Robert Wagner is thinking of his lost love.
To mark the 44th anniversary of his wife Natalie Wood’s tragic death by drowning during an outing on their yacht, the Hart to Hart actor took a moment to pay tribute to her memory.
“Thinking of Nat today,” Robert—who shared daughter Courtney Wagner and stepdaughter Natasha Gregson Wagner with Natalie—captioned a Nov. 29 Instagram post. “Her warmth, beauty, and love remain with us through our children and grandchildren.”
Accompanying his caption was a black and white photo of him and Natalie, the pair both smiling at the camera.
“Forever missed, forever cherished,” he concluded. “More than love.”
Robert and Natalie were married twice before her death—the first time when Natalie was 19 and he was 27 in 1957. After divorcing in 1961, Natalie married Richard Gregson, though she and Robert reunited and tied the knot for a second time in 1972, and remained married until her death in 1981.
he circumstances of Natalie’s death at age 43 remain a mystery. During Thanksgiving weekend that year, Natalie and Robert had been enjoying time on their 60-foot yacht Splendor along with Natalie’s Brainstorm costar Christopher Walken.
The only other person aboard the ship with the trio was the captain, Dennis Davern.
On Nov. 29, 1981, Natalie’s body was discovered floating in the water after Robert had reported her missing the evening before. Her cause of death was ruled as drowning and “other undetermined factors.”
In the decades since, the case into the West Side Story actress’ untimely death has been reexamined on multiple occasions, though never yielding any concrete answers.
In 2011, new witness statements shared with the LASD Homicide Detectives shed new light on the sequence of events on the evening of her death, the bureau confirmed in a statement shard with E! News in 2018, including new information about Robert and Natalie’s final interactions.
"A witness provided details about hearing yelling and crashing sounds coming from the couple's stateroom," the statement read. "Shortly afterwards, separate witnesses identified a man and a woman arguing on the back of the boat. The witnesses believed that the voices belonged to Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner."
"Do we have enough to make an arrest at this moment? No. This remains a suspicious death investigation," the LASD Homicide Detectives said in the statement. "However, as LASD Homicide Detectives, we know that even the most difficult cases can be solved when witnesses come forward."
As for Robert, the bureau confirmed at the time he’s had always been, and still remained, a person of interest in Natalie’s death.
For his part, the NCIS alum has been adamant he was not with Natalie when she went into the water, and that he had nothing to do with her passing.
"We were so in love, and we had everything," he said during in an interview featured in the documentary 48 Hours. "And in a second, in a second, it was gone. I wasn't there. I wasn't there for her."