The sadness around the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been compounded by the mysterious circumstances in which they were found. Their remains were found in their Santa Fe mansion, and one of their three dogs had also died. Early indications were that Hackman and Arakawa had been deceased for more than a week when their bodies were discovered. Various medical examiners and pathologists offered their theories about what happened, but as it turns out, the real situation was even sadder. Betsy Arakawa died of the hantavirus on or around February 11th. Gene, a 95-year-old with advanced Alzheimer’s, died on February 18th. Meaning, he was in that house alone with his wife’s body, and no one was taking care of him for a week after Betsy passed away on the bathroom floor.
The actor Gene Hackman died from heart disease about a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died in a separate room of their New Mexico home from a virus linked to rodents, the authorities said on Friday. The revelation that the famous and reclusive couple had died of natural causes put to rest much of the speculation that followed the discovery of their bodies on Feb. 26. But it also raised new questions about the state of mind of Mr. Hackman, who investigators said had advanced Alzheimer’s disease, and why the couple was not discovered sooner.
Ms. Arakawa, 65, had run a series of errands on Feb. 11, but the authorities could find no evidence of any activity after that, suggesting that she could have died that day. Mr. Hackman, 95, is believed to have died about a week later, on Feb. 18, according to New Mexico’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Heather Jarrell.
Mr. Hackman was found on the floor of the mudroom in the couple’s home, near his cane, while Ms. Arakawa was found on a bathroom floor, beside a counter with common medication scattered about that investigators later determined did not play a role in her death. They were not discovered until Feb. 26, when a maintenance worker arrived to the couple’s home east of Santa Fe and grew worried when no one answered the door. The worker contacted a security guard, who called 911.
Dr. Jarrell said it was possible, given Mr. Hackman’s Alzheimer’s disease, that he did not know that his wife had died. It was unclear whether Mr. Hackman was able to take care of himself on his own. Autopsies were performed on the couple, Dr. Jarrell said, and Mr. Hackman’s showed that his stomach was empty, meaning he had not eaten recently, but she said he did not appear to be dehydrated.
Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said investigators did not find any evidence that Mr. Hackman had communicated with anyone after his wife’s death.
The sheriff also said that they had no way of knowing what Hackman was doing after Arakawa’s death, or if it even occurred to Hackman to seek help or call 911. It sounds like Arakawa was taking care of him by herself, and that she had not hired any in-home nursing staff or even just a general odd-job person to help out around the house? That’s crazy to me – in photos, you can see that she’s a great deal smaller and shorter than Hackman. Even though he was physically frail, wouldn’t she need some kind of help just to get him out of bed or help him move around? Everything I’ve read about the hantavirus is terrifying too. She likely didn’t even know she had it, or she thought it was just a cold or a sinus infection. God, this is such a tragic story.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS / The Royal Tenenbaums USA 2001 / Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson Royal Tenenbaum (GENE HACKMAN) verließ seine Frau Etheline schon, als ihre drei Kinder noch klein waren. Unter der Obhut der Mutter wuchsen die Drei zu erfolgreichen Jugendlichen heran. Chas war schon als Teenager ein erfolgreicher Immobilien-Händler, Margot gewann schon Literaturpreise bevor sie aufs Gymnasium kam und Richie gewann dreimal in Folge die amerikanischen Tennis-Meisterschaften. Doch in den Mitt-20ern haben alle persönliche Probleme und kehren nach Hause zurück. Mutter Etheline ist gerade dabei den Heiratsantrag ihres Steuerberaters in Erwägung zu ziehen, als plötzlich Royal wieder auftaucht. Er ist pleite und will sich wieder im Heim einnisten. Doch nicht nur Egoismus treibt ihn, er will die alten Bande wieder knüpfen und seine Frau und seine Kinder zurückgewinnen… Regie: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson aka. The Royal Tenenbaums / THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS USA 2001,Image: 136739311, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Nur redaktionelle Nutzung im Zusammenhang mit dem Film. Editorial usage only and only related to the movie. Im Falle anderer Verwendungen, kontaktieren Sie uns bitte. For other uses, please contact us., Model Release: no, Credit line: kpa Publicity/Avalon/Avalon
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- French Connection II (1975) Directed by John Frankenheimer,Image: 420493389, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN's services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material., Model Release: no, Pictured: Gene Hackman, Credit line: WENN.com/Wenn/Avalon
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- Santa Fe, NM – The actor Gene Hackman (95) and his Wife Betsy Arakawa (63) were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The authorities said an investigation was on going. Pictured: Gene Hackman BACKGRID USA 27 FEBRUARY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Santa Fe, NM – The actor Gene Hackman (95) and his Wife Betsy Arakawa (63) were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The authorities said an investigation was on going. Pictured: Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa BACKGRID USA 27 FEBRUARY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Santa Fe, NM – The actor Gene Hackman (95) and his Wife Betsy Arakawa (63) were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The authorities said an investigation was on going. Pictured: Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa BACKGRID USA 27 FEBRUARY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY, New York, NY, 10/24/2007 – Gene Hackman leaving The Carlyle hotel in Manhattan. -PICTURED: Gene Hackman -PHOTO by: Jayme Oak/startraksphoto.com -BRS10798 #Event/#Photo= 2EB115E2189/2EB115E3004 Featuring: Gene Hackman Where: New York, New York, United States When: 24 Oct 2007 Credit: Jayme Oak/startraksphoto.com
Devastating. Sorry to be judgy but where the hell were his kids? You don’t call your stepmother regularly for updates on your sick dad?
My tiny grandma took care of my grandad with Alzheimer’s for years without any physical help. He was fine with his mobility and personal hygiene but absolutely wouldn’t have eaten or taken his medication without her.
According to interviews with Hackman himself, he was rarely around when his kids were growing up and he made zero effort to have a relationship with them as adults until encouraged to do so by Betsy when he was is his sixties. So, not surprising they didn’t check in regularly. They didn’t have that kind of bond.
Yep, you are definitely being judgy. Two people just died in sad circumstances. But before that they lived 96 and 64 years and you have no idea how they treated their children. Shame on you for being so quick to point a finger with no knowledge.
Yeah that’s so judgy. You don’t know anything about his relationship with his kids. Plenty of us had distant or abusive or narcissist parents to whom we owe nothing.
Absolutely. And as someone with a parent with Alzheimer’s, the disease can bring out an incredibly angry side and no amount of contact will help. It seems like his wife was the main caregiver and sadly thought she could do it without any support.
Heartbreaking! But I can’t understand no home help? My parents had home help. I’m working but partially disabled and I’m looking into some help. Plus we don’t have kids and don’t have family so it’s easy a week or two before someone would know. Trying to put plans in place. I’m shocked they didn’t have housekeeping. Or someone? He had kids? Awful.
A maintenance worker called for the wellness check so she did have someone coming every few weeks to do stuff on the house.
Many caregivers pass on getting help way past the time when they need it. I have several friends caring for elders in their late 90s without help even though they need it. Also many elders will refuse help and fight with their caregivers when they try to bring in others.
I feel the same about not having any help. It must have been so hard to keep up with everything. Also, do I remember correctly that people who knew them were swearing up and down that he was mentaly fit? How long had it been that anybody actually talked to him. If his Alzheimer’s was so advanced he didn’t realize she was dead and didn’t call anyone for a week that she was missing, how fast could it have progressed?
My grandmother cared for my grandfather for five years when he got Alzheimer’s. We had to do a lot of convincing for her to allow a nurse to come in just a few days a week so she could go out and get some respite. All of their kids were still working full time and live all over the country so they couldn’t be there all the time. When she had to go into the hospital with heart issues and my mom and I went to stay with my grandpa we were floored at the amount of care he required – my grandma was doing all that for years? She would never let on how much work it was. She didn’t allow him to go into a nursing facility until the very end.
Sometimes caregivers feel so much guilt about relinquishing care for their loved ones with dementia.
My mom’s friend is going through that right now. Her husband has Alzheimer’s and it’s gotten pretty bad. On top of that she has Parkinson’s and her daughter has a brain tumor that is terminal and in its final stages. She is so overwhelmed and needs help so badly.
My mom and their friends have been pleading with her to get help aside from family but she won’t budge. I think it’s guilt about all of it.
Agreed @Eurydice I know so many women who run themselves ragged because they insist on doing everything themselves. A friend and her sister both working full-time were alternating sleeping over at their mum’s home, exhausted themselves and risking health and career and marriages. One had a breakdown so a good care home was found for mum and she got to spend quality time with her as her daughter. Both still felt guilty about that despite it being in every body’s interest for mum to have full-time care which eased worrying and pressure on both daughters.
So true! My dad is in a bad way and my mom is running herself ragged to look after him. No amount of pressure from others to bring in a nurse or care home will convince her otherwise.
Yeah, it can be hard to accept that you might need help, especially if it seems like you are managing everything just fine. I could imagine her not wanting someone else in their house, or thinking “I’ll wait until things get worse and I need the help”. And then she got sick. So sad.
She was seen running errands during what seemed to be her last day alive, and I guess she had to do it more often than not, leaving Gene alone. Not only he was elderly and apparently senile, but they lived in a large mansion. It’s just so odd that she -by no means a young person- was his fully caretaker in addition to doing all outings and domestic chores, which explains why she hadn’t sorted the mice infestation issue. They were wealthy, so money was not an issue for hiring regular help, whose absence aligns with a situation of distancing with Gene’s daughters. I’m sure whatever decision she made was out of love and a desire to protect his image, but it’s questionable whether she was realistic on her ability to cope with their situation alone. Their isolation played a crucial part on their deaths.
I read that the main house was free of mouse droppings but droppings were found in out buildings.
Oh, I read a report saying police found rodents bite marks inside the house as ultimate confirmation that she died of hanta virus. Anyway, I was raised in a poor country with no state-of-the-art pest/plague control practices (actually, virtually none) where even though you had to work in storages or be sort of a cave explorer to become exposed to hanta. And yes, it would most likely kill you before you could even note you were sick. Arakawa had so much in her plate that she probably was just starting to address an issue that had already gotten out of hand. Someone who’d dropped by often could have helped her take action long before. I only hope Gene didn’t die out of shock at realizing she was dead during a glimpse of sanity. RIP both of them
I do not buy this. Toxicology reports came back awful quick. And everything neatly wrapped up. Nope not buy this
What would be the motive for officials to cover up the cause of deaths for these two? I just don’t get conspiracy people
Wouldn’t the “easier” thing be carbon monoxide poisoning? Not everything is a conspiracy.
it actually makes perfect sense. tox reports are usually turned around in a few hours for high priority cases. that 4-6 week deal is not the time it takes to do the test, but the backlog.
It seems like they lived a pretty reclusive life. he wasn’t close to his daughter, apparently they hadn’t communicated in months. the only parts that surprised me was the lack of contractors-cleaners, landscapers, etc. and that the neighbors didn’t hear the dogs barking. because with 2 dead bodies in the house and a door open, you would think that all kinds of wildlife would have gotten in.
A maintenance person called the police so she did have someone come in at least every few weeks.
There was little need for toxicology when he had biological signs of alzeheimer’s and she had biological signs of hantavirus. Those things show up easily in an autopsy. They weren’t looking for drugs so they could rule that out quick.
Autopsies were done. You don’t need a toxicology report to suspect or diagnose hantavirus or heart disease or dementia/Alzheimer’s. The indications are physically present.
I think he really died while fighting a fire on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
They were obviously a private couple who would not want this to be so public. I will remember him for his wonderful acting. I hope they are both at peace together and wish their family healing in this difficult time.
I think, since we got their death news at the same time, there was no way this could stay public. Like everything, people would make up a lot of conspiracies about what happened.
This is horrific on every level.
The carbon monoxide poisoning – of which the victims are rarely aware – almost seems like a dream scenario.
At 95, Gene didn’t deserve this, should have just gone peacefully in his sleep.
This is so tragic. It’s unfortunate that they didn’t have somebody to help with them.
It is a horrible way to die, but he probably didn’t remember Betsy or panic because she was asleep. His brain no longer worked that way. He survived until his heart eventually gave out. Alzheimer’s is an awful disease. It robs the victim and the family of so much. It’s amazing Betsy was able to do it on her own for so many years. Speaks to her love and devotion to him.
Betsy protected Gene’s privacy the best way she could. Even though Gene retired from acting, how much would a tabloid agency pay for his caregiving agency or a assisted living/memory care facility in Santa Fe to confirm that Gene had Alzheimer’s? And they could never prove the HIPAA violation when that occurred. Betsy did the best she could being between a rock and a hard place with Gene. The stress of caring for a loved one with dementia is no joke adding Gene’s fame compounds that. Betsy did the best she could for as long as she could.
Compounding that, my experience is it can sometimes be difficult to find good and reliable caregivers, or people who are a good fit for the situation, especially if the client can be angry or argumentative. For all we know, there had been someone helping out at one time, but it didn’t work out, and Betsy decided it was easier to handle things herself.
My Dad had Parkinson’s & cancer, and my Mom had advanced Alzheimer’s. They died weeks apart. Mom was unable to comprehend that Dad had died. She asked for him over and over. I had to move my parents to a nursing home because of their rapid decline. Had my parents been alone at home, there is no doubt in my mind that my Mom would not have been able to do anything when my Dad passed away. I feel for the loved ones of the Hackmans.
I have a friend who is a fellow social worker who works in Adult Protective Services and she called it the evening their bodies were discovered. She said she sees cases like this quite often. She said it sounds like Gene had dementia and Betsy had a heart attack or stroke. It’s common that when the caregiving spouse has an “event” that the person with dementia is ill equipped to handle the situation by calling 911. They can’t feed themselves or even get a glass of water and they eventually give out within days. It’s sad but at the same time, it’s not really anyone’s fault. We don’t have the infrastructure in place to keep an eye on caregiving spouses and we rely on the community. With people as private as they were, there’s only so much you can do.
They should have had the alarm system that detects when a person falls. Or his children. Should have checked up on them frequently
Not everyone has a tight support network. It’s one of those things that happened and isn’t anyone’s fault.
A series of tragic events no one could have predicted. Rests in Peace.
My God, this is all so sad.
No meds, no food, no hygiene or toiletting, all the things his caregiver would do and she’s laying dead. I’m amazed he lasted 7 days.
A lot of times, people who are caregivers become isolated themselves. While his kids praised Betsy, hints were dropped by other family members (not bitterly) that whenever they called, they usually talked to Betsy and not Gene. It’s a tough dynamic to work through. It sounds like his kids had the best relationship they could with him, but it’s tragic there was no hired help. I feel awful for the two of them. Gene was one of my favorite actors.
If he was no longer communicating much, and no longer recognized people not part of his immediate, daily life, both unfortunate possibilities with this awful disease, there would have been little point in attempting much interaction with him when calling. Hence Betsy would be the one they talked to. My mother’s older sister, once a lovely, outgoing woman, became locked in her own little world as things progressed. Awful to see. It must have been heartbreaking for Betsy to watch him decline, regardless of what his specific symptoms were.
And he probably had hearing loss on top of all that.
It really is sad and awful. Everyone’s nightmare, honestly. Those poor dear souls.
Since my husband died last Oct, I make a point of texting or calling siblings every day. We also have a Sunday afternoon group-zoom we’ve been doing every week (and special occasions) since March 2020 COVID!
It’s hard to ask for help! Poor Betsy.
My experience: Things had to get very bad last summer before my husband (cancer) let me get help. Honestly, it wasn’t just his feelings on it – I didn’t want to admit he’s taken such a bad turn. We really had to say out loud: We need help!
God – the times we didn’t yet have a walker (eventually wheel-chair, eventually portable commode) and I had him hold onto the back of a chair while I dragged it down the hell. (the poorman’s walker, we joked later!)
Fortunately, family flew cross-country to help and David’s nephew lives only a few hours away. Eventually, we also got part-time home-health aides + nurses and, finally home-hospice care. But, the thing is – this professional care was not full-time. I absolutely could not have done it without family staying with us. What if we were estranged from family?
We would have had to pay out-of-pocket for full-time helpers. Etc.
My advice? Think hard and work out a plan beforehand. It’s easier if you’ve got Medicare because they pay for a lot of this. Do not hesitate to ask for help.
“Look to the Helpers”
Excellent advice. What a tragic and sad ending for Gene and his wife Betsy. Advance planning is called for when we are still healthy as the unthinkable like Gene’s wife passing away before him can happen
And be prepared to swallow your pride. It’s a great relief to let it go and to ask for help.
How awful.
It’s so sad to me how isolated they seemed. They weren’t discovered until two weeks after her death, and no one knew? No friends or family or anyone thought it was odd they hadn’t heard back from her in two weeks, especially given his condition?