As the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate the mysterious death of actress Natalie Wood Wagner, Santa Clarita remembers the movie stars who died in the city.

On Nov. 17, 2011, Supervising Investigator Lt. John Corina reopened the investigation into the mysterious drowning of actress Natalie Wood Wagner in 1981.

At the time of her death, Wood was filming the 1983 science fiction film, Brainstorm.

A press conference held by Corina in the beginning of February revealed that several statements from witnesses helped investigators, “recreate some of the timeline in what happened on that weekend, right up to the point where Natalie Wood ends up going into the water,” Corina said.

The movie industry is no stranger to stars dying during the shooting of films. In fact, Santa Clarita was home to two of these Hollywood tragedies.

In the summer of 1982, less than a year after Wood’s death, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed in a helicopter crash during the filming of the The Twilight Zone Movie.

The crash took place at the Indian Dunes film ranch, which was located near the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia, California.

Morrow, 53, and the children, ages six and seven, were shooting a Vietnam War scene in which they were supposed to be running from a pursuing helicopter. Special-effects explosions on set caused the helicopter pilot to lose control and crash into the three victims, according to officials.

Twilight Zone co-director John Landis and four other men working on the film were charged with involuntary manslaughter. According to a 1987 New York Times report, it was the first time a film director faced criminal charges for events that occurred while making a movie.

At the conclusion of the ten-month trial, the five men were acquitted of all charges.

More recently, actor Paul Walker died in a single-vehicle collision on Nov. 30, 2013, alongside friend Roger Rodas.

The 40-year old actor had just left an event for his charity, Reach Out Worldwide, when the driver lost control, apparently at a high rate of speed, hit a tree on the 28300 block of Rye Canyon Loop Rd., and burst into flames, according to Sgt. Brian Allen of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

The vehicle was fully engulfed when Allen arrived on scene, shortly after 3:30 p.m. There were individuals who were trying to put out the flames with hand-held fire extinguishers, however the fire was too intense, according to Sgt. Allen

“With a fire like that, that’s just not going to happen,” Sgt. Allen said. “The heat is just too much.”
Walker had been in the middle of filming the 2015 film Furious 7.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and sign up for KHTS email and text alerts today!