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Were Gene Hackman & His Wife Betsy Mummified? What It Means

Disturbing details about Hackman and Arakawa’s deaths came to light hours after the news first broke.

Hours after the news broke, a search warrant obtained by TMZ indicated that a Sante Fe detective wrote in an affidavit that Hackman and Arakawa’s deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation because the reporting party found the front door of the residence unsecured and opened, deputies observed a healthy dog running loose on the property, another healthy dog near the deceased female, a deceased dog laying 10 to 15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom, the heater being moved, the pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to the female, the male decedent being located in a separate room of the residence, and no obvious signs of a gas leak.” The deputy also saw a prescription bottle of pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa, and her body was in a state of decomposition because her face was bloated and there were signs of mummification in her hands and feet. The outlet reported that surveillance footage of Arakawa is believed to have died on February 11, 2025, and her cause of death was hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is a severe respiratory illness transmitted through rodent urine, droppings and saliva.

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