natalie Wood was the star Hollywood couldn't get enough of.
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America's sweetheart, beloved by millions.
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But her life offscreen, that was another story.
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Manipulated by her mother, exploited by powerful men, and haunted by an ominous prophecy about
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dark water.
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Natalie's journey was filled with more twists than the scripts she brought to life.
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And then there's her death, a tragic end surrounded by contradictions, unanswered questions,
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and shifting stories.
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Today we're diving into the life and legacy of a woman who was as complex and layered
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as the role she played.
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But before we get into that story, if you like your true crime brief and bingeable, you
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found the right place.
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I give you at least two episodes per week, so hit the follow button now and welcome to
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10 Minute Murder.
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One hand, one heart, even death won't part us now.
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Those dreamy lyrics from West Side Story sound like a promise, don't they?
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A vowing of undying love between two star crossed lovers, played to perfection, a Richard
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Bamer, and Natalie Wood.
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Together they became the faces of one of Hollywood's most iconic musicals, leaving audiences
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in awe for generations.
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But here's the kicker.
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If anyone needed a little undying love, or heck maybe even just a hug, it was Natalie
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Wood.
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Beneath the glitz and the glamour, her life was more tragic backstory than fairy tale
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ending.
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Born in 1938 and San Francisco, Natalie Wood entered the world with stars practically
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stitched into her baby blanket, and a family ready to cash in on them.
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Her parents, Nikolai and Maria Zakarinko, were Russian immigrants chasing the ever-illusive
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American dream.
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Unfortunately their dream came with a catch.
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They were pretty sure their ticket to success was wrapped up in their talented little daughter.
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At the time Natalie was four, she was trotted off to work in front of the camera, perfecting
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her doe-eyed innocence while her dad perfected his drinking habit.
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Meanwhile, her mom Maria was less supportive cheerleader and more strict Soviet drill sergeant.
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Keeping Natalie and her sisters on a schedule so tight could have been designed by a bond
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villain.
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Maria even added a little flair by scaring the daylights out of them at every single opportunity.
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Fun childhood, right?
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These were strict parenting veered into the straight up bazaar.
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After a gypsy fortune teller warned Maria that one of her daughters would die in dark
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open water, she turned the family home into a live action final destination.
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The unlucky doomed daughter, Natalie, their golden goose and Maria's retirement plan.
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Growing up under this prophecy was anything but idyllic.
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Natalie avoided water like she was cursed.
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When steering clear of the backyard pool she'd one day own and her Hollywood hay day, a glamorous
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starlit with a fear of her own luxury.
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Dramatic?
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Sure, but when your mom acts like Poseidon's got your number, the deep end is off limits.
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Still, Natalie's on-screen presence was pure sunshine.
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Soft, warm and captivating, she dazzled audiences became a household name by her teens.
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Poseidon's across America didn't just admire her, they wanted to be her, perfect hair
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and all.
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Time was an on-nataly side, and the Injunoo act couldn't last forever.
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Enter, rebel without a cause.
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As Judy, a rebellious teen stirring the pots, Natalie shed her innocent image and stepped
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into the role light years from her real life personality.
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Sharing the screen with James Dean, she proved she was more than a sweet face.
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This was her transformation.
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Hollywood had boxed her in for years, but with one defiant role, Natalie broke free.
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Audiences could not get enough.
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As she grew into a Hollywood icon, her talent only deepened.
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Eleven Academy Award nominations later, with ten wins under her belt, Natalie Wood
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wasn't just a star, she was THE star.
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Her life sparkled like a fairy tale.
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But fairy tales gloss over the ugly truths.
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Beneath Hollywood's glittering veneer lay a far darker story, one the cameras didn't
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capture.
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But this time, Natalie's father, Nikolai, had fully embraced his role as the family drunk,
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a position he held with alarming dedication.
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His drinking soon turned violent, adding another layer of chaos to an already oppressive household.
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Meanwhile, Maria was still in charge, running the show with an iron fist and a steady stream
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of terrifying prophecy reminders, because nothing says family bonding, like ominous predictions
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about your watery demise.
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For Natalie, there was no escape.
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At home, her parents manipulated her every move, ensuring the money kept pouring in.
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On set, directors used their own brand of coercion to squeeze out the perfect performance.
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Wherever she went, Natalie was boxed in by people who saw her as a means to an end rather
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than a person.
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It wasn't just control, it was soul crushing, and Natalie had nowhere to turn.
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From an early age, Natalie learned to see danger everywhere.
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Not the playful, under the bed kind, but real, tangible threats no one protected her from.
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Instead of shielding her, those around Natalie often nudged, sometimes shoved, her straight
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into harm's way.
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At home, some dangers were oddly comforting, like her doll collection, which came alive to
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keep her company.
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It's cute until you realize that's just lonely child code for "I had no one else."
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But the more sinister dangers, those were very real, lurking beyond her understanding,
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waiting to strike.
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By 15, Natalie's life became a full-blown Hollywood soap opera.
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When she came home with big news, her high school sweetheart had proposed, she'd said, "Yes,
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she probably expected congratulations."
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Instead, she got Maria's wrath, a level of fury that could have made the devil himself
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take notes.
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Maria wasn't just angry, she was calculating.
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To her, Natalie's high school Romeo wasn't just a distraction, he was a threat to her iron
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grip on Natalie's career and the family's golden ticket.
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Worse, Maria had already someone else in mind for her daughter.
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Frank Sinatra.
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Old blue eyes himself, a man not only old enough to be Natalie's father, but with cufflinks
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likely older than her teenage fiance.
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For Maria, love was irrelevant when her career connections were on the line.
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According to a book by Frank Sinatra's former right-hand man, George Jacobs, Maria wasn't
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just overbearing, she was downright exploitive.
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She orchestrated what can only be described as a sleazy Hollywood audition, dragging Natalie
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to Sinatra's home under the guise of a casual meeting.
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The unspoken plan to deliver her underage daughter on a silver platter, ensuring Sinatra
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got what he wanted without the messy business of legal trouble.
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Maria, ever the master manipulator, had already set the stage.
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She forced Natalie to enter engagement with her high school sweetheart, dressed her in
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a tight black party dress, and practically delivered her into Sinatra's lap.
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In Sinatra, a man not exactly famous for his restraint didn't hesitate to play along.
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Just like that, Natalie found herself ensnared and yet another web of exploitation.
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Meanwhile, her ex-Fiancé, Hartbrook and Imblin sighted, was left in emotional ruins.
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The devastation was so profound that he attempted to take his own life.
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Yet another tragic consequence of Maria's ruthless schemes.
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From then on, Natalie's life included a shadowy entourage, Sinatra's men, who followed
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her under the guise of protection.
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But their watchful eyes didn't shield her from Hollywood's darker side.
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When she landed the role in Rebel Without A Cause, Natalie wasn't just expected to act
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like a rebellious teen.
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She was pressured to prove she could be a bad girl.
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Q. Nicklaus Ray, a 42-year-old director who exploited the vulnerable teenager, coercing
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her into sleeping with him to secure the role.
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It was yet another horrifying chapter in Natalie's life, all wrapped in Hollywood's glitzy
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facade.
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On the surface, Natalie's life sparkled, glamorous parties, iconic roles, and the adoration.
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Beneath the glitzing glamour, Natalie's life was a storm of power plays and heartbreak.
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That seemed to change when she met Robert Wagner on the set of A Kiss Before Dying.
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Sparks flew and their whirlwind romance led to a picture-perfect Hollywood marriage.
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But while Natalie escaped from her mother's control, she traded one oppressive force for
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another.
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Wagner, despite his public adoration of Natalie, had a dark temper.
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Accusations of infidelity tore their marriage apart, culminating in a dramatic divorce.
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Natalie remained silent, letting Wagner's narrative stand.
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But years later, Suzanne Finstad's biography Natasha revealed a bombshell.
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Natalie had discovered Wagner in an affair with another man.
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Devastated, she fled home, attempted suicide and survived, but the emotional scars ran
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deep.
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Natalie never shared her side of the story, choosing instead to quietly move on.
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She married British actor Richard Gregerson, had a daughter, and seemed to find happiness,
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briefly.
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That marriage soon fell apart, leaving her single again, but seemingly stronger.
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Then, as if on cue, she found herself in familiar arms, those of Robert Wagner.
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Within a year, they remarried, publicly declaring their love "stronger and better than ever."
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Their remarriage quickly turned into a rollercoaster, with highs of public success and lows that
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plunged into murky territory.
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Natalie focused on TV roles to spend more time at home with her kids, while Robert rediscovered
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his love for sailing, crediting Natalie for reigniting his passion for the sea.
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That seemed sweet, right?
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Until you remember that gypsy prophecy about water, which suddenly makes it feel like
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a little less romance and more like tempting fate.
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That brings us to November 29, 1981.
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Robert, Natalie, and Christopher Walken, a mix of Hollywood elites and awkward third wheel,
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set sail off the coast of Santa Catalina for what should have been a relaxing weekend.
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Instead, a cocktail of alcohol, old tensions, and bad decisions turn the trip into a stormy
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mess.
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The trio's dynamic reportedly flipped between playful banter and fiery arguments, but after
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day of heavy drinking, the balance tipped hard toward chaos.
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At some point during the evening, tempers flared and an explosive fight broke out.
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Walken, clearly having no interest in playing referee, sought refuge with the boat's captain,
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Dennis Davern, leaving Robert and Natalie to duke it out.
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Other boaters in the area later recounted hearing the unmistakable sounds of a heated argument
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drifting over the water.
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Eventually, though, the shouting died down, and the night settled into an eerie, disquieting
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silence as everyone turned in.
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Or so they thought.
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According to the official account, no one noticed Natalie was missing until around midnight.
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By the time a search began, it was too late.
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Natalie's lifeless body was discovered floating near the boat.
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An autopsy report told a grim but sanitized story.
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There were bruises on her body because apparently drowning alone wasn't tragic enough, but no
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signs of a struggle.
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The verdict, neat and tidy, was accidental drowning, case closed.
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Or at least that's how those with a vested interest in keeping secrets wanted it.
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For years, that's where the story sat, tucked neatly under a heavy blanket of silence.
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Thanks in part to some of the powerful men who had, let's say, left their mark on Natalie's
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life.
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Any new attempt to dig into the details was met with resistance and some jaw-dropping
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apathy.
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Like the corner, for instance, who reportedly waved off any lingering questions with the
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ominous phrase, "Some things are better left unsaid."
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And that doesn't exactly scream transparency.
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But over the years, the official story began to crumble thanks largely to the shifting
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accounts of Robert and Christopher.
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Initially Wagner claimed that he had no idea how Natalie ended up in the water.
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Then as if inspired by late night brainstorming, he suggested she might have tried to take
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the dinghy ashore and had fallen out.
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Because of course a woman with a lifelong, very public fear of water would decide at midnight
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that was the ideal time to go for a solo dinghy adventure.
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Conveniently, the dinghy itself was missing when the Coast Guard arrived, raising more questions
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than answers.
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For many, Wagner's revised account didn't just strain credibility.
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It wreaked of something darker.
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Why would Natalie, haunted by her mother's gypsy prophecy, willingly climb into a dinghy
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alone?
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Not to mention the bruises and the marks on her thighs and chins, suggesting a struggle,
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as if she'd been resisting something or someone, pushing or pulling her toward the water.
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Add to that, the wounds on her neck and head, possibly from being struck hard enough to
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lose consciousness.
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And a broken fingernail, a small haunting detail that hinted she may have clawed desperately
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to save her life.
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All these clues painted a picture far more chilling than an accidental fall.
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In 2011, cracks began to form in the silence surrounding Natalie's death.
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Once again, Captain Dennis Davern, who was on the boat that night, claimed that Robert
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Wagner was responsible.
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When asked for details, he deflected, leaving investigators to dig further.
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Natalie's sister, Lana Wood, added fuel.
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A legend, Dennis told her Wagner had stopped him from searching for Natalie, allegedly saying,
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"Leave her there.
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Teach her a lesson."
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Dennis' confession led to the case being reopened, with Wagner named as a person of interest,
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but any new findings remained sealed, leaving the truth as murky as the waters Natalie feared,
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her entire life.
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[Music]
