SANTE FE, New Mexico, Feb. 28, 2025 (UPI) — Investigators are treating the deaths of actor Gene Hackman, 95, and wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, as “suspicious” and are looking into possible carbon monoxide poisoning as their causes of death.
A neighborhood security officer discovered Hackman’s and Arakawa’s dead bodies after being called to do a welfare check Wednesday afternoon at their home in Santa Fe, N.M., the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday in a news release posted on Facebook.
The couple and one of their dogs had been dead for some time before their bodies were discovered after police were called to the scene at 1:45 p.m. MST.
A search warrant was executed just before 10 p.m. local time Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told reporters during a news conference Thursday.
“They’ve been working diligently through the night and starting again in the morning to completely process the scene,” Mendoza said. “We’re still in the preliminary steps of the investigation.”
He said they “had been deceased for quite a while” but said he would not take a guess on how long.
A man doing pest control work went to Hackman’s home early Wednesday afternoon and noticed they weren’t home, which he found odd, Mendoza said.
The man notified a security officer, who went to the house and discovered the bodies when he looked through the home’s windows and called 911 for help.
“We’re not ruling it out,” Mendoza said in response to a reporter’s question regarding whether or not foul play is suspected.
“There was no obvious sign or indication of foul play,” but investigators “haven’t ruled that out yet,” Mendoza said. “This is an investigation, so we’re keeping everything on the table.”
He said the autopsies and evidence that investigators collect should tell them a lot.
“It’s not normal to find two people deceased in the residence, so that’s concerning,” Mendoza said, adding that a dog was found dead inside a kennel while two others were found alive on the property.
He said the fire department and local gas company went through the house to test for carbon monoxide and ensure the home was safe for officers to go in and out of the home.
“There was no indication of a struggle [and] there was no indication of anything that was missing from the home or disturbed that would be an indication a crime occurred,” Mendoza said.
He said the front door to the home was found open, but there are many possible reasons why.
A medical investigator performed a preliminary autopsy on the bodies of Hackman and Arakawa Thursday morning and found no signs of trauma.
The medical investigator requested carbon monoxide and toxicology tests on both individuals, and the manner and causes of death remain unknown.
Results of the toxicology tests could take up to six weeks to complete, Chris Ramirez, a spokesperson for the New Mexico medical investigator’s office told CNN.
The official autopsy and toxicology reports are pending, and the investigation remains open.
Arakawa’s body was found on the floor inside a bathroom with an open bottle of prescription pills on a countertop, several pills scattered near her body and a space heater near her head.
Investigators said it’s possible Arakawa fell suddenly and caused the space heater to fall and land near her head.
A German shepherd was found dead inside the bathroom closet about 10 feet from Arakawa’s body.
Another dog was found alive and in good health in the bathroom near Arakawa, and a second dog was found outside the home and in good health.
Hackman’s body was found on the floor in another room located near the home’s kitchen and he appeared to have fallen suddenly, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Hackman and Arakawa appeared to have died several days earlier, police said.
Hackman had three children with his former wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017.
Hackman retired from acting in 2004, and Arakawa was a classical pianist. The couple lived in Santa Fe for several years.
