Just days before the deaths of Hollywood star Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, the 65-year-old was researching her health concerns online. According to records released by the New Mexico authorities on Tuesday (April 15), Arakawa repeatedly browsed the internet about flu- and COVID-like symptoms.
Among the records were witness interviews, photographs of the scene and police body camera footage, which provided fresh insights into the couple’s final days at their home near Santa Fe. After his wife’s death in February, Hackman lived alone in their home for almost one week before dying of heart disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a contributing factor. As speculation rose about their cause of death, it was later confirmed that Arakawa died from Hantavirus.
The deadly disease is contracted through exposure to excrement from rodents and can cause flu-like symptoms before progressing to shortness of breath, as well as cardiac and lung failure.
Police records revealed that on February 10, Arakawa’s internet search history included: "Can COVID cause dizziness?” and “Flu and nosebleeds.”
The following day, the late pianist 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.
Later that day, she ordered oxygen canisters from Amazon for “respiratory support.”
Hackman and Arakawa’s bodies were discovered on February 26 after a maintenance worker who was working for the couple grew concerned when communication with Arakawa suddenly stopped.
When the worker went to the home with a neighbourhood security guard, the two men found a partially open door leading to the bathroom where she was found lying on the floor.
After a call to emergency services, investigators found Hackman on the floor of the mudroom on the opposite end of the house.
A police report revealed: “He showed signs of active decay, including blackened hands with tissue breakdown.”
One of the couple’s dogs, Zinna, was also found dead in a crate, and it was later determined that the dog most likely died from dehydration and starvation.
