Natalie Wood witness: 'I was warned to keep quiet'

A witness to the drowning of the late actress Natalie Wood has allegedly claimed that she received a note warning her to keep quiet.

The body of the West Side Story star was found on November 29, 1981 off Catalina Island near California. She fell overboard from a yacht she had been staying on with husband Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed on Friday (November 18) that an investigation into her death would be reopened following the emergence of some new information.

In the wake of the announcement retired stockbroker Marilyn Wayne, who was on a nearby boat on the night of Wood's death, has claimed that she received an anonymous message in the following days warning her that there would be repercussions for divulging details of the incident.

"I had a "client box" designed for clients to drop off their messages through a slot in the front," the Daily Mail quotes her as saying in a sworn statement to LA police. "Three days after Natalie died, I found a scribbled message on a torn piece of paper in my box that read, 'If you value your life, keep quiet about what you know.'

"I immediately suspected it was related to [Natalie] Wood's death because that's all anyone had been talking about. I was disturbed and even told an attorney about the threat."

> Robert Wagner 'stalled Natalie Wood rescue attempts'

Recalling the night of Wood's death, Wayne added: "My cabin window was open. A woman's voice, crying for help, awakened John and awakened me, 'Help me, someone please help me, I'm drowning', we heard repeatedly."

LA Sheriff's Department has confirmed that Wood's death is still being treated as an accidental drowning and neither Wagner or Walken are suspects.

A representative for Wagner said that the actor would "support" the investigation providing that any new information "comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death".