{"id":23237,"date":"2025-03-07T15:38:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T22:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gene-hackman-died-of-heart-disease-his-wife-died-of-hantavirus-about-1-week-prior-authorities-say\/"},"modified":"2025-03-07T22:38:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T22:38:30","slug":"gene-hackman-died-of-heart-disease-his-wife-died-of-hantavirus-about-1-week-prior-authorities-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gene-hackman-died-of-heart-disease-his-wife-died-of-hantavirus-about-1-week-prior-authorities-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Gene Hackman died of heart disease, his wife died of hantavirus about 1 week prior, authorities say"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Actor
Actor Gene Hackman arrives with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, for the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 19, 2003. (Mark J. Terrill\/Associated Press file)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SANTA FE, N.M. \u2013 Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, and he may not have been aware she was dead because he showed severe signs of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, authorities revealed Friday.<\/p>\n

Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference.<\/p>\n

\"Santa
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza answers questions about the investigation into the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer\u2019s disease,\u201d Jarrell said. \u201cHe was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that\u2019s what resulted in his death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities ruled out foul play after the bodies of Hackman<\/a>, 95, and Betsy Arakawa<\/a>, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, a pet store and a farm market, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday.<\/p>\n

Hackman’s pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18., the day he likely died, Jarrell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite possible he was not aware she was deceased,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Their bodies were found a little over a week later. Hackman was found in the home\u2019s entryway. His death was tied to heart disease with Alzheimer\u2019s disease contributing.<\/p>\n

\"Santa
Santa Fe County deputies remain outside the house belonging to actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were earlier found dead, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo\/Roberto E. Rosales)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arakawa was found in a bathroom. Authorities linked her death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease spread by infected rodent droppings. Thyroid medication pills prescribed to Arakawa were found nearby and weren\u2019t listed as contributing to her death, Jarrell said.<\/p>\n

Hantavirus is typically is reported in spring and summer, often due to exposures that occur when people are near mouse droppings in homes, sheds or poorly ventilated areas. This is the first confirmed case of hantavirus in New Mexico this year.<\/p>\n

Jarrell said it was not known how quickly Arakawa died.<\/p>\n

\"Chief
Chief Medical Investigator Heather Jarrell with the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator answers questions about the investigation into the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa during a news conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Investigators earlier retrieved personal items from the couple\u2019s home, including a monthly planner and two cellphones.<\/p>\n

One of the couple\u2019s three dogs also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs survived. Authorities initially misidentified the breed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dogs do not get sick from hantavirus, said Erin Phipps, a veterinarian with the New Mexico Health Department. A necropsy will be done on the dog. The sheriff considers this an open investigation until they finish checking into cellphone data and receive results of the dog\u2019s necropsy.<\/p>\n

When Hackman and Arakawa were found, the bodies were decomposing with some mummification, a consequence of body type and climate in Santa Fe\u2019s especially dry air at an elevation of nearly 7,200 feet.<\/p>\n

Hackman, a Hollywood icon, won two Oscars during a storied career in films including \u201cThe French Connection,\u201d \u201cHoosiers\u201d<\/a> and \u201cSuperman\u201d from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

Arakawa, born in Hawaii, studied as a concert pianist, attended the University of Southern California and met Hackman in the mid-1980s while working at a California gym.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s stucco, Pueblo-revival style home sits on a hill in a gated community at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains. Santa Fe<\/a> is known as a refuge for celebrities, artists and authors.<\/p>\n

Hackman dedicated much of his time in retirement to painting and writing novels far from Hollywood\u2019s social circuit. He served for several years on the board of trustees at the Georgia O\u2019Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, and he and his wife were investors in local businesses.<\/p>\n

Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Baumann reported from Bellingham, Washington. Associated Press reporter John Seewer contributed from Toledo, Ohio.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gene Hackman arrives with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, for the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 19, 2003. (Mark J. Terrill\/Associated Press file)dur-i-syn SANTA FE, N.M. \u2013 Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1595,2482,289,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alzheimers-disease","tag-celebrity","tag-disease","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23237"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}