Arakawa, Betsy (1959-2025)

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    Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman’s Wife, Asked About Flulike Symptoms Before Deaths

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    Videos, photographs and police reports released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in New Mexico offered a look into the days before Betsy Arakawa and Mr. Hackman died.Days before she and her husband, the actor Gene Hackman, died at their home, Betsy Arakawa repeatedly searched online about flu- and Covid-like symptoms, according to records released on Tuesday by New Mexico authorities.The records — including witness interviews, photographs of the scene and police body camera footage — provided some new insights into the final days of the couple at their home near Santa Fe in February.After his wife’s death, Mr. Hackman, 95, lived alone in the home for nearly a week before dying of heart disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a contributing factor.Ms. Arakawa, 65, died from hantavirus, which is contracted through the exposure to excrement from rodents and can cause flulike symptoms before progressing to shortness of breath, as well as cardiac and lung failure.Police records released in the case on Tuesday included Ms. Arakawa’s Google searches a couple of days before her death, including “can Covid cause dizziness?” and “Flu and nosebleeds” on Feb. 10.The next day, she emailed her massage therapist to cancel an appointment, writing that her husband woke up that morning with “flu/cold-like symptoms” but had tested negative for Covid. That day, she ordered oxygen canisters from Amazon for “respiratory support.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Gene Hackman’s Wife Died at Least a Day Later Than Originally Thought

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      Betsy Arakawa made several calls to a medical clinic on Feb. 12, the day after the authorities initially believed that she died.The authorities in New Mexico have recovered evidence that Betsy Arakawa, the wife of the actor Gene Hackman, died at least one day later than they had previously estimated.The New Mexico authorities initially believed that Ms. Arakawa had likely died of a rare viral infection on Feb. 11, because that was when she was last seen publicly and stopped returning email correspondence.But after analyzing her cellphone, investigators learned that Ms. Arakawa had made three phone calls on the morning of Feb. 12, Denise Womack-Avila, a spokeswoman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, said on Monday. She said that Ms. Arakawa had made the calls to a concierge medical service, Cloudberry Health.Dr. Josiah Child, the lead physician there, said in an interview that the clinic called Ms. Arakawa back that morning and scheduled an appointment for that afternoon. He said she had reported feeling congested but that there were no signs of respiratory distress. Ms. Arakawa did not show up for her appointment that afternoon, Dr. Child said.“I suspect that she was starting to feel ill and that’s why she reached out to us,” he said.Ms. Arakawa and Mr. Hackman were both found dead in their secluded home outside of Santa Fe late last month. The state medical examiner concluded that Ms. Arakawa, 65, died from the effects of hantavirus, which is contracted through exposure to excrement from rodents. The virus can cause flulike symptoms before progressing to shortness of breath, as well as cardiac and lung failure.They said that Mr. Hackman, who had Alzheimer’s, spent another week in the house with her body and died Feb. 18 of heart disease.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Morgan Freeman Honors Gene Hackman at Oscars

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      Morgan Freeman honored Gene Hackman at the Academy Awards on Sunday, opening the telecast’s in memoriam segment by saying that the film community had “lost a giant.”Last week, Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead in their home in New Mexico. In recent days, the question of how they died has consumed Hollywood and bewildered the community of Santa Fe.Freeman appeared with Hackman in the 1992 western “Unforgiven,” which won Hackman his second Oscar, and the 2000 thriller “Under Suspicion.”“Like everyone who ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer and a man whose gifts elevated everyone’s work,” Freeman said.Calling Hackman a “dear friend,” Freeman noted that the actor often said that he did not think about his legacy but hoped that people would remember him “as someone who tried to do good work.”“So I think I speak for us all when I say, Gene, you’ll be remembered for that, and for so much more,” Freeman said.The producers of the telecast had only a few days to decide how they would honor one of the giants of acting. On Wednesday, law enforcement found Mr. Hackman’s body in the mud room of his home outside Santa Fe, next to his cane and sunglasses. Ms. Arakawa’s body was discovered in a bathroom, near an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the countertop.An examination of Mr. Hackman’s pacemaker indicated that the actor had died on Feb. 17, the Santa Fe County sheriff said. A detective wrote in an affidavit that Ms. Arakawa’s body had shown signs of decomposition and that Mr. Hackman showed signs of death “similar and consistent” with his wife.It could take weeks or longer for investigators to piece together a timeline as they interview the couple’s contacts and wait for toxicology results and autopsy reports. More

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      For Gene Hackman, a Jarring End to a Quiet, Art-Filled Life in Santa Fe

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      Mr. Hackman, who was found dead with his wife and one of their dogs, had written novels and painted since leaving Hollywood behind for retirement in New Mexico.Years after Gene Hackman retired from acting, he was at dinner with a friend in New Mexico who wanted to know how actors were able to cry on cue.“He put his head down at the table for about 30 seconds and raised his head up and there are tears coming down,” the friend, Doug Lanham, recalled. “He looked at me and goes, ‘How do you like that?’”After a long career in movies that won him two Oscars and the admiration of generations of film lovers, Mr. Hackman left Hollywood behind for Santa Fe, where he spent his final decades enjoying its striking scenery, trying his hand at painting and writing novels while living what appeared to be a quiet but full life with his wife, Betsy Arakawa.He played an active role in the city’s civic and social life during his early years there before slowing down and growing a bit more reclusive as he entered his late 80s and then his 90s, friends said. Some had been expecting to get word of his death from Ms. Arakawa one of these days.So it was shocking for them to learn this week that Mr. Hackman, 95, had been found dead in the mud room of his home in Santa Fe and that Ms. Arakawa, 65, had been found dead in a bathroom near an open prescription bottle and scattered pills. One of the couple’s dogs, a German shepherd, was found dead in a nearby closet.The caller described seeing a body on the floor and urged emergency services to quickly send help.Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Search Warrant Affidavit in Gene Hackman Death Inquiry

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      other image(s) documented on any media, photography and/or videography
      equipment, photography and/or videography accessories and/or devises apparently
      used to facilitate photography and/or videography.
      7. Clothing belonging or worn by Eugene “Gene” Allen Hackman or Betsy Arakawa.
      8. Photographs of the residence, including the interior and exterior.
      9. Latent and/or visible print(s), including but not limited to fingerprint(s) and
      footwear impression(s).
      10. Material(s) apparently used and/or intended for use in administering aid and/or
      assistance to injured people.
      11. Any weapon(s), tool(s) and/or instrument(s) capable of causing sharp force trauma
      to the human body. Document(s) that establish or tend to establish ownership,
      possession, use, transfer and/or the right to ownership, possession, use and/or
      transfer of the herein-described item(s), to be seized.
      12. Any weapon(s), tool(s) and/or instrument(s) capable of causing blunt force trauma
      to the human body. Document(s) that establish or tend to establish ownership,
      possession, use, transfer and/or the right to ownership, possession, use and/or
      transfer of the herein-described item(s), to be seized.
      13. Any item(s) and/or material(s) that have what appear to be impression(s), mark(s),
      and/or defect(s) on said item(s) and/or material(s).
      14. Any record documented in any media, which appears to be a password, personal
      identification number, item(s) and/or information used to access and/or facilitate
      access of said item(s), to be searched.
      15. Biological fluids, to include DNA, blood, or trace evidence.
      16. Telephones and/or cellular telephones.
      17. In order to ensure that a complete and thorough investigation, investigators may be required
      to examine the entire, above-mentioned premises, including, but not limited to, the
      examination of furniture, walls, plumbing equipment, or gas lines in or around the
      residence.
      AND THAT THE FACTS TENDING TO ESTABLISH THE FOREGOING GROUNDS
      FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A SEARCH WARRANT ARE AS FOLLOWS:
      Affiant, Detective Roy Arndt, is a full-time, certified peace officer in the State of New
      Mexico who has attended the Mexico Law Enforcement Academy. He is currently
      commissioned and salaried by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, where he serves as a
      Detective in the Criminal Investigations Division. Affiant has conducted numerous
      criminal investigations that led to the arrest and conviction of person(s) and currently has
      over 15 years of law enforcement experience.
      The facts set forth in this affidavit are based upon Affiant’s personal observations,
      training and experience, and information obtained from other law enforcement officers
      and civilian witnesses. This affidavit is made for the sole purpose of demonstrating
      probable cause for the issuance of the requested warrant and does not purport to set forth
      all Affiant’s knowledge of, or investigation into, this matter. All times depicted in this
      writing are approximate.
      STATEMENT OF FACTS KNOWN TO AFFIANT:
      At approximately 1:43 p.m. on Wednesday, February 26th, 2025, Santa Fe Regional Emergency
      Communications Center (RECC) received a call for service regarding a reporting party (RP)
      locating two (2) deceased individuals inside the residence of 1425 Old Sunset Trail, Santa Fe,
      New Mexico 87501.
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      Scattered Pills Found Near Body of Gene Hackman’s Wife as Inquiry Continues

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      The sheriff’s office in Santa Fe County, N.M., is investigating after the actor Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were found dead inside their home.The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the floor of a bathroom on Wednesday, according to a search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered near her body on a counter in the bathroom.A dead German shepherd was found between 10 and 15 feet away from Ms. Arakawa in a closet of the bathroom, the affidavit said. There were no obvious signs of a gas leak in the home, it said, and the Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak. The maintenance workers who found them said they had not been in contact with the couple for two weeks.The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that “there were no apparent signs of foul play.”Autopsies on Mr. Hackman and Ms. Arakawa were performed on Thursday, the sheriff’s office said. There was no initial sign of external trauma to either of them. Carbon monoxide tests and toxicology tests were requested for both of them, it said, but the results were still pending and the causes of their deaths had not been determined.“This remains an open investigation,” the sheriff’s office said.Detective Roy Arndt wrote in the search warrant affidavit that Ms. Arakawa was found lying on her side on the bathroom floor with a space heater near her head, the affidavit said. The deputy who found her said he suspected that the heater could have fallen with Ms. Arakawa, the filing said.Ms. Arakawa’s body showed signs of decomposition, the affidavit said, as well as “mummification in both hands and feet.” The dead dog was found near her in a closet, and two other dogs were found alive on the property. Mr. Hackman’s body was then found, and showed signs of death “similar and consistent” with his wife’s body.Read the Search Warrant Affidavit in the Gene Hackman Death InquiryAn affidavit from a Santa Fe County detective described how deputies found the bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, on Wednesday.Read DocumentWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More